Abraham Bar Jacob
ABRAHAM BAR JACOB
ABRAHAM BAR JACOB (c. 1669–1730), convert to Judaism who worked as a copper engraver in Amsterdam. Born in Germany, Abraham b. Jacob had been a Christian pastor in the Rhineland before converting to Judaism. He was particularly celebrated for his collaboration in the Amsterdam Haggadah of 1695 to which he contributed a series of engravings partly copied from the Icones Biblicae of Mattheus Merian of Basle and a map of Palestine with Hebrew lettering. This work set a new fashion in Haggadot and served as a model for more than 200 years. Abraham b. Jacob's other works include the title pages to Joseph b. Ephraim *Caro's Shulḥan Arukh (1697–98), Isaiah b. Abraham *Horowitz's Shenei Luḥot ha-Berit (1698), and Joseph b. Ḥayyim Sarfati's Yad Yosef (1700); an amulet for women in childbirth; and a wall calendar for 130 years with baroque illustrations. The engraving of a portrait of ḥakhamIsaac *Aboab da Fonseca of Amsterdam, painted by Joseph b. Abraham, is also ascribed to him.
bibliography:
Wolf, Bibliotheca, 3 (1727), 39; Roth, Art, 444, 445, 521. add. bibliography: A. Yaari, Meḥkarei Sefer (1958), 250–51; H. Brodsky, in Jewish Art, 19 (1993/4), 148–57; idem, in: Journal of the Israel Map Collectors Society, 13 (1996) 37–43.