This unique edition shows highlights from one of the world's foremost private collections of Hebrew manuscripts and printed books belonging to the Swiss collector René Braginsky, who has spent more than three decades building this amazing collection. Each item in this collection has its own history and, as such, bears witness to the Jewish past. Attention is given, among others, to Medieval Hebrew manuscripts, lavishly illustrated books, decorated Jewish marriage contracts and richly illustrated scrolls of the story from the books of Esther, with their accompanying exquisite wood or precious metal cases. This publication coincides with the opening of the exhibition at the Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana, University of Amsterdam; "This book, however, should not be considered as simply a catalogue accompanying the exhibition. It is a work of art and scholarship in itself". Contents: Manuscripts and Printed Books: -The People of the Book -Of Books and People: The Braginsky Collection and Book History Marriage Contracts: -From Textual to Visual: Illustrated Ketubbot in the Braginsky Collection Esther Scrolls: -Esther Imagined: The Art and History of Decorated Megillot 300 colour illustrations
