This is a liberation celebration. It is your very own Esther scroll. And that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city; and that these days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews, nor the memorial of them perish from their seed. - "Esther" 9:28. The story of Esther has been told since the time of the Second Temple. Purim is an uninhibitedly joyful festival, celebrating the liberation of the Jews in the Persian empire under the rule of King Xerxes (485-465 BCE). The word Purim is derived from the Hebrew 'pur' and means 'lots'. The name points to the fact that the Persians determined the time that all Jews should be destroyed by lot. This circumstance, related in the biblical "Book of Esther", is publicly read out in the synagogue at Purim. The text is read from a parchment scroll, known as 'the Megilla'. Over the centuries, "Esther" scrolls have formed the nuclei of many important collections. The Megilla in the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Library in Hanover, dated 1746 and c. 6.5 m long, is a very fine and rare example and serves as the original from which "Taschen's" exacting facsimile is produced; this particular Megilla is unique not only in terms of its lavish illuminations but also because, despite the fact that "the Book of Esther" has no pendant in Christian religious practice, it contains a Christian biblical text in the German language.
Scrolls used in synagogues are forbidden to be adorned with decorative elements - since scrolls used in the home are not subject to this rule, this very ornately and beautifully adorned Hanover scroll was clearly destined for private use. It arose in a Jewish context: its artist was Wolf Leib Katz Poppers, a Jewish scribe and illustrator from Hildesheim. In fact, the history of this scroll leads back to the world of the court Jews in imperial Vienna under Maria Theresa. "Taschen's" facsimile of the scroll is accompanied by a commentary volume which emphasizes the literary quality of the biblical "Book of Esther", its importance for the Purim festival, and its significance for Jewish art, leaving the reader with an understanding and appreciation of the artistic quality and cultural background of the Megilla.