Megilat Eikhah (The Book of Lamentations) - Illuminated Manuscript on Parchment – Shlomo Yedidya Seelenfreund

The Book of Lamentations, an illuminated manuscript on parchment. Written and illustrated by Shlomo Yedidya Seelenfreund. Jerusalem, [1940s-50s].
On the title page appears a medallion with the writing "Eikhah" and an illustration of the city of Jerusalem burning, in black and red, under it: "Shlomo Yedidya Seelenfreund, Jerusalem". On each of the following pages appears the text in a decorative frame. The illustrations and titles of the frame reflect visually the text on that page.
Shlomo Yedidya (Salamon Seelenfreund) was born in 1875 to Elazar Ze'ev Lajos Hacohen Seelenfreund and to Léni, nee Weizburg, in Szentes, Hungary. Two years later his father was appointed as "Dayan" by the Szeged community and the family moved there. At the age of 16 he left Szeged and moved to Budapest to start his education as an artist. Studied in the school of arts and worked in printing presses and in various graphics workshops. Later on, Shlomo Yedidya Seelenfreund left Hungary and stayed in Rome, Paris and Germany and studied in various arts and crafts workshops. When he returned to Hungary he established a workshop and got married (ca. 1898) to Shoshana also nee Weizburg. Through publicity in art periodicals he started to be known as an artist and a teacher of the arts. He was invited to design and actually decorate the new Neological synagogue in Szeged, inaugurated in 1903. He held solo exhibitions and took part in group exhibitions in Szeged (1910) and in Budapest. Moved to Israel in 1921 with his family, settled in Jerusalem and started a workshop which was open to visitors on Saturday. Later on the family joined the small "Moshav" in Beit Tulman in HaArazim valley (next to Motza, near Jerusalem) where the family built a house and grew some field and garden plants.
During the 1929 riots, on Saturday, August 24, the house and all of the belongings in it were burnt, including plans, creations and equipment and whatever was left – was stolen. The family was removed from the house on time and was saved. In 1940, after wandering between apartments in Tel-Aviv, Shlomo Yedidya and his son, Yehuda, settled in Givatayim…in 1947 Shlomo and his wife Shoshana moved to Yavneh house for the elderly. When the War of Independence broke out and the Egyptians bombed Tel-Aviv their room was hit, while absent, and many of the works were destroyed. In 1958 Shoshana Yedidya passed away. Three years later (1961) Shlomo Yedidya passed away. (The biography of Shlomo Yedidya is based on an essay by Timna Rubinger which was published by the museum of Hungarian Jewry Legacy in Safed. The essay includes more information about Yedidya).
[6] leaves, 14 cm. Original leather binding, somewhat worn, with an engraved metal clasp. Good condition. Leaves partly detached. A single moth hole to inner binding, to voresatz leaf and to title page.