![]() From a distance this first image appears to be a galleon ship. Shown here are two examples of micrography from the collections of the Hebraic Section. Readers pore over the page to figure out what text has been used to create the image, where the text begins, and (since the text is usually known) if any words are missing. The lettering in these more modern micrographic prints is highly skilled, clear, and legible. These designs included ornamented marriage contracts, various Biblical texts, Biblical scenes, holy sites in Jerusalem, and portraits of royalty, famous Rabbis, and Jewish authors. They realized the potential of the lithographic press for making inexpensive reproductions of their micrographic designs. Jewish scribes then found new subjects and creative applications for this ancient art form. Metal typeface could not replicate the micrographic detail that the pen could make. With the invention of printing in the mid-15th century, fewer manuscript Bibles were produced. Whereas the first use of micrography was only for the pleasure of Bible readers and scholars, since it was a decorative way of conveying the masorah, in later centuries micrography also became a technique for enhancing the beauty of Bible and prayer book manuscripts and appealed to a broader audience. In Jewish micrography, however, one unique feature is that the minute text usually draws the outline of the subject. Using one’s alphabet for decorative purposes and the belief in the holiness of the written word are not unique to the Jews. This scribal innovation eventually became a tradition.Īccording to Professor Laila Avrin (1935-1999), an expert on micrography, this Jewish art form spread to Yemen and then to Europe, where it reached the height of its popularity between the 13th and 15th centuries, and retained a unique style. Transforming the marginal notes into designs was an outlet for scribal creative talents. He also gained the freedom to decorate the Bible in the style of the period. When the standard form of holy books changed from the scroll to the codex, the scribe gained freedom to introduce vowel points, cantillation marks, and masoretic notes* into the margins. Part of their craft included writing biblical verses in small script for mezuzot (small doorpost scrolls) and as inserts for Tefillin (phylacteries a small leather box containing Hebrew texts on vellum, worn by Jewish men at morning prayer as a reminder to keep the law). ![]() ![]() These Jewish ritual scribes were already adept at writing in tiny script. Later, it was also frequently transformed into animals and flowers. In the earliest Bible codices, the decoration was usually geometric and abstract, in deference to the iconoclastic nature of the local Islamic art. The purpose of this information was to preserve and stabilize the accuracy of the sacred text. The information included counting and listing each word in the Hebrew Bible, how many times it was used, and where else in the Bible it appeared in exactly the same grammatical form. Originally, this tiny script was used as marginal notations in Bible manuscripts and it conveyed the masorah, the traditional way of writing and/or reading the Biblical text. The earliest dated example of micrography is the Ben Asher Codex of the Prophets (dated 895-6 CE, Cairo). This is a Jewish form of embellishment of Biblical texts, developed in the late 9th century, and first used by Jewish scribes in the Holy Land and in Egypt. Micrography is minute script written into abstract patterns or formed into figurative designs such as the shape of animals, flowers or human figures. (The following is a post by Sharon Horowitz, reference librarian in the Hebraic Section of the African and Middle Eastern Division.)
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