A love story with a difference, recounted by Patrice Chaplin

The Kennicott , possibly trator, Joseph ibn Hayyam, the most beautiful Hebrew and the result of their collab- manuscript in existence, has oration is, to quote the Encyc- been stored in the Bodleian lopaedia Judaica, 'The finest Library, Oxford, since 1872, surviving example of Spanish on show only to privileged Jewish Art . . . the culmination scholars and historians. Now, of the art of the .' thanks to the untiring efforts of Joseph ibn Hayyam's a London couple, Michael and unique illuminations in rich, Linda Falter, this masterpiece luxuriant colours made fabu- will surface in the form of 500 lous with superbly applied expertly produced facsimile gold and silver have a Moor- copies and so be available to ish, sometimes Gothic influ- the public for the first time. ence. Above all, they express The Bible was com- the artist's joyful originality, missioned in the fifteenth his love of fancy and splen- century by Isaac, the son of dour. Don Solomon di Braga, a pro- Produced at the very time minent Jew of La Coruna in Spain's were facing The North-West Spain. The much Inquisition, the Bible is a last, acclaimed scribe Moses ibn undying reminder of a once Zabara was chosen to produce glorious but lost heritage. the exquisite script. He From the beginning it was worked in an unusually har- designed as a lavish work-- monious fashion with his illus- 238 of the 922 pages are illu- wanted to put these to some with radiant health and viv- use.' acity, Linda was surprisingly Having come to that deci- alone and lonely in London. 'I sion at the , was working in my brother's Michael went to see David Pat- health club from 9 am until terson, the director of the 9 pm and I didn't know a soul Oxford Centre for Post Gradu- here. Eventually a friend of ate Hebrew Studies, who said my brother's introduced me In 1980, London businessman Michael Falter happened to see some to Michael. It was just at the Hebrew manuscripts in the British Museum. Shortly afterwards he met there was one manuscript Linda, now his wife. Two events which triggered off a remarkably ambi- above all worthy of repro- time he was going to the Bod- tious four-year endeavour to reproduce the Kennicott Bible, a work of duction and that was the Ken- leian Library so I went with exquisite craftmanship, examples of which are shown on these pages nicott Bible. him and for the first time we 'He arranged for me to visit saw the Kennicott Bible. I Ron May, the senior assistant remember the day as so minated, an unheard-of quan- might meet there.' He didn't librarian of Oriental Manu- bright and lovely. You see, I'd tity. quite meet Linda but he found scripts at the Bodleian Library, been shut in the basement It acquired its current name a display of beautifully illumi- the following week. I went health club and hardly saw from Benjamin Kennicott, the nated Hebrew manuscripts back to London feeling I was daylight.' English Christian Hebraist and decided then that he on the right track. I was. I met They fell in love, married who presented it to the Rad- would reproduce something Linda.' and now have a young son, cliffe Library in 1771. It was exquisite. Linda was born in Nott- Gideon. That was the easy transferred to the Bodleian An entrepreneurial printer's ingham and at sixteen trav- part. Bringing the Kennicott Library in 1872 and today is engineer, Michael's training elled to Mexico, France and Bible out into the world from considered one of Oxford's was in business management . At 19 she went to the library basement has been greatest treasures. though he had been born into work for the UN as a desk an exacting business, which As if by destiny, the Falters the printing industry — both officer in Geneva. After that obviously needed their com- met each other and The Kenni- his father and grandfather had she worked in Teheran for the bined skills. cott Bible more or less simul- been printers. He'd spent two Representative of Iran and How did they feel seeing the taneously. The following four years at the London College of Afghanistan at the ILO. Then Kennicott Bible for the first years were spent devoted to Printing, then set up his own she taught English and French time? Their procedure with the Bible's reproduction— business. 'I'd buy up second- in an Iranian school. Following the manuscript seemed very years not without defeat and hand printing machines, com- that she ran a restaurant in Los much like that of adopting a times of hopelessness. pletely take them apart, re- Angeles, 'The House of Iran.' baby. One Sunday afternoon in build them and sell them with Her next move was to be Tel 'On the first visit we weren't August 1980, Michael Falter a guarantee as new. Over the Aviv where she wanted to live allowed to touch it,' said had nothing to do. 'I was a years I'd acquired three if her brother hadn't needed Michael. 