Bible Encyclopedias
Thiengen

The 1901 Jewish Encyclopedia

Search for…

Enter query below:

or

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z

Prev Entry
Thief

Next Entry
Thistles

Resource Toolbox

Print Article

The art of printing. The invention of printing was welcomed by the Jews as "the art of writing with many pens." From the time of the earlier printers reference is made to their craft as "holy work" ("'Abodat ha-Ḳodesh"). It may here be treated under the two headings of history and characteristics.

I. History:

The history of Hebrew printing is divided into five stages, of which only a sketch can be attempted in this place, many of the details being already treated under the names of prominent printers or presses. The five stages of Hebrew typography are as follows: I., 1475-1500, incunabula in southern Europe; II., 1500-42, spread to north and east; III., 1542-1627, supremacy of Venice; IV., 1627-1732, hegemony of Amsterdam; V., 1732-1900, modern period, in which Frankfort, Vienna, and, more recently, Wilna and Warsaw have come to the front. For the most part Hebrew printing has been done by Jews, but the printing of Bibles has been undertaken also by Christian typographers, especially at the university towns of Europe. These productions, for lack of space, are for the most part to be neglected in the following sketch.

Incunabula.

1. (1475-1500): It was twenty years before the Jews made use of the art for Hebrew printing, as the conditions in Germany did not admit of their doing so there; and all the Hebrew printing of the fifteenth century was done in the Italian and Iberian peninsulas, where about 100 works were produced before 1500. Hebrew printing began in Italy; and apart from Reggio di Calabria, where the first printed book was produced in 1475, and Rome, where possibly the earliest Hebrew press was set up, printing was centered about Mantua, where it began in 1477. In the same year Ferrara and Bologna started printing. The chief printer family of Italy was that of the Soncinos, which besides working at Mantua printed at Casale-Maggiore, Soncino, Brescia, Naples, and Barca. Bible, Talmud, and ritual, halakic, and ethical works naturally formed the chief subjects of printing in these early days. In Spain, Hebrew printing began at Guadalajara in 1482, went three years later to Ixar, and finished at Zamora, while in Portugal it began at Faro in 1487, went to Lisbon in 1489, and finished at Leiria in 1792. The total number of books printed in Spain and Portugal amounted to only 17. The early types were rough in form; but the presswork for the most part was excellent, and the ink and paper were of very enduring quality. Owing to the work of the censor and the persecution of the Jews, the early productions of the Hebrew presses of Italy and the Iberian Peninsula are extremely rare, one-fifth of them being unique (for further particulars see INCUNABULA).

Second Period.

From the Tractate Baba Meẓi'a, Soncino, 1515.

1. (1500-42): This period is distinguished by the spread of Jewish presses to the Turkish and Holy Roman empires. In Constantinople, Hebrew printing was introduced by David Naḥmias and his son Samuel about 1503; and they were joined in the year 1530 by Gershon Soncino, whose work was taken up after his death by his son Eleazar (see Constantinople—Typography). Gershon Soncino put into type the first Karaite work printed (Bashyaẓi's "Adderet Eliyahu.") in 1531. In Salonica, Don Judah Gedaliah printed about 30 Hebrew works from 1500 onward, mainly Bibles, and Gershon Soncino, the Wandering Jew of early Hebrew typography, joined his kinsman Moses Soncino, who had already produced 3 works there (1526-27); Gershon printed the Aragon Maḥzor (1529) and Ḳimḥi's "Shorashim" (1533). The prints of both these Turkish citieswere not of a very high order. The works selected, however, were important for their rarity and literary character. The type of Salonica imitates the Spanish Rashi type.Turning to Germany, the first Jewish press was set up in Prague by Gershon ben Solomon Cohen, who founded in that city a family of Hebrew printers, known commonly as "the Gersonides." He began printing in 1513 with a prayer-book, and during the period under review confined himself almost exclusively to this class of publications, with which he supplied Jewish Germany and Poland. He was joined about 1518 by Ḥayyim ben David Schwartz, who played in northern Europe the same wandering rôle the Soncinos assumed in the south. From 1514 to 1526 he worked at Prague, but in 1530 he was found at Oels in Silesia, printing a Pentateuch with the Megillot and Hafṭarot. He transferred his activity to the southwest at Augsburg, where in 1533 he published Rashi on the Pentateuch and Megillot, the next year a Haggadah, in 1536 a letter-writer and German prayer-book, and in 1540 an edition of the Ṭurim, followed by rimed Judæo-German versions of Kings (1543) and Samuel (1544). In 1544 he moved to Ichenhausen, between Augsburg and Ulm, and finally settled in 1546 at Heddernheim, where he published a few works. At Augsburg, 1544, the convert Paulus Emilius printed a Judæo-German Pentateuch. Three works of this period are known to have been printed at Cracow, the first of them, in 1534, a commentary of Israel Isserlein on "Sha'are Durah" with elaborately decorated title-page.
   
