The text of the Shem Tov Bible is also imbued with mystical significance as Rabbi Shem Tov added a kabbalistic dimension to the Hebrew letters of the bible. Within the pages of the bible, Rabbi Shem Tov inscribed the text of Sefer Tagei, (literally “Book of Crownlets”) a medieval text considered among the earliest authoritative works specifying exactly how Jewish scribes should write out the holy letters of the bible.
The tagei (crowns on the Hebrew letters) and the letters written in unusual shapes were understood to contain many deep kabbalistic secrets, and the Shem Tov Bible contains one of only four known surviving copies of the complete Sefer Tagei. The kabbalistic meaning of these letters with unusual forms remains a mystery today.
The auction this September marks the first appearance at auction for the Shem Tov Bible since 1984, when it established a new record price for a Hebrew manuscript at the time.
Originally created as a personal bible for Rabbi Shem Tov - the structure of the text suggests that it was intended primarily for study and not for liturgical use - the book later passed to the Nasi (literally prince, leader of the Jewish community) Sar Shalom ben Pinhas, who lived in Egypt and then Baghdad. The whereabouts of the bible is then unclear for centuries until it is recorded in the collection of the Seror family, a leading Jewish family in Tripoli, today part of Libya, in the 19th century. During the 19th century the bible was venerated for its amuletic properties- if a woman were experiencing a difficult labor, it would be brought into her home to ease the delivery. It was purchased by David Sassoon, the world's preeminent collector of Hebrew manuscripts, from the Seror family in 1909.
In addition to the textual and spiritual significance of this bible, it is also a masterpiece of scribal art. Throughout the 768-page manuscript there are numerous pages of intricate illumination, fusing elements of Jewish, Christian, and Islamic artistic traditions.
“The Shem Tov Bible is an essential piece of religious history that plays a critical part in the faithful, accurate transmission of the Hebrew bible as we understand it today," said Sharon Liberman-Mintz, Sotheby's International Senior Judaica Specialist, Books & Manuscripts. "Its connection to the famed Codex Hilleli cannot be overstated, providing a critical bridge to this lost and mythic text. Even more than the deeply important spiritual significance of this text, the pages of the bible, crafted during the Golden Age of Spain, sing with the harmony of Jewish, Christian, and Islamic artistic traditions, and speak to the incredibly fertile moment of cultural dialogue that flourished at the time.”
Before September, the Shem Tov Bible will be on view at Sotheby’s New York June 21 - 26 alongside treasures from its Important Judaica sale running June 27.
