Sarajevo Haggadah

The publication contains a facsimile manuscript as well as a translation in Bosnian (shtokavian) language and an extensive explanation on the importance and content of this special and great treasure. The Sarajevo Haggadah is one of the oldest Jewish illuminated manuscripts of Sephardi origin. The Codex was created in the first half of the 14th century in Barcelona or Zaragoza in the Kingdom of Aragon. Its author or authors are unknown. It is belived that the book was originally a wedding gift. After the deportation of the Jews from Spain in 1492, the manuscript travelled to Venice, Split or Dubrovnik. It was discovered in Sarajevo in 1894 when the family Koen, due to financial difficulties, sold it to a provincial museum for 150 Austrian crowns. The Codex is now kept in the National museum of Bosnia and Hercegovina. It contains 142 parchment foils and has three parts. The first part contains 69 miniature paintings. The illuminations of the whole codex portray its Spanish origins while at the same time reveal the influences of France (Provencal) and Italian manuscript art with some Gothic elements. Experts consider it to be the most beautiful Hebrew illuminated manusript. The Slovanska Library keeps another fascimile of the Sarajevo Haggadah, which is a completly accurate copy of the original. (KKH)