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Title

Hebrew Bible

Gaon, Joshua ben Abraham ibn (Active in Tudela and Soria between 1300-1312)

Generic classification
Manuscripts and illuminations
Object
Manuscript
Date
ca. 1300
Century
Early 14th c.
Cultural context / style
Medieval Spanish Jewish Art
Dimensions
12,1 x 9,25 in
Material
Parchment
Technique
Illumination
Iconography / Theme
Liturgia, Motivos animales, Motivos geométricos
Provenance
Moses ibn Haviv (Soria, Spain)
Current location
Bodleian Library (Oxford, United Kingdom)
Inventory Number in Current Collection
MS. Kennicott 2
Object history

This manuscript was made by Joshua ibn Abraham ibn Gaon, a copyist and illuminator who worked in the early 14th century between Tudela and Soria (Barco, 2014). There are doubts about the exact dating of the codex, since there are authors who consider that it was executed between 1303-1304 (Beit Arié, 1994); while others date it in 1306 (Narkiss,1969; Cohen-Mushlin and Tcherikover, 1982; Ortega-Monasterio, 2016). However, it was Kogman-Appel (2004) who demonstrated, based on the artistic motifs appearing in the Bible, that it predated the manuscript preserved in the National Library of France(Mss Hébr. 20), also the work of ibn Gaon. The latter was made in 1301, so the copy was probably made shortly before.

The different hypotheses about the dating arose from the text that appears in the colophon of the volume, where the year 1306 and the city of Soria are indicated (f. 427v). However, it is now considered that this date indicates the time when it was sold, as well as the city. The first owner of the Bible was Moses ibn Haviv (Barco, 2014), who resided in Soria; it was subsequently in the hands of R. Nissim ibn Aaron ha-Cohen, who sold the copy to Samuel Parzant for 2,500 Damascus dinars between the months of October and November 1519 (Ortega-Monasterio, 2016).

From here the trace of the volume is lost until the middle of the 18th century, where the copy is cited in Venice. Following the indications of Dr. Mordaunt, the Earl of Northampton - British ambassador - got hold of the Bible (Silvestri, 2013; Encinas, 2018). Subsequently, Benjamin Kennicott acquired the manuscript in the 1770s. Dedicated to the research of Hebrew manuscripts, this scholar undertook a journey that took him to different cities in search of new sources: Paris, Cologne, Milan, Rome, Hamburg, Vienna, Venice, Florence, Bologna, etc. were some of the places he visited in search of libraries and bookstores that had Hebrew manuscripts (Ortega-Monasterio, 2016). After its acquisition he incorporated it into the holdings of the Radcliffe Library in 1783, where he was librarian.

The Bible remained in this location until 1879, when it was transferred to the Bodleian Library. An inventory of the library's Hebrew manuscripts was conducted in 1886 and the copy is cited under number 2323 with the following description:

"Old Testament (Isaiah before Jeremiah; the Minor Prophets are followed by Ruth, Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Canticles, Lamentations, Daniel, Esther, Ezra, Nehemiah without division, Chronicles), with both Masorahs (omissions are supplied on the margin). Isaiah is preceded (fol. 379>) by a division of sections, headed".

The Bible is currently preserved in the Bodleian Library.

Description

The manuscript is composed of 428 folios and is distributed in 39 booklets consisting of 12 folios each. The text is divided into two columns of 34 lines and is written in Sephardic square script with Tiberian punctuation (Ortega-Monasterio, 2016). It has numerous illuminations, including the temple (ff. 1v-2r), the frames around the text and the representation of some zoomorphic figures such as dragons or birds (Narkiss,1969).

Locations
* The relative location of dealers, antique shops, art galleries, and collectors leads us to the places where they were based or had one of their main headquarters. However, this does not always indicate that every artwork that passed through their hands was physically located there. In the case of antique dealers and art merchants, their business often extended across multiple territories; sometimes they would purchase items at their origin and send them directly to clients. Similarly, some collectors owned multiple residences, sometimes in different countries, where they housed their collections. It is often difficult to determine exactly where a specific piece was kept during its time in their possession. Consequently, the main location of the dealer or collector is indicated. These factors should be considered when interpreting the map. Refer to the object's history in each case.
Bibliography
Citation:

Isabel Escalera Fernández, "Hebrew Bible" in Nostra et Mundi. Cultural Heritage from Castile and Leon around the world, Fundación Castilla y León, 2025. https://inventario.nostraetmundi.com/en/work/422

DOI

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