   From Tractate 'Erubin, Printed by Bomberg, Venice, 1521.
   
   Other towns of Germany also printed Hebrew works during this period, but they were mainly portions of the Biblical books, mostly editions of the Psalms, produced by Christian printers for Christian professors, as at Cologne (1518), Wittenberg (1521 onward), Mayence (1523), Worms (1529), and Leipsic (1538). To these should be added Thomas Anshelm's edition of the Psalms at Tübingen in 1512. It was followed by his edition of Ḳimḥi's grammar at Hagenau, 1519. With these may be mentioned the Paris printers of the sixteenth century (from 1508 onward), who produced grammars and Bibles (see Paris).
   
   From the First Illustrated Printed Haggadah, Prague, 1526.
   
   

Daniel Bomberg.

Specimens of Small Format.

Returning to the earlier home of Hebrew printing, a considerable number of towns in Italy had Hebrew presses early in the sixteenth century, mainly through the activity of Gershon Soncino, who is found in Fano (1515), Pesaro (1517), Ortona (1519), and Rimini (1521); other presses were temporarily worked in Trino, Genoa, and Rome, the last under Elijah see see Levita. In Bologna nine works were produced between 1537 and 1541, mainly prayer-books and responsa. Above all, this period is distinguished in Italy by the foundation and continuance of the Venetian press under the guidance of Daniel Bomberg, a Dutchman from Antwerp. His thirty-five years' activity from 1515 to 1549 was in a measure epoch-making for Hebrew typography. His productions shared in all the excellence of the Venice press, and included the first rabbinic Bible in 1517, the first complete edition of the Babylonian Talmud in 1520 (its pagination is followed at the present day), a large number of editions of the Bible in whole or part, several grammatical, lexicographic, and midrashic works, seven commentaries on the Pentateuch, six responsa collections, philosophical and ethical writings, and several rituals, including a Tefillah and a Maḥzor according to the Spanish rite, one according to the Greek rite (Maḥzor Romania), and a Karaite one. Finally, reference should be made to the university press of Basel, where the Frobens produced Hebrew works in a remarkably clear type, with the letters slanting to the left, somewhat after the manner of the early Mantua editions. Froben began in 1516 with an edition of the Psalms, and produced many of the works of Elijah Levita and Sebastian Münster. Altogether Schwab (in "Incunables Orientaux," pp. 49-128) enumerates about 430 works produced between 1500 and 1540. Allowing for omissions by him, not more than 600 works were produced between 1475 and 1540.

From the "Wikkuaḥ" Printed by Sebastian Münster, Basel, 1539.

1. (1542-1627): The third period is distinguished by the activity of the censor, which lasted for two centuries or more in southern and eastern Europe. The principle of regulating the books to be read by the faithful, and even by the unfaithful, was inaugurated by the Roman Curia in 1542, though the first carrying out of it was with the burning of the Talmud in 1554. But even previous to that date Jews had taken precautions to remove all cause of offense. About 1542 Meïr Katzenellenbogen censored the seliḥot of the German rite, and Schwartz adopted his changes in the edition which he published at Heddernheim in 1546.

Third Period. Supremacy of Venice.

From Pentateuch, Sabbionetta, 1557.

