The Haggadah.

£37,500 · Offered by Shapero Rare Books

a masterpiece... that should increase the happiness of every one of its possessors 'The book is a masterpiece, one that should increase the happiness of every one of its possessors, who will find new interest and new delight every time he opens its pages' (The Jewish Chronicle). This copy was given as a Rosh Hashanah present by Mr Cyril Joshua Ross (1891-1973) to Prof. Samson Wright (a renowned British medical physiologist). Both men were leading Zionist figures in London's Jewish community during the mid-20th century. The short typed letter inserted in the book reads: 'Dear Professor Wright, / will you accept this gift (I can think of no more appropriate one to send you) as a token of my regard for you and your work in the community. I know in sending it that you will treasure it and add it to your library of outstanding works. / I take this opportunity of wishing you and your family a very happy New Year, in which Mrs. Ross joins me. / Yours sincerely, Cyril.' Arthur Szyk (1894-1951), a Polish-Jewish artist, produced works characterised by social and political comment, and in their formal aspect - by the rejection of modernism and drawing on the traditions of medieval and renaissance painting, especially illuminated manuscripts from those periods. Unlike most caricaturists, Szyk always showed great attention to the colour effects and details in his works. Szyk's drawings and paintings became even more politically engaged when Hitler took power in Germany in 1933. Szyk start

• Binding: Hardcover

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