Beautifully illuminated Hebrew alphabet book with gilt illustrations. Ze'ev Raban, born Wolf Rawicki (1890-1970) was a leading painter, decorative artist and industrial designer of the Bezalel School, and considered to be one of the founders of the Israeli art world. He was born in Lodz, Ploland, studied there, then in Munich, Paris and Brussels. His illustrations show an eclectic mix of European and Oriental styles, as can be seen in his biblical works, which include the Book of Ruth, the Book of Job, the Book of Esther, the Passover Haggadah and others.

The Bezalel School was founded in 1906 in Jerusalem by Boris Schatz, an artist and academic, and was the first art school to be established in the Holy Land in the 20th century. The establishment of Bezalel was initiated by Schatz, who discussed his vision of opening an art school in the Land of Israel with Herzl, while the two met in 1903 in Vienna at the sixth Zionist Congress. Schatz chose to call the school 'Bezalel' after the biblical artist Bezalel ben Uri ben Hur, mentioned in the book of Exodus as the artist chosen by God to build the Tabernacle (hamishkan in Hebrew). According to the scripture this artist worked in silver, gold, copper, stone and wood. By founding his art school Schatz aimed to establish a national style of art, blending classical Jewish, European and Middle-Eastern traditions. In addition to traditional sculpture and painting training, the school ran craft workshops that produced decorative art objects in silver, leather, wood, brass and fabric, which were sold at exhibitions in Europe and the United States.

Following a personal invitation from Schatz Raban moved to Palestine in 1912 and joined the faculty of Bezalel, where he taught until 1929.

First edition; 4to (250 x 175 mm), publisher's illuminated boards with gilt Hebrew title, corners rubbed; gilt illustrations, occasional minor staining, text in Hebrew; [16] ll.