Rare 18th-Century Haggadah Sells for £210,000 at Auction
by Zach Pontz
A rare 18th century Haggadah discovered by chance in the garage of a resident of Manchester, England has sold for £210,000 ($340,000) at auction, the BBC reported Friday.
The item was listed at between £100,000 and £150,000 but estimates earlier this week had potential sales numbers as high as £500,000.
The Haggadah is believed to have made its way to Britain when its owners fled Nazi Germany. The Passover prayer book was only discovered recently, however, by the now-deceased owner’s niece who was planning to sell some of her aunt’s belongings.
The manuscript was the work of Aaron Wolff Herlingen, a scribe to the Imperial Court in Vienna in the mid-18th century and is believed to have been commissioned by the Oppenheimer banking dynasty in 1726.