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The New York Public Library, Spencer Collection
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Book of Jonah
from the Xanten Bible
by Joseph ben Kalonymus
(Xanten, 1294).
Completion of the Xanten Bible, the decoration of which is full of fauna, occurred the year after R. Meir's notorious death, after being held hostage in Emperor Rudolf I's prisons for seven years. Its colophon states: "I, Joseph of Xanten, son of Kalonymus of Neuss, have written and illustrated these twenty-four books for my friend Moses son of Jacob, and I finished it on Monday, 21st Sivan, 5054. May the Creator preserve him to study these books until the end of days. Amen, amen, amen, selah."
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