The song Chad Gadya, “Just One Kid”, is arguably the most widely appreciated of the Seder’s concluding songs. In 1926, Bezalel published this small volume of Raban illustrations for the text of the song. This modestly sized publication has paper covers and 6 internal leaves with one image for each of the verses. While every image references the Holy Land as location, the styling clearly recalls the modernist trends of early 20th century Europe. We are pleased to have obtained a copy of this classic that is in such good condition; there is a small, clean tear on the lower right edge of the front cover extending into the second leaf, and two small tears on the final page. The colors and print are wonderfully vibrant and, apart from handling marks on the front cover, the volume is clean with only slight time aging.

height – “6 5/8; width – 4 3/4“

This small (4 x 2 3/4 in.) watercolor and pencil sketch on wove paper appears to be a study for a poster that would advertise wines of the Grands Caves Rishon. A woman's hand holds a card on which Raban has briefly indicated the bottle labels of the 5 new wine brands to be advertised. Behind the large card stand various wine bottles and a wine glass, perhaps set up for a tasting. Raban's poster designs were very influential in the newly evolving area of advertising in British Mandate Palestine. The English lettering of the poster suggests this time period after WWI; we do not know whether this poster was ever published. The sketch is signed Z. Raban (in Hebrew) below the woman's hand. It is in very good condition, with only a small piece of tape on the lower left rear and an apparent small loss just below the tail of the R in Rishon.

This is Raban's illustration for the text of chapter II, verse 7, The watchmen that go about the city found me, they smote me, they wounded me; the keepers of the walls took away my mantle from me. The Hebrew text is below the night scene; the border all around represents the walls of the city, into which two watchful lions (symbols of royalty) have been placed.

The photo-offset lithograph produced by Editions Artistiques de Paris is from the 1930 edition of Raban's book printed in Jerusalem by Ariel Press. The print is in excellent condition although age-stained and is signed Z. Raban and Jerusalem in the lower border of the plate. We have tacked the English translation on the rear of the mat holding this print.

plate height - 5"; plate width - 7 1/4"

In Song of Songs, chapter VI, verses 4-9 the king/lover proclaims his love's beauty, Thou art beautiful, O my love... comparing her individual features to various wonders of nature. In Raban's illustration, the king looks earnestly into the eyes of his beloved with the various women of his household in the background.

The photo-offset lithograph produced by Editions Artistiques de Paris is from the 1930 edition of Raban's book printed in Jerusalem by Ariel Press. The print is in excellent condition although age-stained and is signed Z. Raban and Jerusalem in the lower border of the plate. We have tacked the English translation on the rear of the mat holding this print.

plate height - 5"; plate width - 7 1/2"