Ku-bukh (Book of Cows)

1595

Printed page of Yiddish text framed by woodcut of figures on curved archway and columns framing text. — Title page of the first known printed version of the *Ku-bukh* (*Book of Cows*), a sixteenth-century collection of Yiddish fables, published in Verona, Italy in 1595. The later compendium of Yiddish stories known as *Mayse-bukh* (*Book of Stories*) condemned the *Ku-bukh*, whose tone has been described as “earthy,” as morally corrupting. Two women working are depicted at the bottom. The one on the left may be carding wool, or using a small, tabletop loom, while the one on the right is weaving cloth at a full-size loom.

Credits

Moshe N. Rosenfeld and Abraham Basevi, title page from The Book of Cows: A Facsimile Edition of the Famed Kuhbuch, Verona 1595, from a Unique Copy in a Private Collection (London: Hebraica Books, 1984). Harvard University Libraries.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 5.

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Details

Public Access

Image

Language:

Yiddish

Places:

Verona, Venice (Verona, Italy)

Subjects:

Cartooning & graphic art

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