Zolkiew Hebrew and Yiddish Imprints

        These items are available only through direct sale and are not listed on our website (http://www.hollanderbooks.com) at this time. Orders can be placed by email at boychik@hollanderbooks.com or phone number 415-831-3228.
 

Zolkiew's old synagogue.

             
                  Zolkiew, or Zhovkva in Yiddish was the one of the first places in Poland where Hebrew printing was done. In point of fact Lublin and Cracow  began printing 1530 and 1647 respectively  The first book printed in Zolkiew was in 1666, but printing there did not become established until the 1690s.  "In 1693 [Uri] Phoebus opened a printing-house at Zolkiev, and there printed calendars and ritual and Judæo-German works till 1705." JE. Phoebus had come to Poland from Amsterdam where he felt constrained by the competition among Hebrew printers. He returned to Amsterdam, but members of his family continued to print in Zolkiew for several generations.
                 The establishment of printing in Zolkiew in the early period had royal sanction "Due to restrictions imposed at the end of the 17th century by the Council of Four Lands on printers Hebrew books, for nearly 80 years, Zhovkva was the only centre of Jewish printing industry in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. This changed only after the dissolution of the Council of Four Lands in 1764. The Zhovkva Jewish printing house was famous all over the world and the city became the third centre of Jewish printing in the country (after the previously closed printing houses in Lublin and Krakow). It published traditional religious literature, as well as disputes on the nature of the theology by authors submitting their works from different countries. Descendants of Uri Phoebus (with surnames: Madfes, Mann, Letteris, and Meirhoffer) owned the printing house until the end of the 18th century. The house of Uri Phoebus, where the printing press operated, is located at the market square (Vicheva Square 7)." http://shtetlroutes.eu/en/zhowkwa-putvnik/ (Site does not list sources, but is much more reliable than Jewish Virtual Library which is riddled with errors on Zolkiew printing.)
                The economic status of Zolkiew suffered under Austrian rule following the first partition of Poland in 1772. "The virtual monopoly that Żółkiew enjoyed with respect to Jewish printing in the course of the 1700s waned in the latter decades of that century. A printing operation appeared in Oleksinets in 1760. Hebrew printers, mainly with small firms, emerged in the 1780s in such places as Luts’k, Nowy Dwór, Lwów, Mezkorov, Szkłów, Poryck, and Grodno in addition to Korets. In the 1790s, Warsaw, Vilna, Dubno, Połonne, Slavuta, and Ostróg also became centers for printing." Ze'ev Gries in Yivo Encyclopedia - Printing and Publishing Before 1800 (This is a very well-sourced article.) Zolkiew remained an active site of publishing at least into the 1860s. 
              Important intellectual figures in Zolkiew in this period include Nachman Krochmal and Zvi Chayes. It was a Mitnagdim center though there was significant Hasidic activity in the areas around it. Though the quality of Hebrew printing is not considered to be as good as that the of the earlier era Zolkiew remained a distinctive Jewish entity and produced a significant body of work. It is lesser known now.

Adret, Solomon ben Abraham & Nahmanides. She'elot u-teshuvot ha-Rashba ha-meyuhasot leha-Ramban. Zolkiew, Defus Gershon ben Ze'ev Volf Segal, 1798. Octavo, broards very crudely recovered with now soiled rough blue cloth, 7, 77 leaves [14, 154 pp.] Hardbound. Good-. Adret also known as Rashba was a highly productive poskin from thirteenth century Barcelona. Text is in Hebrew. (83582)      $150.00

             Ashkenazi, Eliezer Elijah. Ma'ase ha-Shem: derushim .... Zolkiew, Be-Defus Gershon, 1802. Octavo, full leather lacking the backstrip and with slight loss to the boards near the spine, decorative paper endpapers, 104, 59 leaves [208, 118 pp.] Hardbound. Good. Text is in Hebrew. The third edition of this work. The first appeared in 1583/4. The second in 1776/7. This includes an additional section entitled, "Maase Mitsrayim." ""Ma'ase ha-Shem" (The Works of God; Venice, 1583; several other editions), a commentary on the historical portions of the Pentateuch, written for the instruction of his son Elijah, and containing also a complete commentary on the Passover Haggadah, which has frequently been published separately" Jewish Encyclopedia. (83785)     $250.00


