14th Century Bible with ‘Miraculous Story of Survival’ Auctioned for $6.9 Million

I think anybody who purchases a book of this magnitude understands that it needs to be made available to the widest audience possible.

By Shula Rosen

A Bible from the 14th century that survived upheavals in Safed, Baghdad, Tripoli, London, and Geneva over the course of seven centuries was purchased at Sotheby’s for $6.9 million.

Rabbi Shem Tov Ibn Gaon wrote the Bible in 1312 in Spain and took it to the mystical Israeli city of Safed before his death in 1333.

By taking the Bible with him, Rabbi Shem Tov Ibn Gaon preserved it from antisemitic riots in the 15th century, culminating in the Inquisition and the expulsion of Jews from Spain, which was responsible for the destruction of many Jewish books.

Sharon Liberman Mintz, international senior Judaica specialist for books and manuscripts at the auction house, told The Guardian, “Then it gets to Israel, which the crusaders overrun… [and] it manages to escape that.”

“It goes to Baghdad, and we know that the Jewish community of Baghdad witnessed all kinds of upheavals. It somehow makes its way to Tripoli. It’s in London during the Second World War – or probably in Letchworth – and survives the war. It’s had a miraculous journey of survival,” said Liberman Mintz.

The 800-page Bible, which combines Jewish, Christian, and Muslim aesthetic styles, was purchased by David Solomon Sassoon, the world’s pre-eminent collector of Hebrew manuscripts, in the early 20th century.

Before he died in 1942, he asked his son to tell his Shem Tov Bible and Torah, “We will return to you, and you will return to us; we will not forget you, neither in this world nor in the world to come.”

The Bible, which fetched the upper range of its estimated price of 5-7 million dollars, will be displayed publicly by those who purchased it.

Liberman Mintz said, “It was bought by private individuals who, understanding its supreme importance, are looking forward to making it available to the public.”

“I think anybody who purchases a book of this magnitude understands that it needs to be made available to the widest audience possible and is not going to bury it in some small library,” she added.