Resuming the history of the Italian presses, that of Venice first engages attention. Bomberg was not allowed to have a monopoly of Hebrew printing, which had been found to be exceptionally profitable. Other Christians came into the field, especially Marco Antonio Giustiniani, who produced twenty-five works between 1545 and 1552. Another competitor arose in the person of Aloisio BRAGADINI, who began printing in 1550. In the competition both parties appealed to Rome; and their disputes brought about the burning of the Talmud in 1554 at Ferrara, and the strict enforcement of the censorship, even in Venice, the presses of which stopped printing Hebrew books for eight years. Similar competition appears to have taken place with regard to the Hebrew typesetters whom these Christian printers were obliged to employ. Cornelius ADELKIND and his son, German Jews of Padua, first worked with Bomberg, and then were taken over by Farri (1544), and they appear to have also worked for both Bragadini and Giustiniani. There was a whole body of learned press-revisers. Among them should be mentioned Jacob b. Ḥayyim,the editor of the rabbinic Bible, and Meïr Katzenellenbogen, who helped to edit Maimonides' "Yad" (1550). When Venice ceased for a time to issue Hebrew books, printing was taken up in Ferrara (1551-1557) by Abraham Usque, who printed the "Consolaçam" of his brother Samuel Usque (1553). In Sabbionetta (1551-59) Tobias Foa printed about twenty works, among them a very correct edition of the Targum on the Pentateuch, employing the ubiquitous Adelkind to print a fine edition of the "Moreh" and an edition of the Talmud in parts, only one of which is extant. The Sabbionetta types are said to have gone back to Venice when the Bragadinis resumed work. In Cremona a Hebrew press was set up in 1556 by Vincentio Conti, who issued altogether forty-two works up to 1560, including the first edition of the Zohar, 2,000 copies of which were saved with difficulty from the fires of the Inquisition. His first edition of Menahem Zioni's commentary was not so fortunate; notwithstanding that it had received the license of the censor, it was burnt. About thirty-three works were produced during this period at Riva di Trento by Joseph Ottolenghi under the auspices of Cardinal Madruz, whose titular hat appears upon the title-pages of the volumes.

Reverting to Venice, printing was resumed in 1564 by Giovanni de Gara, who took up the work of Bomberg, and between 1564 and 1569 produced more than 100 different works, making use of Christian as well as Jewish typesetters, among the latter being Leon of Modena in the years 1595-1601. Besides Gara there were Grippo, Georgio de Cavalli, and the Zanetti family, but none of them could compete with the activity of the Bragadinis, which was resumed about the same time. They made use of Samuel Archevolti and Leon of Modena among their typesetters. It is worthy of mention that several important works appeared at Venice from printing establishments which can not be identified, including the editio princeps of the Shulḥan 'Aruk (1565). A few works were printed at Rome (1546-81) by Antonio Bladao and Francesco Zanetti, and a couple of works in Verona by Francesco delle Donne.

From a Seliḥah, Heddernheim, 1546.

From the Hutter Bible, Hamburg, 1587, Showing Hollow Servile Letters.

The greatest activity in Italy outside Venice was that carried on at Mantua by the Rufenellis, who employed Joseph Ashkenazi and Meïr Sofer, both from Padua, as their chief typesetters. Their activity was followed by that of Ephraim b. David of Padua and Moses b. Katriel of Prague, both working in the last decade of the sixteenth century, the latter for the publishers Norzi brothers. AltogetherZunz enumerates seventy-three works produced at Mantua during the third period, including a "Sefer Yeẓirah," "Tanḥuma," Aboab's "Menorat ha-Ma'or," and an edition of Abot in Italian.

Froben and Waldkirch.

During this period the Hebrew press of Basel received new light in the advent from Italy of Israel b. Daniel Sifroni, one of those wandering master workmen who, like Soncino and Schwartz, characterized the early history of Hebrew printing. Through his workmanship a number of important works were produced by Froben of Basel between 1578 and 1584, including a Babylonian Talmud, Isaac Nathan's Concordance, and the "'Ir Gibborim," whose publisher in Prague, finding that he could not have printing done as well there as by Sifroni, sent it to the latter in Basel. In the year 1583-84 Sifroni was working for Froben at Freiburg-im-Breisgau, where he printed several Judæo-German works, including the Five Megillot with glossary in red ink; he printed also an edition of Benjamin of Tudela's "Travels." Froben's success, like that of Bomberg, induced other Christian printers to join in competition, as Guarin (for whom Sifroni also worked), Beber, and especially Conrad Waldkirch, who from 1598 on published a Great Tefillah, an 'Aruk, an Alfasi in octavo, and "Synagogue Music and Songs" by Elijah b. Moses Loans, who was for a time Waldkirch's corrector for the press. Mordecai b. Jacob of Prossnitz, who, as shown below, had had a large printing experience in the east of Europe, also assisted Waldkirch in 1622. After his departure the Basel Hebrew prints became scarcer, and were confined mainly to the productions of the Buxtorfs, while only sporadic Hebrew works were produced at Altdorf, Bern, and Zurich (where, however, one of the finest specimens of Hebrew printing had been produced in the Judæo-German "Yosippon" of 1546). Reference may be here made to prints of Paulus Fagius at Constance in 1643-44, mainly with Judæo-German or Latin translations. Altogether the total number of Hebrew works produced in Switzerland was not more than fifty.