'Ron May carried it bachelor so I thought why not antique printing presses — help with his health club in up to his room and it really visit the British Museum. After the original hand-operated Kensington. was awe-inspiring. It's his all you never know who you ones from 1851 — and I An undeniably beautiful girl love as well, of course.' The Bodleian is not a public The sheet then has to dry, then library and permission to it goes through again. And enter is not easily obtained. each time there's an oppor- The goodwill of Ron May and tunity for an atmospheric the support of David Patterson change so the paper could facilitated their next visits. But distort and the next colour they had to convince the would be totally out of regis- publications officer and the ter. You could get it on the Board of Oxford University to ninth colour and it would give them a contract to pro- mean all that work has been duce the facsimile. wasted. At what point did they 'We'd seen hundreds of decide to take it on? printers and it was beginning Linda and Michael looked at to look hopeless. Then one each other and realised it had just turned up in London with never been a decision. It was his family from Italy. He said something they just had to do he had proofs of the paper, and they went right ahead and the transparency, the proofs did it. of the binding even. At first I 'What struck me when I saw thought it was a friend having it the second time was this a joke. But Luigi was real. He manuscript is five hundred came from Milan from a family years old and I'm sitting by it, of printers and the quality of as close as the original artist his work was astounding. The had been,' said Michael. 'It colour was fantastic. The gold was an emotional experience wasn't great but it had pro- to have so close to you this mise. We took him and his fabulous piece of history. So I family to the Bodleian and wanted to bring to light some- opened the manuscript and thing that would not normally his face dropped. He said, be seen.' "It's impossible. There's so 'No, we definitely didn't much gold. We don't have any decide to do it,' emphasised machinery to reproduce that Linda. 'It decided for us. It was sort of thing." So we drove something beautiful that took back to London and not a you away from the nastiness of word was spoken. He was everyday, a lovely thing to be very upset.' involved in. But the challenge And then the box binding, of reproducing it without the put out to top binderies in skills that were available , just could not be when it was originally exe- matched. cuted was formidable.' 'We got to a point,' said Michael pointed out that to Linda, 'where we nearly gave find a manuscript of that age in up. On each one of the such good condition was elements, the gold, the paper, unusual. The secret was in the the printing, the binding, we binding. It is one of only four were near defeat.' known works — all Jewish — They financed the venture bound on all six sides so when themselves and for two years closed it's completely sealed on speculation because they and no air can get in. still hadn't been granted a A week after visiting the contract from Oxford. They Bodleian the Falters set off had to finance the tests for the across Europe to find a English binderies. This took printer. In fact it took two and months and the costs were a half years to solve the print- exorbitant. The results were ing problem. That was disappointing. nothing compared with get- 'Part of the problem was ting the gold right. Then there that nobody knew how they was the paper problem. And constructed the box in the first the box binding. place.' At the same time, the The Bodleian's Ron May and Bible flanked by Michael and Linda Falter Once again the well-starred Oxford Committee would not our knowledge and will to nowhere on the European trip Italian printer found the sol- grant them the contract. They succeed.' we wrote to dozens of paper ution. He simply went to a felt it was too enormous an In Michael Falter's opinion, mills and eventually found a nearby binder in Milan who undertaking — the Falters had facsimile producers almost sort of greaseproof paper that produced a marvellous bind- produced no other facsimile, always take the easy way out. was formerly used for wrap- ing just from a photograph. apart from son Gideon! Their They print on beautifully sur- ping bread. It turned out to be 'No problems, no hassles,' going ahead would exclude faced paper which will pick unstable. It had no grain to it. said Michael. 'I wanted to do anyone else trying. Also The up every tiny detail and looks As soon as the atmosphere the binding here in England. If Oxford University Press itself great but happens to be changed the paper changed. you can't get a good one here, was considering reproducing opaque. But the mill was interested so I thought, where on earth are it. 'This avoids the problem of they eventually produced a you going to get it? We've got 'They were extremely dis- the "showthrough." Manu- paper to specification. It took a a fantastic tradition, after all. couraging,' said Michael. 