List of Abbreviations
Introduction
The Life of Isaac Ibn Sahula • Literary Structure and Synopsis • Ibn Sahula as Fabulist • Philosophy and Science: The Excursuses • The Spanish Historical Background • The Social Context of the Fables • Hebrew Solecisms • The Text • The Illustrations • Translations
Meshal haqadmoni: Fables from the Distant Past
Dedication • Prologue • Introduction • Preface • Part I: On Wisdom • Part II: On Penitence • Part III: On Sound Counsel • Part IV: On Humility • Part V: On Reverence • Epilogue
Appendices
Astronomical Diagrams • Supplementary Notes to the Poem • Notes to
the Illustrations
Bibliography
Index of Passages Quoted
General Index
Raphael Loewe was formerly Goldsmid Professor of Hebrew at University College London, having previously taught at the University of Leeds and held a research fellowship at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge and a visiting professorship at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. His publications concern various aspects of Judaism in late antiquity and the Middle Ages, and include much translation. His English translations of a substantial number of liturgical poems for the Passover season are contained in his Rylands Haggadah (1988), and others—among them the Royal Crown—in his Ibn Gabirol (1989). His translation of FitzGerald’s Omar Khayyám into medieval Hebrew verse was published in 1982. He is also a contributing author of the companion volumes to the facsimile editions of the Barcelona Haggadah (1992), the Rothschild Haggadah (2000), the Parma Psalter (1996), and the North French Miscellany (2002). Many other translations remain unpublished, being privately circulated among friends.
'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
'Beautifully produced and comprises 816 pages of immaculate
scholarship and human interest ... the translator has fully
achieved his intention of conveying in English the impact and
artistic impression of the original ... the overall effect is
highly admirable ... a most informative introduction ... The
extraordinary value of this work is that it can be appreciated by
readers who have no Hebrew as well as by readers with a good
command of the language. Moreover the excellent and thoroughly
researched notes make these volumes attractive to Hebrew scholars.
The volumes are further enhanced by a series of detailed and
informative appendices and useful indices, together with a
wide-ranging bibliography ... It is rare that one has the privilege
of being able to recommend a major work in every way. This
publication deserves the widest possible distribution and it
clearly confirms Professor Raphael Loewe as the doyen of medieval
Hebrew scholarship in this country, and perhaps beyond.'
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
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