The history of the Hebrew press in Denmark deserves treatment in fuller detail, as it has been recently investigated by Simonsen. In 1598 Heinrich Waldkirch imported some inferior Hebrew type to Copenhagen from Wittenberg; but nothing of importance was printed during the following three decades. In 1631 Solomon Sartor published some excerpts from the Bible; and in 1663 Henrik Göde printed similar extracts. In 1734 Marius Fogh (who later became city magistrate of Odense) published an edition of Isaac Abravanel's commentary on Genesis 49 This work, which bore the imprint of the Copenhagen publishing-house of I. C. Rothe, was for sale as late as 1893. Christian Nold's concordance of the Bible appeared in 1679 from the press of Corfitz Luft in Copenhagen, and the solid quarto volume, containing 1,210 pages, gives evidence of the author's diligence, as well as of the printer's skill and care. A Lutheran pastor, Lauritz Petersen, in Nyköbing on the island of Falster, published in 1640 a new Hebrew versification of the Song of Solomon, intended as a wedding-present for the son of King Christian IV. and his bride Magdalena Sibylla. This work, which was entitled "Canticum Canticorum Salomonis," consisted of Hebrew verse with Danish translation, and with various melodies added; it was printed by Melchior Martzau. Samuel ben Isaac of Schwerin published in 1787 some Talmudic annotations entitled "Minḥat Shemu'el," printed by the Copenhagen firm of Thiele, but showing evidence of lack of skill.

From a Commentary on Song of Songs, Safed, 1578.

Fagius and Hene.

From a Commentary on Pirḳe Abot, Cracow, 1589.

To revert to Switzerland, Fagius printed a number of Biblical, grammatical, and polemical works at Isny, with the help of Elijah Levita, who produced there the "Tishbi," "Meturgeman," and "Baḥur," besides a German translation of the "Sefer ha-Middot" in 1542, which is now very rare. Another Christian printer who is mentioned throughout this period is Hans Jacob Hene, who produced about thirty Jewish works in Hebrew at Hanau (1610-30). He cateredmore to the students of the Talmud and Halakah, producing three responsa collections, three commentaries on the Talmud, the Ṭur and Shulḥan 'Aruk, and three somewhat similar codes, as well as a number of Judæo-German folk editions like the "Zuchtspiegel" or the "Brandspiegel" (1626), and the "Weiberbuch" of Benjamin Aaron Solnik. Among his typesetters were a couple of the Ulmas, of the Günzburg family, and Mordecai b. Jacob Prossnitz, who has already been mentioned. Hene's type is distinguished by its clearness, and by the peculiar form of the "shin" in the so-called "Weiberdeutsch." Other isolated appearances of Hebrew works at Tannhausen (1594), Thiengen (1660), and Hergerswiese did not add much to German Jewish typography in this period.

Meantime, in eastern Europe, the Gersonides continued their activity at Prague, especially in the printing of ritual works; but they suffered from the competition of the Bak family, who introduced from Italy certain improvements from the year 1605 onward. Among the typesetters at Prague in this period was the Jewess Gütel (daughter of Löb Setzer), who set up a work in 1627. At Prague almost for the first time is found the practise of rabbis issuing their responsa from the local presses. The decoration employed by the Prague press of this period was often somewhat elaborate. Besides the illustrated Haggadah of 1526, the title-page of the Ṭur of 1540 is quite elaborate and includes the arms of Prague.

Cracow and Lublin.

In Cracow Isaac ben Aaron of Prossnitz revived the Hebrew press in 1569, and produced a number of Talmudic and cabalistic works from that time to his death in 1614, when his sons succeeded to his business. He was assisted by Samuel Bohn, who brought from Venice the Italian methods and titlepage designs, which were used up to about 1580. He produced, besides the Jerusalem and Babylonian Talmuds, two editions of the Midrash Rabbot, the "Yalḳuṭ Shim'oni" (1596), and several works of Moses Isserles and Solomon Luria, besides the "Yuḥasin," "Shalshelet ha-Ḳabbalah," and "Yosippon." Isaac b. Aaron for a time ran a press in his native city of Prossnitz, where from 1602 to 1605 he published four works.

Lublin competed with Cracow for the eastern trade from 1556 onward, when an edition of the tractate Shebu'ot appeared in the former city. Its printers were mainly of the Jaffe family; Kalonymus Abraham (1562-1600) was followed by his son Ẓebi (1602 onward), who made use of the services of the above mentioned Mordecai b. Jacob of Prossnitz. The prints of the Jaffes were mainly productions of local rabbis and Judæo-German works. During the plague which ravaged Lublin in 1592 Kalonymus Jaffe moved his printing establishment to Bistrovich, whence he issued a Haggadah with Abravanel's commentary.

