Home
Art Alone
© British Library, Photographer: Unknown, -, Negative/Photo. No. M003570.
Name/Title
BL Herlingen Miniature Esther Scroll | Unknown
Object Detail
miniature Esther scroll
Date
ca. 1735
Synagogue active dates
Reconstruction dates
Historical Origin
Unknown
Community
Unknown |
Location
Unknown |
Site
Unknown
School/Style
Unknown|
Period
Period Detail
Category
Material/Technique
Ink on parchment + silver
Material Stucture
Material Decoration
Material Bonding
Material Inscription
Material Additions
Material Cloth
Material Lining
Tesserae Arrangement
Density
Colors
Construction material
Measurements
The scroll: 50x94 mm.
Dimensions of the selected details in the scroll:
- illustrations: 12x12 mm;
- an average letter in the scroll: max. 0,5 mm;
- columns of text: 48x29 mm;
- spaces between columns of text: ca. 2,5 mm;
- upper and lower margins: 2 mm.

The roller: 75 mm (height).
Height
Length
Width
Depth
Circumference
Thickness
Diameter
Weight
Axis
Panel Measurements
Condition

The manuscript is not very well preserved.

The right edge of the membrane is damaged, the membrane is crumpled and there are some edge splits on it.

The beginning is dirty.

Extant
Documented by CJA
Surveyed by CJA
Present Usage
Present Usage Details
Condition of Building Fabric
Architectural Significance type
Historical significance: Event/Period
Historical significance: Collective Memory/Folklore
Historical significance: Person
Architectural Significance: Style
Architectural Significance: Artistic Decoration
Urban significance
Significance Rating
Description

The pen-and-ink drawings adorning the scroll are placed in the spaces between the columns of text and partly inside them. Two of them depict the narrative scenes from the Esther story that - due to their size and state of preservation of the manuscript - are difficult to interpret. It seems they can be based on two engravings by Jakob Philipp Franck adorning the megillot (see in the Index).

The illustration on the right possibly depicts a man holding a book before the enthroned King Ahasuerus (it may allude to Es. 6:1). Additionally, some outlines of the triumph of Mordechai (Es. 6:11) can be discerned on the left. The second scene may depict Queen Esther before the king while he extends his scepter to her, and Mordechai kneeling in front of him, while he receives the ring and becomes the new royal vizier (Es. 8:2-4).

The third illustration (on the left margin of the membrane) is partly visible and it is impossible to recognize its content.

Custom
Contents

The Book of Esther in Hebrew is followed by the benediction recited after the Megillah reading and fragments of the liturgical poem Shoshanat Yakov.

Codicology

The whole text is written in black ink on a single parchment membrane in 3 columns containing 60, 61, and 51 lines. In the last column, the additional texts are written in several more lines.

Not all lines in the column are of the same length.

The parchment is very thin, delicate, rather grey, and suede.

The letter ת (Es. 9:29) is enlarged as well as the letters in the fragments of the Shoshanat Yaakov poem.

Scribes
Script
Number of Lines
Ruling
Pricking
Quires
Catchwords
Hebrew Numeration
Blank Leaves
Direction/Location
Façade (main)
Endivances
Location of Torah Ark
Location of Apse
Location of Niche
Location of Reader's Desk
Location of Platform
Temp: Architecture Axis
Arrangement of Seats
Location of Women's Section
Direction Prayer
Direction Toward Jerusalem
Signature
The manuscript is not signed but based on its style it is attributed to Aaron Wolf(f) ben Benjamin Zeev Herlingen of Gewitsch, one of the most prolific Jewish artist-scribes of the 18th century. For his other works see "Related objects".
Colophon

None

Scribal Notes
Watermark
Trade Mark
Binding
Decoration Program
Summary and Remarks

On the blank side of the sheet, a seal of the British Museum can be seen.

The manuscript is stored in a box visible on image no. 355976.

Another miniature megillah executed by Aaron Herlingen is stored at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem (see https://www.imj.org.il/en/collections/397975; accessed on 12.07.2021).

History/Provenance

Inside a lid of the box in which the manuscript was formerly stored, there is an English inscription: "Bought of W.R. Berliner March 27. 1843" (it can be seen on image no. 355976).

Main Surveys & Excavations
Bibliography

A short description of the scroll and its images are available on http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Or_4670 (accessed on 12.07.2021).

George Margoliouth, Catalogue of the Hebrew and Samaritan Manuscripts in the British Museum, 4 vols (London 1899-1935; vols I-III repr. 1965); IV, Introduction, Indexes, ed. by Jacob Leveen (London 1977), no. 41, p. 18.

A more extensive literature on the other works by Aaron Herlingen of Gewitsch is available.

Short Name
Full Name
Volume
Page
Type
Documenter
Dagmara Budzioch | 2021
Researcher
Dagmara Budzioch | 2021
Architectural Drawings
|
Computer Reconsdivuction
|
Section Head
|
Language Editor
|
Donor
|