The Kennicott Bible: A Masterpiece of Jewish Book Art with Katrin Kogman-Appel (Bodleian Library, 2023)

October 15, 2026

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The Kennicott Bible, copied and illuminated in 1476 in La Coruña, in the northwest of what had recently become Spain, is one of the most lavishly decorated Hebrew manuscripts to survive. It contains all twenty-four books of the Hebrew Bible, plus a grammatical treatise by David Kimhi, all for a young patron named Isaac son of Solomon de Braga. Its 450 folios (900 pages) are richly illuminated, and the volume’s design, as Professor Katrin Kogman-Appel explains, tells a story not just of religious study but of status, politics, and the precarious position of Iberian Jews less than two decades before the expulsion from Spain.

A Study Bible for a Wealthy Patron

The Kennicott Bible is a “study Bible,” not a liturgical one. Liturgical Bibles arrange prophetic readings according to the weekly Torah portions for synagogue use. Study Bibles, by contrast, present the books in their canonical order, and the Kennicott Bible does exactly that. Its inclusion of David Kimhi’s Sefer Mikhlol, a grammar treatise, suggests the intended reader was not a rabbinic scholar but a young man who needed help understanding the Hebrew text. The scribe, Moses ibn Zabara, did everything himself—copying, vocalizing, punctuating, and proofreading—which was unusual. In major centers, different specialists handled these tasks, but in Galicia, far from the hubs of Iberian Jewish culture, such experts may

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What you'll learn

1 (01:52) **Guest Introduction & Research Focus** - Katrin Kogman-Appel introduces herself as a professor of medieval Jewish studies and describes her field of book culture.
2 (04:24) **How the Book Was Produced** - Kogman-Appel explains the design and purpose of the Bodleian Library's publication on the Kennicott Bible.
3 (06:21) **Introducing the Kennicott Bible** - The original manuscript is described: a full Hebrew Bible copied and illuminated in 1476 in La Coruña, Galicia.
4 (09:02) **Why Include a Grammar Treatise?** - The significance of adding David Kimchi’s grammatical work is explored.
5 (12:36) **The Bible as a Status Symbol** - The lavish illuminations suggest the book was more than a study tool.
6 (13:43) **The Unusual Artist’s Colophon** - The manuscript contains a rare, signed colophon by the illustrator, Joseph ibn Hayyim.
7 (17:39) **Evidence of Jewish Painters** - The artist’s signature provides key evidence about the identity of manuscript painters.

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Show Notes

Katrin Kogman-Appel is a professor of Medieval Jewish history with research focusing on book culture, readers, and reading practices in medieval Europe and beyond. In The Kennicott Bible: A Masterpiece of Jewish Book Art (Bodleian Library, 2023) she discusses the text of the 24 canonized books of the Bible that is paired with David Kimchi's grammatical treatise “Sefer Miklol”. Katrin discussed the Kennecott Bible, a medieval Hebrew manuscript that contains unique illustrations and Masoretic text annotations. She explained that the manuscript draws inspiration from various sources including the Severa Bible and playing cards from the Rhineland and Netherlands, with some illustrations depicting animals in unusual positions and a political allegory involving hares, wolves, cats, and mice. Katrin described the Masoretic text as a lexical apparatus designed for precision in transmitting the canonical Hebrew text, and emphasized that the Bible served as a status symbol and public art piece for Jewish elites despite having no public art in synagogues.

A collection of reproduced images from the Kennicott Bible, a remarkable artifact from the Middle Ages. The Kennicott Bible is one of the most celebrated Hebrew Bibles that survives today, having delighted readers since its creation in 1476. Originating from La Coruña in northern Spain, it features lavish carpet pages, gold leaf silhouettes, and abundant marginal decorations. This extraordinary manuscript is a treasure trove of history, culture, devotion, art, and cross-cultural collaboration. This book features reproductions of the decorated pages of the stunning manuscript, accompanied by four chapters authored by experts in the fields of Bible study, book history, and medieval Jewish art. The authors discuss the Bible from several perspectives, explaining the Hebrew text of the Bible, the scribe who created the pages, the layout and paleography, and the illuminator who produced the Bible's decoration and its imagery. This volume also includes an analysis of the early medieval commentary on the Old Testament, the Masorah. Richly illustrated throughout, this beautiful book makes a treasure of Jewish art available for a new audience, alongside the latest scholarship on its origins, provenance, and creation.

Analyzing these ancient texts in historical context helps to enrich our understanding of the effects and reactions to historical and cultural events.

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