December 11, 2007 Book of Psalms is Subject of Jan. 17 Lecture By Author Debra Band

Press Contact: Audrey Fischer (202) 707-0022

The Book of Psalms is probably the best-known book of the Hebrew Bible. In her new book, “I Will Wake the Dawn: Illuminated Psalms,” author and artist Debra Band has selected 36 of the most well-known of the 150 psalms to interpret and illustrate. Band will deliver an illustrated lecture based on the book at noon on Thursday, Jan. 17, in the African and Middle Eastern Division Reading Room, located on the second floor of the Thomas Jefferson building at 10 First Street S.E., Washington, D.C. The lecture, which is sponsored by the Hebraic Section of the African and Middle Eastern Division, is free and open to the public; tickets are not required. Published by the Jewish Publication Society, “I Will Wake the Dawn” contains two illuminations for each psalm on facing pages: one features the Hebrew text while the other includes the English translation. Following each of the full-page pairs is an analysis of the psalm by scholar Arnold J. Band and an explanation of the symbolism of the artwork by Debra Band. Debra Band is the author of the illuminated manuscript and commentary, “The Song of Songs: The Honeybee in the Garden” (Jewish Publication Society, 2005). She obtained a B.A. honors degree in history from Concordia University in Montreal, Canada, and an M.S. degree in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her work includes individually illuminated and paper cut pieces that are held in private collections, community institutions and galleries in the United States and abroad. Arnold J. Band has been a professor of Hebrew and comparative literature at the University of California at Los Angeles since 1959, where he founded both the Department of Comparative Literature and the Jewish Studies Center.

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PR 07-249
2007-12-11
ISSN 0731-3527