Bloch, Samson, ha-Levi. Sh'vile 'olam. Sefer Kolel. Tekunot kol artsot tevel le-mahlekotehen ... Zolkiew, Bey Meyerhoffer, 1822. Duodecimo, black cloth covered boards, xxii, 252 pp., mild water-staining. Hardbound. Good. Text is in Hebrew. This is the volume that deals with Asia. With eulogies/ dedications by J. Landau, J. Eichenbaum, and Aharon Lerner. Lerner's contribution is in poetic form. Bloch was another Haskalah figure who passed through Zolkiew. He was friends with Krochmal. (83580)      $180.00

Chajes, Zvi Hirsch. Darke hora'ah: medaber bo ... be-hitnahagut ha-hakhamim be-hora'ot we-dinim, uve-inyane ha-minhagim, ve-eze teshuvot ha-mityahkasim li-she'elot ha-paratot, 'asher mit'askim ba-hem maskile zemanenu. Zolkiew, Saul Meyerhoffer, 1842. Octavo, green cloth spine with gold lettering, shelfworn marbled paper covers, 3, 25, 13 leaves [vi, 50, 26 pp.] Hardbound. Good. Text is in Hebrew. "An examination of the rules that obtained in Talmudic times in deciding practical religious questions." Jewish Encyclopedia. This is the first printing of this work and the only one to appear in the author's lifetime. Though Chajes was a traditionalist Rabbi he was also one of the fathers of the Scientific study of Jewish texts. (83567)      $150.00

Edil, Yehudah Leyb, ha-Levi. Sefer Afike Yehudah, ve-hu shem ha-kolel el ha-derushim asher be-zot ha-mahberet ... Zulkova [Zolkiew], Bi-defus A.Y.L. Mayerhofer, 1819. Octavo, very roughly worn gray cloth spine roughly worn with a hand-written paper label, decorative paper covered boards with wear to the edges, boards just barely hanging in there, lacking the free front endpaper, 118 leaves (235 pp. with wear to the final two leaves resulting in the loss of a few letters. Hardbound. Fair. Text is in Hebrew. The second printing of the first of two volumes of sermons published by the author. Edil was a student of the Vilna Gaon. He had a talent for homiletics and this collection has been reprinted a number of times since the author's death in 1827. The Jewish Encyclopedia claims that the second volume of Sermons was not published, but this is incorrect. (83557)      $60.00

Edil, Yehudah Leyb, ha-Levi. Sefer Afike Yehudah, ve-hu shem ha-kolel el ha-derushim asher be-zot ha-mahberet ... Zulkova [Zolkiew], Bi-defus A.Y.L. Mayerhofer, 1819. Octavo, soiled brown cloth spine with remnants of a paper label, fraying at the head of the spine, shelfworn and edgeworn paper covered boards, 116 of 118 leaves (235 pp., lacking leaves 115 and 116 Hardbound. Poor. Text is in Hebrew.  (83576)      $60.00

ibn Habib, Moses ben Solomon. Get pashut: ve-hu be'ur al hilkhot gitin ... Zolkiew, bei Saul Meyerhoffer, 1834/5. Quarto, worn brown leather spine with gold stamped and hand-written spine labels, marbled paper covered boards worn along the edges and with some shelfwear, free front endpaper lacking a large chip at the open top corner, 115 leaves [230 pp.] Hardbound. Good. Text is in Hebrew. Commentary on Joseph ben Ephraim Karo's commentary on Tractate Gittin in Shulkhan Arukh. (83579)      $150.00

Isserles, Moses ben Israel. Sefer Mehir yayin: be'ur hadash tov ve-nehmad al Megilat Ester... Zolkiew, Saul Meyerhoffer, 1838. 16mo, brown cloth spine, soiled gray paper covered boards, free front endpaper loose, 26 leaves (52 pp.) Hardbound. Good. Text is in Hebrew. (83564)      $75.00


Kats, Hayim Avraham ben Aryeh Leyb. Seyfer Gdules Yoysef : in dizen liblikhin seyfer vert ... min loshn hakoydesh leloshn Ashkenaz.... [Zolkiew], Mordekhai Rabin Shtayn, 1794/5. Octavo, roughly worn brown leather spine with loss at the ends, soiled patterned paper covered boards roughly worn down with loss at the corners, endpapers soiled with old Hebrew notes, 30 leaves (60 pp.), with some loss at the bottom open corner of the fourteenth leaf, dog-earing, occasional light water-staining. Hardbound. Fair. Text is in Judeo-German. A translation of the Hebrew text "Milhamah be-Shalom." A play featuring the Biblical Joseph. This is the first publication. Printed with the headings in a standard Hebrew type-face of the time and the remained of the text in ivri-taytsh type. (83537) $250.00


[Rashi] Jacob ben Asher. Perush al Ha-Torah: Me-Rabenu Ya'akob ben Kavod Marana ve-Ravna Rabenu Ha-Ra... zl. Perush Hadash ve-Nifla Asher Ha-Y Be-Ketivat Yad Rabenu Ha-Mahber Be-Atsmo Ketav Yashan Mi-Yeme Kedem Ha-Kadmata Karov Le-Hamesh Me'ot Shanah u-Loh ba Adayin Be-Defus Klal. Zolkiew, Bedefus Abraham Yehuda Leib, 1806. Octavo, lacking the back strip, traces of the spine leather on the edges of the board, well worn paper covered boards, endpapers with stray Rabbinic hand marginalia, thumbnail size rebacked spot on the title-page with loss of a few letters (this is the reason for the ellipsis in the title as above), 126 leaves [251 pp.], list of subscribers. Hardbound. Good-. Text is in Hebrew. Rashi commentaries published as edited from a manuscript edition. (83575)      $180.00

Zacuto, Abraham ben Samuel. Sefer Yuhasin. Helek Sheni. Zolkiew, Bi-defus Gershon Madpis, 1799. Duodecimo, leather spine worn at the ends and cracking at the hinges, soiled tan paper covered boards, all edges marbled, 106 leaves [212 pp.], front board nearly loose. Hardbound. Fair. Text is in Hebrew. An important work in the synthesis of Jewish ideas into a historical framework. While his work was not history as we would like to find it in an academic recension, it served as a foundation for the introduction of what we would more familiarly associate with the writing of history into Jewish thought. A nicely printed copy of this late medieval work in a compromised binding. (83574)     $95.00

Sources

Hundert, Gershon David, edited by. The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe. In Two Volumes. New Haven, Conn., Prepared for publication by the YIVO Institute for Jewish Studies for Yale University Press, 2008.

Jewish Encyclopedia.

Zolkiew & Mosty Wielki Organization website: http://www.zmo.org.il/index.php/en/, retrieved 5/7/2017.

Shtetl Routes website page on Zhovkva. http://shtetlroutes.eu/en/zhowkwa-putvnik/ , retrieved 5/7/2017.

Spector, Shmuel, general editor. Pinkas Hakehillot Polin: Encyclopedia of Jewish Communities, Poland. Volume Two. Jerusalem, Yad Vashem, 1980.

Vinograd, Yeshayahu. Otsar Ha-Sefer Ha-Ivri. Jerusalem, Ha-Makhon La-Bibliografyah Me-Muhshevet, 1994.

Yaari, Abraham. Ha-Defus ha-Ivri be-Ḳushṭa: ... me-reshito ad perots milḥemet ha-olam ha-sheniyah, u-reshimat ha-sefarim she-nidpesu bah. Jerusalem, The Magnes Press, The Hebrew University, 1967. Supplement to Kiryat Sefer, vol. XLII.

END.

Venice and Constantinople Hebrew Imprints

           These items are available only through direct sale and are not listed on our website (http://www.hollanderbooks.com) at this time. Orders can be placed by email at boychik@hollanderbooks.com or phone number 415-831-3228.

Gold case for a Venician manuscript Megillat Esther. Not ours.

           In the mind of the Jewish world Venice is a bold and bright jewel of memory served up by the preservation of the Venician Ghetto. The Ghetto brings a qualified comfort by the beauty of its remains despite the selfsame proof that it offers of the civil disability that created its distinctive communal character. In this light it is natural to expect that the first Hebrew printed books in Italy would have come from Venice, or if not from Venice from Rome whose ancient Jewish community lived beneath the windows of the rulers of the capital of the Papal states. But Italy is as a much a land of small towns with their own stubborn integrity as of beautiful independent cities. The first traces of the history of the Hebrew printed book in Italy (and all the world) appeared in Reggia de Calabria, Pieve de Sacco, Mantua, Ferrara, Bologna and Soncino.
           Israel Nathan Soncino established the first really successful venture in the printing of Hebrew books in Soncino (In Cremona between Brescia and Pavia) in 1483 with his editions of Masekhet Berakhot and Betsah. Though he passed through Venice he never engaged in printing there. As a consequence of many vicissitudes the family enterprise was ultimately transferred to Constantinople where they were the first printers of any book as well as the first printers of a Hebrew book in that locality. In honor of that association we include an imprint from Constantinople with our Venician imprints.

           The first recorded Hebrew imprint in Venice was in 1500. It was an alef-bet book with instructions in Latin printed by Aldus Mantius. Further Hebrew printing did not occur until 1511 and the first era of Venician Hebrew printing did not begin in earnest until Daniel Bomberg, a Christian printer with the support of the pope began printing in 1519. It was the competition of Bomberg that forced the Soncino's to leave Italy. Bomberg had among his printers apostate Jews with whom the Soncino's began a quarrel that cost them their patronage and in general drew unwanted attention to the role of Jews in printing. Bomberg completely dominated Hebrew printing into the 1540s when Cornelius B. Baruch Adelkind who had long worked for him began working with Giovvani de Gara, on his own and finally for Marc Antonio Giustiniani. Bomberg died in 1549 or 1550 and his last publication was in 1549. Giustiniani began publishing in 1546. The Bragadini family sought to enter the Hebrew printing market. Aloisio Bragadini's first publication was an edition of the Mishneh Torah of Maimonides which came out in 1550. A tremendous dispute began between the house of the Giustiniani and the Bragadini. They each employed several Jewish apostates to make their case for their own virtues before the papal courts in Rome. The rather horrid result of this advocacy was the resolution of the church to suppress the Talmud which lead to the destruction of perhaps hundreds of thousands of Hebrew books and manuscripts.

          Hebrew printing was almost completely disrupted between 1553 when the Papal Bull was issued and 1556 when Hebrew printing did begin to return. The subsequent output of the Venician presses is noticeably different. The emphasis on Talmudic Masekhtot gave way to the printing of bibles, prayer books and original works by contemporary authors. 

        Below we offer one Giustiniani and one Bragadini imprint as well as one other from a lesser publisher.

Gerasi, Daniel ben David ben Elijah. Sefer Odeh H.: ve-hu helek rishon mi-mah she-derashti ... Venice, Bragadin, 1681. Octavo, rebacked in nineteenth-century binding, black cloth spine with chipping at the head and gold lettering, marbled paper covered boards, lacking the later free endpapers, 52 leaves [104 pp.], water-staining. Hardbound. Good. Text is in Hebrew. This appears to be the only edition of the only work published by this Salonika preacher. The leader of the Bragadini enterprise during this period was probably Vicenzio II or Aloisio III. (83787)      $350.00

Front Board.

Title page.

Isaac Elimelekh ben Rafa'el Me'ir. Sefer hi" Sihati. Kostandina [Constantinople], Bi-defus Yitshak di Kastro, 1831/2. Octavo, remnants to the leather spine lacking the back-strip, patterned paper covered boards with edge-wear and soiling, front board off, vi, 38 leaves [xii, 72 pp.] Hardbound. Fair. Text is in Hebrew. A collection of sermons.di Kastro was active between 1808 and 1848 and published over a dozen titles in Constantinople. Yaari, Ha-Defus Ha-Ivri Ba-Kushtah, no. 514.  (83791)      $250.00

Pardo, David Samuel ben Jacob. Sefer Shoshanim le-David: ve-hu hibur nifla al shita sidre Mishnah ... Helek Sheni [of Two]. Venice, Bi-defus Me'ir Da Zara, 1751/2. Octavo, brown leather spine with raised banks, loss at the ends, paper label continues from board to board across the spine, marbled paper covered boards, lacking the free front endpaper, mild loss and repair to the title page, penned marginalia in the margin of the following leaf, 220 leaves [440 pp.], with significant loss and repair to the final four leaves. Hardbound. Poor. Text is in Hebrew. This work, the author's first published, appeared while the author was still in his thirties. He was born in Venice and held various Rabbinical positions in Adriatic Jewish communities before retiring to the Holy Land in his old Age. Da Zara was a minor figure who published a few books in Venice starting in 1842 and continuing into the 1850s. (83578)      $195.00

Hamishah Humshe Torah: Hebraicus Pentateuchus latinus plane´que nouus post omnes hactenus aeditiones euulgatus ac hebraice veritati quoad ejus fieri potuit, conformatus : adjectis insuper e rabinorum commentariis annotationibus [by S. Munster]. Item Cantica Canticorum, Ruth, Threni, Ecclesiastes, Esther. Venice, Ex Officina Justiniana [Marco Antonio Giustiniani], 1551. Octavo, modern rebacking in olive cloth with a brown leather label with gold lettering, ccviii, 209-376 leaves [752 pp.], repairs at the margins of the title page and  the first xxxvi leaves, many pages have Latin notes in the margins and there is a great deal of worming in the margins effecting these notes. However, the repairs and notes rarely enter into the area of the type block. With a full page printers device of the Bet Ha-Mikdash on the final page. An article on the printer's mark, "The Printer’s Mark Of Marco Antonio Giustiniani And The Printing Houses That Utilized It," by M.J. Heller, appears in "Studies in the Making of the Early Hebrew Book, Volume 15," Leiden, Brill, 2007. With head pieces at the beginning of Bereshit, Vayikra, Bamidbar, Devarim, and Shir Ha-Shirim.

Spine and rear board.

Early page with marginalia and damage.

Typical clean later pages.

Colophon page illustration.

Hardbound. Fair. Text is in Hebrew and Latin in parallel columns with notes in Latin. "An edition of the Pentateuch and the Megilloth in Hebrew and Latin, with Latin notes drawn from Rabbinical sources." Darlow & Moule, v. 2, pt. 2, 5094. Type for the Giustiniani was created by the French type-cuter Giullame le Be mentioned in our previous post. This is the only title that Giustiniani published in a bi-lingual format. The choice of subject matter and the bi-lingual text may have been an effort to appeal to a broader market as well as en effort to make the inoffensive nature of the text more explicit. Regardless, the Giustiniani firm was on the rocks. Two original Hebrew works were published in 1551 by Giustiniani. In the following year the nearly moribund firm published a few bibles and prayer books including one Yiddish prayer book for women before closing shop. (83566)     $750.00

Sources

Amram, David. The Makers of Hebrew Books in Italy. New York, Holland Press, 1963 [1988]. 

The Jewish Encyclopedia.  

Popper, William. The Censorship of Hebrew Books. New York, Ktav Publishing House, Inc., 1969.

Vinograd, Yeshayahu. Otsar Ha-Sefer Ha-Ivri. Jerusalem, Ha-Makhon La-Bibliografyah Me-Muhshevet, 1994.

Yaari, Abraham. Ha-Defus ha-Ivri be-Ḳushṭa: ... me-reshito ad perots milḥemet ha-olam ha-sheniyah, u-reshimat ha-sefarim she-nidpesu bah. Jerusalem, The Magnes Press, The Hebrew University, 1967. Supplement to Kiryat Sefer, vol. XLII.

END

Amsterdam Hebrew Imprints

These items are available only through direct sale and are not listed on our website (http://www.hollanderbooks.com) at this time. Orders can be placed by email at boychik@hollanderbooks.com or phone number 415-831-3228.

Models for Hebrew letters cut in wood by Guillaume Le Be, typefounder of Paris, in 1573.