It should perhaps be added that at Antwerp and Leyden in this period Biblical works by Christian printers appeared, at the former place by the celebrated Christopher Plantin, who got his type from Bomberg's workshop.

Fourth Period. Hegemony of Amsterdam.

From "Kehillot Ya'aḳob," Venice, 1599.

1. (1627-1732): This period is opened and dominated by the foundation of the press at Amsterdam, the rich and cultured Maranos of the Dutch capital devoting their wealth, commercial connections, and independent position to the material development of Hebrew literature in book form. For nearly a century after its foundation Amsterdam supplied the whole of Teutonic Europe with Hebrew books; and the term "Defus Amsterdam" was used to denote type of special excellence even though cast elsewhere, just as the term "Italic" was applied to certain type cast not only in Italy but in other countries. The first two presses were set up in the year 1627, one under Daniel de Fonseca, the other under Manasseh ben Israel, who in the following twenty years printed more than sixty works, many of them his own, with an excellent edition of the Mishnah without vowels, and, characteristically enough, a reprint of Almoli's "Pitron Ḥalomot" (1637). The work in later times was mainly done by his two sons, Ḥayyim and Samuel. Toward the latter part of Manasseh ben Israel's career as a printer an important competitor arose in the person of Immanuel Benveniste, who in the twenty years 1641-60 produced prayer-books, a Midrash Rabbah, an Alfasi, and the Shulḥan 'Aruk, mostly decorated with elaborate titles supported by columns, which became the model for all Europe. He was followed by the firm of Gumpel & Levi (1648-60). Particularinterest attaches to the name of Uri Phoebus ha-Levi, an apprentice of Benveniste's who was in business in Amsterdam on his own account from 1658 to 1689. He was the medium through which the Amsterdam methods of printing were transferred to Zolkiev between 1692 and 1695. His productions, though in the Amsterdam style, were generally of a less costly and elegant nature, and he appears to have printed prayer-books, Maḥzors, calendars, and Judæo-German works for the popular market. Just as Uri Phoebus worked for the German Jews, so Athias contemporaneously published ritual works for the Spanish Jews, who demanded usually a much higher grade of printing, paper, and binding than did their poorer German coreligionists (1660-83). Athias' editions of the Bible, and especially of the Pentateuch, for which he had Leusden's help, are especially fine; and the edition of Maimonides' "Yad" which his son and successor, Immanuel, published in 1703, is a noteworthy piece of printing. A third member of the Athias family printed in Amsterdam as late as 1739-40.The Sephardic community of Amsterdam had also the services of Abraham de Castro Tartas (1663-95), who had learned his business under the Ben Israels. He printed, chiefly, works in Spanish and Portuguese, and in the decoration of his titles was fond of using scenes from the life of David. A number of Poles who fled to Amsterdam from the Cossack uprisings in 1648-56 were employed by Christian printers of that city, as Albertus Magnus, Christoph von Ganghel, the Steen brothers, and Bostius, the last-named of whom produced the great Mishnah of Surenhusius (1698-1703). A most curious phenomenon is presented by Moses ben Abraham, a Christian of Nikolsburg, who was converted to Judaism, and who printed several works between 1690 and 1694. Abraham, the son of another proselyte named Jacob, was an engraver who helped to decorate the Passover Haggadah of 1695, printed by Kosman Emrich, who produced several important works between 1692 and 1714.

From a Passover Haggadah, Amsterdam, 1695.

The Proopses.

Page from the "Miḳra'ot Gedolot," Amsterdam, 1724.

Less important presses at the beginning of this period were erected in Amsterdam by Moses Coutinho, Isaac de Cordova, Moses Dias, and the firm of Soto & Brando. Members of the Maarssen family are also to be reckoned among the more productive Hebrew printers of Amsterdam. Jacob, Joseph, David, and Mahrim Maarssen produced many works between 1695 and 1740, among them reproductions of cursive writing. The last-named settled later at Frankfort-on-the-Main. By this time the Hebrew press at Amsterdam had become entirely dominated by mercantile considerations, and was represented by the publishing- and printing-houses of Solomon ben Joseph Proops, whose printed catalogue "Appiryon Shelomoh," 1730 (the first known of its kind), shows works published by him to be mainly rituals and a few responsa, two editions of the "'En Ya'aḳob," the "Ḥobot ha-Lebabot," and the "Menorat ha-Ṃa'or," two editions of the Zohar (1715), and the Judæo-German "Ma'asehbuch." Proops was evidently adapting himself to the popular taste from 1697 onward. The house established by him continued to exist down to the middle of the nineteenth century, Joseph and Jacob and Abraham being members thereof from 1734 until about 1780. They were followed by Solomon ben Abraham Proops in 1799, while a David ben Jacob Proops, the last of the family, died in 1849, and his widow sold the business to I. Levisson.

Mention should be made here of the two Ashkenazic Dayyanim of Amsterdam, who added printing to their juridical accomplishments, Joseph Dayyan from 1719 to 1737, and Moses Frankfurter from 1720 to 1743; the latter produced between the years 1724 and 1728 the best-known edition of the rabbinic Bible. The only other Amsterdam printer whom it is necessary to mention is Solomon London (c. 1721), on account of his later connection with Frankfort-on-the-Main.

Resuming the history of the Prague press during this period, the Bak family continued its activity, especially in printing a number of Judæo-German works, mostly without supplying the place or the date of publication. Many local folk-songs in German now exist only in these productions. One of the productions of this firm, a Maḥzor, the first volume of which appeared in Prague in 1679, was finished in Wekelsdorf by the production of the second volume in 1680.

From a Pentateuch, Amsterdam, 1726.

Another offshoot of the Prague press was that of Wilhermsdorf, which was founded in 1669 in order to take advantage of the paper-mills erected there by Count von Hohenlohe. The first printer there was Isaac Cohen, one of the Gersonides who printed two works there in poor style in 1691. He was followed in 1712 by Israel ben Meïr of Prague, who sold out to Hirsch ben Ḥayyim of Fürth. Among the 150 productions of these presses may be mentioned a list of post-offices, markets, and fairs compiled by the printer Hirsch ben Ḥayyim and printed in 1724.

In Prague itself the Baks found a serious competitor in Moses Cohen Ẓedeḳ, founder of the Katz family of typographers; this competition lasted for nearly a century, the two houses combining in 1784 as the firm of Bak & Katz.

Cracow during this period is distinguished by the new press of Menahem (Nahum) Meisels, which continued for about forty years from 1631 onward, producing a considerable number of Talmudic and cabalistic works, including such productions of the local rabbis, as the "Ḥiddushe Agadot" of Samuel Edels; this was put up in type by Judah Cohen of Prague, and corrected by Isaac of Brisk. The year 1648, so fatal to the Jews of Slavonic lands, was epoch-making for both Cracow and Lublin. At the latter place a few works appeared from 1665 onward, mainly from the press of Samuel Kalmanka (1673-83) of the Jaffe family.

From Bacharach's "Ḥawwot Yaïr," Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1699.

Germany.

This period is especially distinguished by the rise of the Jewish Hebrew press in Germany, chiefly in five centers: (1) Frankfort-on-the-Main, (2) Sulzbach, (3) Dessau, (4) Hamburg, and (5) Dyhernfurth. For various reasons presses were erected also in the vicinity of each of these centers. In Frankfort-on-the-Main the municipal law prohibited any Jew from erecting a printing-press, so that, notwithstanding its large and wealthy Jewish population, the earliest Hebrew productions of this city came from Christian printers, especially Christian Wüst, who produced a Bible in 1677, and an edition of the "Ḥawwot Yaïr" in 1699. Then came the press of Blasius Ilsner, who began printing Hebrew in 1682, and produced the "Kuhbuch" of Moses Wallich in 1687, in which year he produced also part of a German Pentateuch as well as a standard edition of the Yalḳut. This last was published by the bookseller Seligmann Reis. Besides other Christian printers like Andreas and Nicholas Weinmann, Johann Koelner produced a number of Hebrew works during the twenty years 1708-27, including the continuation of an edition of the Talmud begun at Amsterdam and finished at Frankfort-on-the-Main (1720-23); it is probable thatthe type was brought from Amsterdam. An attempt of Koelner to produce 1,700 copies of an Al-fasi by means of a lottery failed, though an edition was produced in Amsterdam four years later. Many of the typesetters of Amsterdam and Frankfort about this period frequently alternated their residence and activity between the two cities. In 1727 few Hebrew books were produced at Frankfort-on-the-Main. In connection with the Frankfort book market a number of presses in the neighborhood turned out Hebrew books, in Hanau as early as 1674. The book entitled "Tam we-Yashar" was printed there, with Frankfort as its place of publication. From 1708 onward Bashuysen produced a series of books, including Abravanel on the Pentateuch (1710), which was issued by Reis of Frankfort. Among his workmen were David Baer of Zolkiev, who had worked at Amsterdam, and Menahem Maneli of Wilmersdorf. Bashuysen sold his rights to Bousang (1713), who continued producing Hebrew works till 1725.

