[Megillah of Esther].

Accession number: 
MS W.50
Title: 
[Megillah of Esther].
Created: 
[ca. 1700]
Credit: 
Bequest; Julia Parker Wightman; 1994.
Description: 
1 scroll, 4 sections stitched together (19 columns, 21 lines) : vellum, ill. ; 147 x 1704 mm
Provenance: 
Philip C. Duschnes, New York; purchased by Julia Parker Wightman from Duschnes in 1969; JPW 6534; Julia Parker Wightman Bequest in 1994.
Notes: 

Ms. book of Esther; written and decorated in eastern Europe, ca. 1700.
Written in Hebrew characters.
Decoration: Every two columns of text are separated by a painted column with barber-pole stripes; the full extension of the text is bordered above and below and at the outer end by painted sections of vine scroll interspersed with floral motifs, separated by large rosettes that are placed directly above the space between text columns that is not filled with a painted column.
On a separate piece of vellum, 140 x 87 mm, is written the prayer to be recited before and after the reading of the Megillah.
Binding: the scroll is attached to a hand-turned roller with knobs measuring 310 mm; enclosed in a cloth box with leather labels, upon which is stamped: MEGILLAH - MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM - CIRCA 1700.

Language: 
In Hebrew.
Century: 
Classification: