Description:
A presentation of the intellectual and social universe of the Sephardi Jewish world of thirteenth-century Spain seen through moralistic animal fables in Hebrew, translated into English as rhymed couplets. The fables, which comprise moral debates rich in contemporary satire, also include disquisitions on such subjects as time, the soul, the physical sciences and medicine, astronomy, and astrology, suffused throughout with traditional Jewish law and lore. With full explanatory notes and scholarly apparatus and complete sets of illustrations from the Rothschild manuscript and the 1547 Venice edition.
Review Quotes:
'A magnificent English translation ... What we have here is, beyond doubt, a precious specimen of a purpose to which the Hebrew language could be put in Spain, quite apart from the book's value as an example of knowledge concerning philosophy and medicine available in thirteenth-century Castile.'
Joseph F. O'Callaghan, Alcanate: Revista de Estudios Alfonsies
David Patterson, Jewish Chronicle 'Whether one is interested in medieval Hebrew texts or Spanish folklore or satire as a literary form, there is much in this splendid recreation of Meshal haqadmoni in English to enchant the student and careful reader alike. It is indeed a very worthy addition to the Littman Library of Jewish Civilization.'
Cyril K. Harris, Jewish Affairs 'The text is beautifully and clearly laid out in both languages, and carefully annotated throughout. It is also generously illustrated ... It is rich in interest for both the historian and the Hebrew scholar.' Erica Gordon, Jewish Renaissance 'In this sumptuous bilingual edition, a bibliophile's delight, typeset with extraordinary care ... Raphael Loewe, whom Nicholas de Lange has called the doyen of medieval Hebrew studies in Britain", for the first time presents a complete English translation with commentary of the fables ... Ibn Sahula's magnum opus is undoubtedly his book of fables, written c.1281 in rhyming, often biblical prose, which Loewe has sympathetically imitated in his translation and masterfully explained in his notes ... an introduction to the social, cultural, and intellectual history of Sephardi Jews in the Middle Ages that can hardly be bettered anywhere else for stimulating brilliance.'
Stefan Schreiner, Judaica 'In addition, the typographical production is first-rate and a credit to the Littman Library, which is rescuing-for scholars working over a wide spectrum-works comprised within the great spiritual and cultural heritage of medieval Judaism, making them available by the hands of specialist in the relevant fields with due attention to their aesthetic presentation. Into the exhaustive introduction Loewe has distilled years of lovingly accurate scholarship not limited to the text itself, but envisaging also its social, political, and cultural context in thirteenth-century Spain. The result is an excellent monograph that sets the Meshal haqadmoni not only against its cultural and political background, but likewise within biblical and rabbinic tradition, whilst also resurrecting the genre of literary expression of its medieval presentation.'
Rafael Vicent, Salesianum 'Richly illustrated, luxuriously produced ... his most important publication so far ... The volumes are endlessly entertaining and learned, and form an essential part of any Jewish library.'
Jeremy Schonfield, Sephardi Bulletin