Homburg was also one of the feeding-presses for Frankfort, from 1711 to 1750. Its press was possessed from 1737 on by Aaron of Dessau, an inhabitant of the Frankfort Judengasse, who produced among other works two editions of the "Ḥiddushim" of Maharam Schiff (1745). Seligmann Reis, who had learned printing in Amsterdam, started another press in Offenbach (1714-20), mostly for Judæo-German pamphlets, including a few romances like the "Artus Hoof," "Floris and Blanchefleur," and "The Seven Wise Masters." In opposition to Reis was Israel Moses, working under the Christian printer De Launoy from 1719 to 1724 and for himself till as late as 1743.

Sulzbach.

The history of the Sulzbach Hebrew press is somewhat remarkable. On May 12, 1664, one Abraham Lichtenthaler received permission to found a printing-press at Sulzbach. He began to print in 1667 Knorr von Rosenroth's "Kabbala Denudata," a work which was for the Christian world the chief source of information as to the Cabala. This appears to have attracted to Sulzbach Isaac Cohen Gersonides, who produced in the year 1669 a couple of Judæo-German works, "Leb Ṭob" and "Shebeṭ Yehudah," from the press of Lichtenthaler. Nothing followed these first productions till the "Kabbala Denudata" was finished in 1684, when Knorr determined to have an edition of the Zohar printed at Sulzbach, and for that purpose had one Moses Bloch cut Hebrew letters, with which the Zohar was printed in a rather elementary fashion. This attracted attention to Sulzbach as a printing-place; and an imperfect edition of the Talmud was printed in 1694 by Bloch and his son (the latter succeeded Bloch). The competition of the Amsterdam edition of 1697-99 prevented its completion. One of the most curious productions of the Sulzbach press was a Purim parody, which was issued anonymously in 1695. Bloch was followed by Aaron Frankel, son of one of the exiles of Vienna, and founder of the Frankel-Arnstein family, having worked at the office of Bloch as early as 1685. He set up his press in 1699, his first production being a Maḥzor and part of the Talmud; and his son Meshullam carried on the press for forty years from 1724 to 1767. One hundred and fourteen productions of the Sulzbach press have been enumerated up to 1732.

Fürth and Hamburg.

Fürth also commenced in this period its remarkable activity as a producer of Hebrew works, more distinguished perhaps for quantity than quality. Beginning in 1691 just as the Wilmersdorf press gave up, Joseph Shneior established a press at Fürth, which produced about thirty works during the next eight years. Most of his typesetters had come from Prague. An opposition press was set up later (1694, 1699) by Ẓebi Hirsch ha-Levi and his son-in-law Mordecai Model. This was one of the presses which had as a typesetter a woman, Reichel, daughter of Isaac Jutels of Wilmersdorf. The former press was continued in 1712 by Samuel Bonfed, son of Joseph Shneior, together with Abraham Bing (1722-24); the firm lasted till 1730.

From a "She'elot u-Teshubot" of Eybeschütz, Carlsruhe, 1773.

Similar presses were founded at Dessau by Moses Bonem (1696), and at Köthen in 1707-18 by Israel ben Abraham, the proselyte, who had previously worked at Amsterdam, Offenbach, and Neuwied. Israel then transferred his press to Jessnitz, where he worked till about 1726, at which date he removed it to Wandsbeck, near Hamburg, staying there till 1733, when he wandered to Neuwied and back to Jessnitz (1739-44) together with his sons Abrahamand Tobias. Another proselyte, Moses ben Abraham, had printed Hebrew in Halle (1709-14).

The earliest production of the Hebrew press of Hamburg was a remarkable edition of a Hebrew Bible, set up by a Christian, Elias Hutter, and having the servile letters distinguished by hollow type, so as to bring out more clearly the radical letters. Hutter was followed by two Christians: (1) George Ravelin, who printed a Pentateuch with Targum and Hafṭarot in 1663; and (2) Thomas Rose, who from 1686 to 1715 printed several Jewish books and who was succeeded by his son Johann Rose up to 1721. In the neighboring city of Altona Samuel Poppart of Coblenz started printing in 1720, mainly ritual matters; and he was followed by Ephraim Heksher in 1732 and Aaron Cohen of Berlin in 1735.

Dyhernfurth.

Finally more to the east Shabbethai Bass established at Dyhernfurth in 1689 a printing-press especially devoted to meeting the wants of the Breslau book market, which had hitherto been dependent upon Amsterdam or Prague. For the varying history of his press, which lasted till 1713, see his biography (Jew. Encyc. 2:583). It was sold by Shabbethai's son Joseph to his son-in-law Issachar Cohen for 5,000 thalers, who carried it on till 1729, when he died, his wife then continuing the business.

Hebrew works were early printed at Frankfort-on-the-Oder, by two Christians, Hartmann Brothers, from 1595 to 1596, who produced Bibles, and Eichhorn, who printed the "Musar Haskel" of Hai Gaon in 1597. Their work was continued in the next century by Professor Beckmann in 1681, and Michael Gottschek, who produced, at the cost of Baermann Halberstade, an edition of the Babylonian Talmud in 1698 to supply the loss of the Talmuds during the Cossack outbreaks. A second edition of this Talmud was produced by Gottschek in company with Jablonski at Berlin, who had purchased a Hebrew set of types in 1697. They began work in 1699, and produced a Pentateuch with a Rashbam in 1705, and the aforesaid Talmud in 1715-21. One of his chief typesetters was Baruch Buchbinder, who afterward printed in Prausnitz. Other Hebrew books were produced by Nathan Neumark (1720-26), in whose employ Aaron Cohen, afterward at Altona, learned to set type.

In this period a beginning of Hebrew typography was made also in the British Isles, by Samuel Clarke at OXFORD about 1667, and by Thomas Ilive (1714-1718) in LONDON, both Christian printers.

To return to the south of Europe: the Venice press was carried on by a succession of the Bragadinis: Aloisio II. (1625-28), Geralamo (1655-64), and Aloisio III. (1697-1710). Among the Jewish setters or correctors for the press employed by the Bragadinis may be mentioned Leo de Modena, Moses Zacuto, Menahem Ḥabib, Moses Ḥayyim of Jerusalem, and Solomon Altaras. The chief competitor of the Bragadinis was Vendramini, from 1631 onward; but the opposition of Amsterdam reduced the activity of the Venetian press toward the end of the seventeenth century, while Leghorn began to cater to the printing of the Oriental Jews about 1650, when Jedidiah Gabbai produced the "azharot" of Solomon ibn Gabirol. His chief production was a Yalḳuṭ in 1660, after which he removed to Florence and finally settled in Smyrna, where his son Abraham printed from 1659 to 1680 with the aid of Samuel Valenci from Venice. Abraham's productions include a few Ladino works in Hebrew characters, among the earliest of the kind. In Constantinople a family of printers named Franco—Solomon (1639), Abraham (1641-83), and Abraham (1709-20)—produced a number of casuistic works. Among their typesetters was Solomon of Zatanof (1648), who had escaped the Cossack outbreaks. The pause from 1683 to 1710 was broken by two Poles from Amsterdam, Jonah of Lemberg and Naphtali of Wilna. Jonah of Lemberg printed a few of his works at Ortakeui, near Constantinople, and finally settled at Smyrna.

From "Sefer Ḥokmat ha-Mishkan," Leghorn, 1772.

From Moses Eidlitz's "Meleket ha-Ḥeshbon," Prague, 1775.

From "Siddur Hegyon Leb," Königsberg, 1845.

From a Karaite "Siddur," Vienna, 1851.

From Pentateuch, Vienna, 1859.

With the year 1732 the detailed history of Hebrew typography must cease. It would be impossible to follow in minute detail the spread of Hebrew presses throughout the world during the last 160 years. The date 1732 is also epoch-making in the history of Hebrew bibliography, as up to that date the great work of Johann Christoph WOLF, amplified and corrected by Steinschneider in his "Bodleian Catalogue," gives a complete account of the personnel of the Hebrew press, both Jewish and Christian. The list of these printers given by Steinschneider is of considerable importance, both for identifying unknown or imperfect works of the earlier period, and as affording information of persons learned in Hebrew lore who utilized it only as typesetters or correctors for the press. Many, if not most, of the more distinguished families of recent date have been connected with these masters of printing, whose names are thus of importance for pedigree purposes (PEDIGREE). For these reasons Steinschneider's list is here reprinted in shortened form.