Jewish Art and Civilization - Geoffrey Wigoder (Ed.) - Chartwell Books 1972

This richly illustrated volume, Jewish Art and Civilization, edited by Geoffrey Wigoder, presents a panoramic survey of Jewish artistic expression across centuries and continents. Originally published in 1972 by Office du Livre (Fribourg, Switzerland), this Chartwell Books first U.S. printing reissues the same year's foundational text, offering authoritative essays by leading scholars on the visual, ceremonial, architectural, and cultural traditions of Jewish communities from the Middle East and Europe to North America and Israel. The book features hundreds of black-and-white and color photographs that document manuscript illumination, ritual objects, synagogue art, folk motifs, and modern artistic interpretations within a broad historical framework. The volume is Near Fine in dark blue cloth, clean and sharp, with bright gilt spine titling, tight binding, and pristine interior pages free of marks or inscriptions. The dust jacket is also Near Fine, unusually well-preserved for the title: bright, crisp, and without tears, stains, toning, or any evidence of repair. It remains exceptionally fresh, presenting far better than typically found for early Chartwell art volumes and now protected in an archival mylar sleeve. Bibliographically, this is the Reprint Edition, First Chartwell Books Printing (1972), produced with permission from the original Swiss publisher. The copyright page shows no later printings, consistent with Chartwell's first-state production of its early 1970s large-format reference titles. This Hong Kong-printed issue is known for strong photographic reproduction and durable binding, both well represented in this copy. This comprehensive reference brings together contributions from an international roster of scholars including Haim Z'ew Hirschberg, Moshe Catane, Shlomo Simonsohn, Hermann Goldschmidt, Joseph Michman-Melkman, Vivian D. Lipman, Abraham Karp, and Yaakov Tsur. Their essays provide accessible yet scholarly examinations of Jewish visual culture, symbolism, and artistic continuity, making this volume an enduring resource for collectors, educators, and students of Judaica and world art.…