Magnificently illustrated with pages from hundreds of manuscripts, many previously unpublished or rarely seen, Skies of Parchment, Seas of Ink offers surprising new perspectives on Jewish life

Skies of Parchment, Seas of Inc
Edited by Marc Michael Epstein
With contributions by Eva Frojmovic, Jenna Siman Jacobs, Hartley Lachter, Shalom Sabar, Raymond P. Scheindlin, Ágnes Vető, Susan Vick, Barbara Wolff & Diane Wolfthal
Princeton University Press 2015
ISBN: 9780691165240

The love of books in the Jewish tradition extends back over many centuries, and the ways of interpreting those books are as myriad as the traditions themselves. Skies of Parchment, Seas of Ink offers the first full survey of Jewish illuminated manuscripts, ranging from their origins in the Middle Ages to the present day. Featuring some of the most beautiful examples of Jewish art of all time—including hand-illustrated versions of the Bible, the Haggadah, the prayer book, marriage documents, and other beloved Jewish texts—the book introduces readers to the history of these manuscripts and their interpretation.

Edited by Marc Michael Epstein with contributions from leading experts, this sumptuous volume features a lively and informative text, showing how Jewish aesthetic tastes and iconography overlapped with and diverged from those of Christianity, Islam, and other traditions. Featured manuscripts were commissioned by Jews and produced by Jews and non-Jews over many centuries, and represent Eastern and Western perspectives and the views of both pietistic and liberal communities across the Diaspora, including Europe, Israel, the Middle East, and Africa.

Magnificently illustrated with pages from hundreds of manuscripts, many previously unpublished or rarely seen, Skies of Parchment, Seas of Ink offers surprising new perspectives on Jewish life, presenting the books of the People of the Book as never before.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

• Acknowledgments vii
• Introduction: For the Love of Books 1
  Marc Michael Epstein
• People of the Book/Books of the People: Illuminating the Canon 19
  Hartley Lachter with Marc Michael Epstein
• Parchments and Palimpsests: Scribe, Illuminator, Patron, Audience 29
  Marc Michael Epstein
• Focus: The Illuminated Page: Materials, Methods, and Techniques
  Barbara Wolff 40
• Mapping the Territory: ?Arb?ah Kanfot Ha?are?–The Four Corners of the Medieval Jewish World 47
  Ere? Yisrael/The Land of Israel: Homeland and Center
  Marc Michael Epstein 47
• Italia/Italy: The First Western Diaspora
  Marc Michael Epstein 55
• Ashkenaz: Franco-Germany, England, Central and East Europe
  Eva Frojmovic with Marc Michael Epstein 63
• Sepharad and ?Arav: Spain and the Middle East
  Raymond P. Scheindlin with Marc Michael Epstein 72
• The Problem of “National Style”
  Eva Frojmovic with Marc Michael Epstein 77
• No Graven Image: Permitted Depictions, Forbidden Depictions, and Creative Solutions 89
  Eva Frojmovic and Marc Michael Epstein
• Focus: Exploring the Mystery of the Birds’ Head Haggadah
  Marc Michael Epstein 97
• Iconography: Telling the Story 105
  Marc Michael Epstein
• Geographical Distinctions 105
• Approaches to the Biblical Narrative 122
• Dialogue and Disputation: Cultural Negotiation 145
  Marc Michael Epstein
• Under Edom 145
• Under Ishmael 153
• This World: Centered on the Home–Women, Marriage, and the Family 159
  Shalom Sabar
• Focus: “Glimpses of Jewish Life”: Reality or Illusion?
  Marc Michael Epstein 175
• Focus: “Incidental Details”: Margins and Meaning
  Marc Michael Epstein 182
• Focus: “Sacred and Profane”: Naked Ladies in the Haggadah?
  Ágnes Veto 188
• Other Worlds: Fantastic Horizons and Unseen Universes 193
  Hartley Lachter with Marc Michael Epstein
• Zion and Jerusalem: “The Sum of All Beauty, the Joy of All the Earth” 205
  Shalom Sabar
• In the Royal Court: Jewish Illumination in an Age of Printing 215
  Marc Michael Epstein
• Focus: A Yiddish Minhagim Manuscript 225
  Diane Wolfthal
• Illuminating the Present: Contemporary Jewish Illumination 229
  Susan Vick with Marc Michael Epstein
• Continuing the Journey: Annotated Bibliography and Manuscript Descriptions 255
  Jenna Siman Jacobs with Marc Michael Epstein
• Manuscripts and Facsimiles 255
• Surveys 261
• Collection Surveys and Exhibition Catalogues 263
• Studies 265
• Contributor Biographies 267
• Index 269
• Photo Credits 276

About the authors:

Marc Michael Epstein is the Mattie M. Paschall (1899) and Norman Davis Chair of Religion and Visual Culture at Vassar College. His most recent book, The Medieval Haggadah: Art, Narrative, and Religious Imagination, was named one of the best books of 2011 by the Times Literary Supplement. Eva Frojmovic is lecturer in the history of art at the University of Leeds. Jenna Siman Jacobs is curatorial manager at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego. Hartley Lachter is the Berman Chair in Jewish Studies at Lehigh University. Shalom Sabar is professor of folklore and the arts at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Raymond P. Scheindlin is professor of medieval Hebrew literature at the Jewish Theological Seminary. Ágnes Vető teaches religion at Vassar College. Susan Vick is curator of Judaica at Goldsmith Museum of Chizuk Amuno Congregation in Baltimore and associate professor of art history at the University of Maryland. Barbara Wolff is a New York-based illuminator of manuscripts using medieval methods. Diane Wolfthal is the David and Caroline Minter Chair in the Humanities at Rice University.

FEATURED PHOTO:

From: The Bird’s Head Haggadah, the oldest surviving Ashkenazi illuminated manuscript (S. German, c. 1300). It derives its name from the birdlike human figures illustrated in the manuscript’s margins. © Israel Museum, Jerusalem