'In scripts are transparent, trans- year, cost a fortune. The Italian produced a Moroc- fact they discouraged us so lucent not opaque. So we 'We're printing this fac- can goatskin over wooden much it took two years to get a wanted a vellum indis- simile with nine colours. But boards. There are geometric contract out of them. What tinguishable from the original. you can't just put a piece of designs on the six sides, helped was that OUP decided But sometimes the air can paper in one end of the embossed with handcut brass the facsimile was beyond its make a book destroy itself and machine and it comes out with dies. The original binding is capabilities. By then the com- we've taken good care that nine colours at the other. It damaged and even has a few mittee were impressed with this one won't. After getting goes in one colour at a time. holes. Well, we won't produce those, they're so ugly. We're 'The best way to photo- the best person to write it,' public should be able to view not going to take a pickaxe to graph it is to disbind it so we said Linda. The commentary a masterpiece but the trouble the binding to make it look can have the sheets flat but tells the story of the Kennicott is people are destroying, old. It will look like it did when they won't allow disbinding Bible, how it was created, its while adoring. Expertly pro- produced originally. But the even though it had been dis- history, the importance of the duced facsimiles solve that inside will look as it does bound a hundred years ago,' illuminations. In the Falters' problem.' today. The pages will have all said Michael. 'So we had to view, it's a wonderful piece of Looking back, how did the the stains that life has given find a way to photograph educational material in its own Falters feel about the last four them. But of course the work is inside the box. Luckily right. years? in particularly immaculate the Bodleian photographer, Production of the will Michael said, 'I'm sure condition.' Charles Braybrooke, is very begin in December and the Linda and I were destined to The problem of the gold good. To avoid damaging the last one will be finished in be together. And I had to do was resolved quite by coinci- original he has to photograph May. The Falters will stay in the Bible. I spent twelve years dence. One of Michael's con- through glass, but ordinary Milan to supervise the print- in the printing industry and tacts, a woman 'well-known in glass would cause discolour- ing. Every sheet will be another five trying to get out the manuscript field' in Milan, ing. So we had optically white brought to Oxford to be com- of it. But if you've got printing discussed the selling pro- glass manufactured to capture pared against the original. ink in your blood it stays gramme for the Bible. the true colours. It was pheno- The Bodleian and the there.' Depressed, Michael admitted menally expensive.' Oxford Committee are Linda said, 'I think we were his failure with the gold. By Did the Falters expect to delighted the Falters have meant to be together and to do chance her husband had make a profit? Five hundred been successful. And Dr something together. I think my made special gold foil that Bibles at 4,700 dollars each? Martin Brett, a medieval his- life up to meeting Michael was was used in the printing of Early subscribers get them for torian at Cambridge Univer- a preparation for that. A manuscripts. less. They said they'd be sity, enthusiastically endorses beautiful Hebrew Bible is a 'It hadn't been used much happy to break even. the idea of the facsimile. 'It very strong thing to do. After lately because no-one's pro- will protect the actual manu- all it will go on long after ducing manuscripts any more. 'We want to go on doing script. Some of these priceless we've kicked the bucket.' Well, it was terrific but had to this,' explained Linda. 'Not works simply fall apart in your As for Gideon, at three be put on by hand. So now we just Hebrew manuscripts hands. You feel their bindings months he'd already been to have to hand gild each illus- either. It's part of our life crack and it's a very uneasy all the printing works in Italy. tration — in other words, ten now.' feeling. Now scholars won't 'He wouldn't sleep during the thousand pages by hand.' Professor Bezalel Narkiss, have to keep referring to the night but he slept through all The photography of the an authority on Hebrew illumi- actual manuscript but to the the din of the printing Kennicott Bible is now under nated manuscripts, has writ- facsimile instead. Four thou- machines,' said Linda. 'The way. The Bodleian stipulated ten a commentary that will sand dollars or so is not harsh smell of the chemicals that only their photographer accompany the facsimile Bible expensive at today's publish- didn't worry him either.' He be used and the manuscript is in a separate volume. ing costs, especially as so can truly be said to be born not allowed to leave the build- 'It's such a high-quality much care has gone into this into the printing trade, fourth ing. manuscript that we had to get reproduction. The general generation. This article has been reproduced for your information and pleasure.

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