Picture of the Holy Rabbi Shmuel Salant [Shlit"a!] - Color Lithographic Print Moznon, c. 1903

Picture of the Holy Rabbi Shmuel Salant [Shlit"a!] - Color Lithographic Print Moznon, c. 1903

'Picture of the holy rabbi, elder of Israel, the great gaon Maran Shmuel Salant shlit"a, head of the Ashkenazic rabbis in Jerusalem - lithographic print by Moznon c. 1903, published in his lifetime, about six years before his passing. One of the early works by the Moznon press in Jerusalem.

Long inscription in the margins of the picture including a biography in present tense ['and from then until now he serves in this position'], including his precise date of birth, 2 Shevat 1816. At the end, there is mention of his acquiescence to the Adere"t, shlit"a's request in 1901 that he immigrate to Jerusalem to assist Rabbi Shmuel Salant in his role. As is well-know, the Adere"t passed away in 1905 during Rabbi Shmuel Salant's lifetime.

Rabbi Shmuel Salant avoided being photographed, and it is more than likely that Leib Moznon did not have a photograph from which he prepared the lithograph. A similar picture appears in the Chatzer HaYishuv HaYashan catalog A. L. Moznon Press 1892-1992 Jerusalem 2009. The picture is dated 1903 there, and it is written there that the rabbi appears in the photographs with closed eyes, and that Moznon drew the eyes from memory.

Among the early works of the Moznon press, does not appear in the Bibliography of the Hebrew Book.

Size: 27x38 cm. Fold marks, residue of scotch tape. Moderate-fine condition.