Obj. ID: 39597
Jewish printed books GFC Weiss-Meldola Paper Esther Scroll, Livorno (Leghorn), 1786
The paper scroll with the printed text of the Book of Esther preceded by four panels comprising additional texts. All texts in the scroll are printed within ornamented frames. It contains a single large and decorative letter ו which appears in the name of of the last Haman's son, ויזתא, in the fifteenth panel.
This is the second edition of the Megillah issued by the printing house of Jacob Nunes Vais (Yaakov Nunes Weis(s)) and Rafael Meldola in Livorno (Leghorn) that is dedicated to Mordecai Yair Milul.
According to William Gross: "While there is no name of the printer, the use of an elaborate woodcut letter of the type known to be in use by the Weis (sic!) - Meldola printing house indicates the publisher."
Jacob Nunes Vais, on the publishers, was the rabbi of Leghorn (Livorno).
Below the first panel, the date - 1768 - is written in pencil.
sub-set tree:
The scroll is well preserved; only slight damages on its edges can be seen.
The Book of Esther in Hebrew is accompanied by additional texts: information from the printer, the prayer Al Ha-Nissim for Purim, Psalm 22, the Seven Remembrances, benedictions recited before and after the Megillah reading, and fragments of the Shoshanat Yaakov liturgical poem.
The Book of Esther starts in the fifth panel and continues until the eighteenth (?) panel.
The text in the fifteenth panel is printed in 11 lines divided into two half-columns.
The sheets in the scroll are glued together.
No bibliography on the scroll is available.