Amsterdam is great city known for tolerance and an openness to the world. It has made its fortunes time and time again by trading with with world. The Netherlands became a unified entity under the Duke of Burgundy in 1433 as part of the Holy Roman Empire. Amsterdam was the home of Erasmus who was one of the central figures of Renaissance philosophy. Protestantism made inroads in the Netherlands. First the Lutheranism, then Anabaptism, the Mennonite faith and finally Calvinism rolled through Dutch society in waves. Charles V, the Duke of Burgundy and Kings of Spain, and later Holy Roman Emperor strongly opposed Protestantism. This led to increasingly oppressive governance in the Netherlands on the part of the Spanish crown and ultimately a Dutch revolt which began a long era of religious war on the continent. After fifty years of conflict between Spain and the Netherlands the conflict spilled out into a larger European conflict, the Thirty Years War.
       Many Spanish Jews had fled to the Netherlands in the era before the inquisition and in the face of the establishment of the inquisition in Spain. New Christians were able to leave either more comfortable lives as Christians without the inquisition or to return to their Jewish faith. The Spanish war against the Netherlands put the Jews clearly on the side of the revolt against Spain. Anti-Spanish piracy in the Caribbean was in part managed by Jewish interests in Amsterdam. Despite the inevitable economic setbacks of wartime this era proved to one of great and rising prosperity for the Dutch.
     Printing came to the Netherlands as early as 1470 though the actual date is subject to some uncertainty. A number of books were printed by a figure known as "Printer of Speculum," in Utrecht. Among these are a title "Speculum," hence the appellation, and a Latin Aesop. The two great printing firms of the 16th century were Plantin and Elzevir. "Plantin's agents went as far as North Africa where they sold Hebrew Bibles to the numerous Jewish congregations." Steinberg, p. 127. From the beginning Dutch printing was a multi-lingual enterprise. In addition to Greek, Latin and Hebrew there were also books printed in the Dutch vernacular and even in additional languages. Plantin published the Biblia Regia, a polyglot bible, an event neatly encapsulating Dutch printing. The Netherlands was a powerful educational magnet and the many Classical works printed by Plantin and Elzevir served as ambassadors when the many foreign students returned to their native countries with them. Both enterprises were tremendous financial successes and provided a model for the successful commercialization of printing. They also used quality type, initially provided by exacting French type-cutters. They both has an interest in quality illustrations and in the promotion of their brand by uniformly sized volumes and prominently presented printers emblems.
     In the seventeenth century Dutch printing showed itself best in the printing of maps. The era is referred to as the Golden Age of Cartography. Willem Janszoon Blaeu, one of the premier cartographic printers (a student of Tycho Brahe) made improvement to the design of the printing press. "He added a counterweight to the pressure bar in order to make the platen rise automatically." Jean-Pierre Luminet, p. 3. An example to Blaeu's printing press is included as item 252 in the important Printing and the Mind of Man exhibit. Menasseh Ben Israel became the first active Jewish printer in Amsterdam in the 1630s. The earliest Hebrew typefaces were Italian, primarily from Venice. Robert Estienne and Guillaume Le Be in France developed typeface with the aid of Italian type cutters. Later Hebrew type was of low quality. However, Joseph Athias, a Jewish printer, bought out the Elzevir type-foundry in 1680 and kept up a standard of better quality "Amsterdam Type." The type used in the volumes below are printed out of that reservoir of type.
       The eighteenth century was the era when the Dutch accumulated their colonial empire. The state moved towards democracy and enlightenment under increasing French cultural influence. It was a strong era for Hebrew printing with several Jewish printing firms in production throughout the century. The Proops family was the most successful of these continuing in business for three generations. Below we list two of their products. Dutch Hebrew printing served elements of the German market and was a source for quality printed edition to Eastern European Jewry where printing as it entered the area continued to spread but at a low aesthetic level.


Abravanel, Isaac. Ateret zekenim: od limed da'at et ha-am mah hem Tsurot ha-yesodot asher adam to'eh mi-derekh ha-sekhel ve-yadu'a otam. Amsterdam, Bi-defus yetome Shelomoh Propes [Proops], 1739. Duodecimo, rebacked in twentieth-century hand painted paper covered boards, ii, vi, 114 pp., with short tears to two of the later leaves.  Hardbound. Good. Text is in Hebrew. This work was first published in 1556/7 and was not printed again until this edition was issued. A commentary on the Biblical idea of the unknowability of the divine. (83512)     $250.00

