Sotheby’s New York’s Judaica sale is on.

The (metaphoric) jewels it will auction off on December 17 include a rare 14th-century handwritten Bible from Spain.

Experts think that the Tanach, with its Hebrew text and calligraphic art, is likely to sell for between $1.5 and $2.5 million.

“Beautifully scribed Hebrew Bibles from 700 years ago are really rare,” Sharon Mintz, Sotheby’s international senior specialist of Judaica, said. “They very rarely come up for auction.”

The Spanish Bible is unique because of the micrographic designs in the margins featuring Masoretic text — accents, vowels and cantillation, plus explanations that indicate how the Hebrew in Jewish texts should be read, she added.

“A Rare Hebrew Bible with Micrographic Masorah,” as it is called in Sotheby’s catalog, is the highlight of December’s sale.

Its 120 objects include a Persian rug, circa 1900, that was commissioned for the Jewish physician of the Shah of Persia; a portrait of a chasidic rabbi with an unusual connection to the beginning of World War I, and another Hebrew Bible, this one printed in Italy in 1492, during the first days of the printing press.

The public can get a look at all the items to be auctioned from December 11 through December 16 at Sotheby’s New York, now at the Breuer Building at 945 Madison Ave.

The 14th-century Spanish Bible comes from Toledo, an ancient city known for its significant Jewish community before the Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492. It was also the home of two famous Jewish scribes, Israel ben Isaac Ben Israel and Joseph ben Judah Ibn Merwas, who is possibly the author of this unsigned work, Ms. Mintz said.

Merwas was especially known for his skilled star of David lettering, which he drew in signed micrographic copies of at least two other Bibles, according to the Sotheby’s listing.

“It has all the markings of one of the great scribes of Toledo of the early 14th century,” Ms. Mintz said. “The Jews in Spain were known for how carefully and how skillfully they wrote manuscripts of the biblical text. They went to a lot of effort and expense to make sure that their texts were as correct as possible.”

Sotheby’s has sold a number of rare Bibles in recent years. In 2024, the Shem Tov Bible — a work from Spain from the same period, bedecked in gold leaf and other illuminations — fetched $6.9 million. The previous year, Sotheby’s sold the oldest and most complete copy of the Hebrew Bible, the Codex Sassoon, for $38.1 million, making it the most expensive book ever sold.

Other items in the sale include dozens of silver and gold Judaica pieces, a first edition copy of “Der Judenstaat,” or “The Jewish State,” the pamphlet published in German in 1896 by Jewish writer and political activist Theodor Herzl, which called for the creation of a national Jewish homeland; and a signed lithograph from the Aliyah series about Israel’s founding by Salvador Dalí.

Learn more at sothebys.com.

New York Jewish Week