Seder Birkat ha-mazon (Grace after Meals and other prayers and blessings)
Description
This miniature book contains the Grace after Meals with the usual
supplements for Hanukkah and Purim, as well as various blessings,
such as the Shema prayer before retiring at night or for the
enjoyment of certain things. The book has an illustrated title
page, 19 individual illustrations, five decorated boxes containing
individual letters or initial words and a decorated text passage.
On the title page the artist did not record his name, but did note
that the manuscript was created in Nikolsburg (Czechia) in 1725
during the reign of Emperor Charles VI. Like other Birkat ha-mason,
this one, too, was written for a woman: a fly-leaf, added later,
contains an elaborate ornament with a dedication to Fradche, wife
of Moses Gundersheim. A comparison with the writing and
illustrations in a similar work from 1728 in the Kongelige
Bibliotek in Copenhagen (Cod. Hebr. XXXII) shows that both Birkat
ha-mason manuscripts were created by the same artist, namely Samuel
ben Zewi Hirsch Drenitz, who was active in Nikolsburg.
Place
Preferred form
Mikulov (South Moravian, Czech Republic)
Original form
Nikolsburg, [copied and illustrated by Samuel ben Zevi Hirsch Dresnitz]
