Img. ID: 574477

The following description was prepared by William Gross:

Writing and the elegance of script was an important part of the training of an educated person in the 19th century. This is an extraordinary collection of examples of Hebrew script from what was probably a school of the Haskalah, the Jewish enlightenment movement in Europe that began in Germany in the last quarter of the 18th century. While the script is Hebrew the language is German and the many signed names would indicate that this was written somewhere in central Europe, probably in Germany.  There are five magnificent pictures executed in micrography, the formation of pictures by the use of Hebrew text, a number of script samples with decoration, and a great number of simpler samples of fine script.  Each sample is signed by the maker, students in one of 4 different classes of the school, as indicated on the label where the work is called "Hebraeische Probschriften i, ii, iii, iv Klasse". Unfortunately neither the name of the school nor its location is mentioned. The displayed illustration is of the angel of death, flanked by a skull and by an hourglass. The large, decorated Hebrew letters state, rather philosophically: "The end of man is to die".

Pages: 31