Brother Haggadah Book A Medieval Sephardic Masterpiece in Facsimile - Thames & Hudson

Haggadot commissioned by wealthy patrons in the Middle Ages are among the most beautiful Hebrew manuscripts, and the Brat Hagada — so called due to its close connection with the Rylands Haggadah in the John Rylands Library collection, Manchester — is one of the finest surviving examples. Created by Sephardic — or Iberian — artists and scribes in Catalonia in the second quarter of the 14th century, it depicts the liturgy and sequence of the Passover seder, a ritual holiday during which Jewish families thank for the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt, as described in the Book of Exodus. The manuscript covers all eight days associated with this holiday and includes liturgical verses, most of the morning liturgy, biblical readings, and an untranslated commentary on the Haggadah.

This finely produced facsimile edition includes an introduction by Marc Michael Epstein, who presents the background of Passover and analyzes the manuscript’s iconographic scheme. Jeremy Schonfield focuses on both the texts and the use of the manuscript as a physical object. Below are essays on the origin of the Brat Hagada by Ilana Tahan and on the Shaltiel family, former owners of the manuscript, by Eliezer Laine. The book also contains translations of the verses and commentary in the manuscript by the late Raphael Loewe (d. 2011), former Professor of Hebrew at Goldsmiths’ College, University of London, as well as a translation of the Haggadah liturgy. This book is both a visual feast and an important scholarly work that will delight and inform all those involved in Jewish art, history, and faith, as well as anyone interested in the finest medieval art.

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Walter Neurath was born in Vienna in 1903. In 1938, he left his hometown — where he ran an art gallery and published illustrated books — for London. Initially, he worked as a production director at Adprint, a company founded by Viennese émigré Wolfgang Foges. Neurath and Foges developed an innovative concept of what is now called book packaging (or co-publishing), where ideas for books are developed, ordered, produced, and sold to publishers operating across different markets and languages to create large editions and thus reduce unit production costs. Neurath’s concept was the first of many innovations introduced into the publishing world by Thames & Hudson.

Seeking to continue the packaging of collectible books in a second edition and recognizing the need to amortize the high costs of producing illustrated books, Neurath founded his own publishing house, with offices in London and New York, in the fall of 1949. Eva Neurath, who arrived in London from Berlin in 1939, was a co-founder.

Of the ten titles published on the first list by Thames & Hudson in 1950, *English Cathedrals*, with photographs by Martin Hürlimann, were the first and most successful. The strong brand conviction regarding the longevity of their books remained in print until 1971. In the first year of publication, Albert Einstein’s *Out of My Later Years* also appeared, an early indicator of the program’s breadth. As the list gradually expanded—from ten titles in 1950 to 144 in 1955—the company moved its offices to High Holborn and in 1956 relocated to a Georgian townhouse at 30 Bloomsbury Street, near Bedford Square, becoming the epicenter of book publishing in London. The manufacturing remained at this address, eventually expanding to five houses by 1999, when it returned to High Holborn.

In 1958, Thames & Hudson launched one of their most renowned series, *World of Art*, which became the foundation of a highly diverse list. Characterized by pocket-sized editions with black spines, the series expanded in just seven years to include 49 titles. Nearly 60 years later, the series boasts over 300 titles, which, according to Christopher Frayling, are “splattered with paint copies” in every art school across the country.

Other important series that added depth and prestige to the list include *Ancient People and Places*, edited by Glyn Daniel, who since the 1950s contributed to pioneering interest in archaeology, both in book form and television. Over 34 titles have been published in this series over 34 years. The large-format *Great Civilizations* series, published in 1961, featured contributions from esteemed scholars such as Alan Bullock, Asa Briggs, Hugh Trevor-Roper, A. J. P. Taylor, and John Julius Norwich.
After establishing one of the most significant publishing houses in Europe in less than two decades, Walter Neurath died in 1967 at the age of 63. Sculptor Henry Moore wrote that “his death was a loss to our cultural life.” Sir Herbert Read noted that Neurath “more than anyone else was responsible for the revolution in art publishing,” and he was “one of those rare entrepreneurs who successfully combine business acumen with idealism.” Eva Neurath became chairwoman. Walter’s son, Thomas, who joined the company in 1961 along with his sister Constance, became managing director; Constance later served as artistic director for several decades. Both Thomas and Constance remain on the Thames & Hudson board, as do Thomas’s daughters, Johanna and Susanna.
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The year 2016 marked an extraordinary new chapter for the company, announcing publishing partnerships with two of the world’s most important museums: the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum.

The world of art and scholarship remains at the heart of Thames & Hudson’s publishing program, which stays true to its core principle: providing a “museum without walls.”
Today, Thames & Hudson is a recognizable international brand, a symbol of British publishing. Their catalog includes thousands of incredible titles, many of which are prestigious collectible editions.

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