A book is the sum not only of its contents, but its own history as well

A book is not just a story, but is a story itself complete with its own history, argues Geraldine Brooks in her novel People of the Book. To Brooks, arguing through Hanna, a historical book is the sum not only of its contents, but its own history as well. This is certainly the case of the Sarajevo Haggadah.

On its face, the Sarajevo Haggadah is a Jewish book of prayer and order relating to the Passover Seder. What is unique about the book, however, is that the contents of the book are illuminated with dazzling illustrations, done at a time when illustrations were frowned upon by Jewish leaders. The Haggadah also contains a number of tantalizing clues attesting to its history, including blood, wine, and tear stains, saltwater stains, cat hair...