BOK.GER.AD1800s

BOK.GER.AD2012

The Esther Scroll

This scroll contains the book of Esther from the Hebrew Bible accompanied with incredible illustrations and illuminations. The original scroll was handmade in the 19th century.

The reading of Esther from a scroll comes from the Jewish holiday of Purim, which commemorates the time when Esther saved the Jewish people from the corrupt Haman. A rabbi will read the story from the scroll to the congregation, who will hiss and boo whenever the name of Haman is mentioned. The lack of the name of God in the book of Esther meant that they were more widely produced and contained more embellishments than other Jewish scripture. The translation of the story of Esther into German also made it more accessible to those who did not speak Hebrew, the language it would usually be written and spoken in.

“The manuscript takes the form of a scroll. Fourteen sheets of parchment of varying lengths, glued end to end, provide the writing support. Altogether, the parchment scroll measures approx. 6.5 m (21 ft. 4 in.) long and 33.5-33.9 cm (aprox. 13-13 ⅜ in.) high, making it probably one of the largest of all illustrated Esther scrolls from the 18th century" (Wiesemann).
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Wiesemann, Falk. The Esther Scroll. Taschen, 2012.

1800s AD

2012 AD

Taschen

Falk Wiesemann

Hanover

Germany

18th Century

21st Century

Print

English History of Writing Collection See all items with this value

English Bibles See all items with this value

English Illumination See all items with this value

German

Bible--Illustrations See all items with this value

Women in the Bible See all items with this value

Purim See all items with this value

Scroll

Wiesemann, Falk. The Esther Scroll Facsimile. Taschen.