A special 'Yedioth Achronoth' edition of the Szyk Haggadah with ornate silver-plated binding, housed in its original box.

'The book is a masterpiece, one that should increase the happiness of every one of its possessors, who will find new interest and new delight every time he opens its pages' (The Jewish Chronicle).

Arthur Szyk (1894-1951), a Polish-Jewish artist, produced works characterised by social and political comment, rejecting modernism and drawing on the traditions of medieval and renaissance painting, especially illuminated manuscripts from those periods. Unlike most caricaturists, Szyk always showed great attention to the colour effects and details in his works.

Szyk's drawings and paintings became even more politically engaged when Hitler took power in Germany in 1933. Szyk started drawing the Führer's caricatures as early as 1933; probably, the first work the artist directed against the leader of the Third Reich was a drawing of Hitler, made in pencil, in which he was shown as a new pharaoh. These drawings anticipated the zenith of Szyk's arts: The Haggadah, his magnum opus. Szyk illustrated it in 48 drawings in the years between 1932 and 1938, and the growing political situation in Germany at that time persuaded him to introduce some contemporary elements to it. These referred to, in particular, the parable of the four sons, in which the 'wicked son' was portrayed as a man wearing German clothes, with a Hitler-like moustache. The expression of the series was even stronger in its original version: the drawings showed snakes with swastikas, there were also heads of Hermann Göring and Joseph Goebbels.

In 1937, Arthur Szyk went to London to supervise the publication of The Haggadah. However, the artist had to agree to many compromises during the next three years, including painting over all the swastikas. It is not clear whether he did this as a result of pressure from his publisher or from British politicians, who pursued a policy of appeasement with Nazi Germany.

Finally, The Haggadah was published in London in late 1940 (and not 1939, which is the date of Szyk's opening words; see Roth). The artist dedicated it to King George VI, and the work was widely acclaimed by critics. According to The Times, it was 'worthy to be placed among the most beautiful of books that the hand of man has ever produced'.

Offered here is a later, more compact reissue printed on paper for Yedioth Ahronoth, long established as Israel's leading daily newspaper. During the 1950s and 1960s, the newspaper published special holiday Haggadot. For a young nation integrating a rapidly growing immigrant population, the Passover Seder was a vital, unifying cultural anchor. Yedioth Ahronoth masterfully met this societal moment by offering ornate, luxury Haggadot as festive promotions for its subscribers - seamlessly marrying a successful marketing campaign with a profound cultural milestone.

First edition thus; 8vo, publisher's silver-plated ornate binding, housed in publisher's cardboard box (rubbed and reinforced with tape); inscription in English to endpaper dated 'June 11th 1968', rubbing and marginal tears to few of the first and last leaves, closed tear to bottom margin of one of the plates, not affecting image; text in English and Hebrew.