The Fisher Library is home to a copy of the magnificent facsimile of the Szyk Haggadah, sumptuously illuminated by the renowned Polish-born artist Arthur Szyk in the 1930s. The book is a masterpiece of book production and is said to surpass the original in every way, taking advantage of every recent advance in photography, colour reproduction, papermaking and typography. The book is accompanied by a companion volume which places Szyk and the Haggadah in their historical contexts, along with a CD which describes the making of this beautiful book.
Complementing the Haggadah are a limited edition set of playing cards illustrated by Szyk. Titled "Heroes of ancient Israel: the playing card art of Arthur Szyk," each of the cards features a hero of ancient Israel: four kings - Saul, David, Solomon and Hezekiah; four women of courage - Deborah, Ruth, Esther and Judith - as the queens; and four warriors - Judah Maccabee, Simon Bar Giora, Bar Kokhba and John of Giscala - as the jacks. The boxed set includes two decks of playing cards: one a collector's deck with the images full size, the second a player's deck with the images reduced and doubled, a suite of twelve fine art prints featuring each of the figures and a 60-page book explaining the imagery of the portraits and providing historical background.
Below are some of the images from the book and the cards.
