The Haggadah is the service book used in Jewish households on Passover Eve to celebrate the Israelites’ deliverance from Egyptian enslavement as described in the Book of Exodus. After the Catholic monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella expelled Jews from Spain in 1492, theologian and statesman Isaac Abrabanel completed this commentary in the town of Monopoli (in present-day Italy). Also exiled was the Nahmias family of printers. Brothers David and Samuel Nahmias and the latter’s son ultimately journeyed to Constantinople and established the first press outside continental Europe that printed Hebrew with movable type, producing three of Abrabanel’s works.
This special exhibition at the Folger features rare books from the collection of Stuart and Mimi Rose that present literary, cultural, and historical high points.