Hirsh, Magnus. Sefer Divre negidim. Tokhen inyano: Rishon, petihat ha-ma'atik ... Shenit, kitsur zikhron divre ha-yamim le-herut Yehudim be-Republik Batave; Shelishit, ha'atakat divre negide ha-am Batave ... al devar Herut Yehudim be-dat toshavim; Revi'it, ha'atakat date ha-umah Batave ha-metukanim ka-et li-retson ha-am; hamishit, luah be-seder alfa beta perush ha-milot zarot mi-leshon ha-hodesh. Huva el ha-defus a.y. ha-ma'tik Tsevi Hirsh ... Ma'ilfeld. Amsterdam, Be-vet uvi-defus Shelomoh Avraham Propes [Proops], 1799. Duodecimo, rebacked in hand-painted paper covered boards, 144 pp [72 leaves] Hardbound. Very Good-. Text is in Hebrew with a little Dutch at the bottom of the final page. This work is a translation into Hebrew of the Dutch parliamentary hearings that led to the 1796 emancipation of Dutch Jewry. This was in the ear of the Batavian Republic. Arend Huusen makes the point (in an article in "Dutch Jewry: Its History and Secular Culture (1500-2000), edited by Jonathan Irvine Israel, Salverda Reinier) that the Orthodox community of the Netherlands were unenthusiastic beneficiaries of a change in their status that they had not requested.  It is possible that this translation was a product of the Orthodox consternation and a corresponding struggle to understand how to deal with the new civic reality that they found themselves in. (83514)     $450.00

Ibn Habib, Jacob ben Solomon. Sefer En Ya'akov. Helek Sheni. Amsterdam, Shelomoh ben Yosef Kats Props, 1725. Small octavo, half brown leather with gold lettering and decorations worn at the edges and ends, marbled paper covered boards, wear at the open corners, aeg with stamped designs, newer endpapers with the title-page reattached professionally, 340, 3 leaves [680, 6 pp.], table of abbreviations. Hardbound. Good. Text is in Hebrew. The second of three volumes. The Spine lettering reads "En Yisrael" and a worn hand-written piece of paper has been laid down on the title page that appears likely to have read the same. Another work by that title was published by Proops in the same years. However, this inserted attribution appears to be in error. The pagination as laid out in Vinograd matches En Ya'akov and not En Yisrael. (83516)    $150.00

Isaac Ben Eliezer. Sefer Ha-Gan. Amsterdam, Ari Lib ben Ze'ev Wolf Segal, 1713. 16mo, tan leather spine, worn green decorative paper covered boards, 16 pp., old rabbinic hand notes on the free endpapers, loss to the rear pastedown endpaper. Hardbound. Good. Translated from the original Judeo-German [Early Yiddish] by Moses Sertel. Isaac ben Eliezer was an, "Ethical writer at Worms; flourished from 1460 to 1480. He attended the lectures of Moses ben Eliezer ha-Darshan (Zunz, "Z. G." p. 105), whom he praises in high terms. Isaac wrote in German an ethical and ascetic treatise under the title "Sefer ha-Gan" (Cracow, about 1580). It is divided into seven parts, one for each day in the week. Translated into Hebrew by Moses Saertels, it was subsequently printed, together with Johanan Luria's "Sefer ha-Derakah," in Prague (1597, 1612) and Amsterdam (1663, 1713)." Jewish Encyclopedia. This text was an early example of a "Sefer Midot." (see Israel Zinberg). This particular edition includes only "Sefer Ha-Gan." At sixteen pages (eight leaves) this edition is smaller than any of the other editions that include the second work "Sefer ha-Derakah." It is attested in Steinschneider and in Vinograd but appears to be quite uncommon. Most of the entries for this item in OCLC refer to other editions that clearly include both works. (83513)      $350.00

Joseph ben Mordecai Gershon, ha-Kohen of Cracow. She'elot u-teshuvot: ve-nikra be-shem She'erit Yosef. [Amsterdam], 1767. Octavo, brown leather spine worn at the edges with paper labels, marbled paper covered boards, 58 leaves, the last few leaves cut close to the edges of the text, lacking the free endpapers. Hardbound. Good. Text is in Hebrew. Contains, "Responsa and discussions on various rabbinical subjects, as well as a commentary on the "Mordechai" Tractates Nezikin, Berakot, and Mo'ed. In the preface the author states that he published this work at the request of his sons, Tanhuma and Aaron Moses, who were members of the Jewish community of Cracow. He also corrected the manuscript from which was printed the "Aggudah" of Alexandri HaKohain of Frankfurt." Jewish Encyclopedia. (83536)      $395.00


Shimon Bar Yohai [putative author]. Sefer ha-zohar: al ha-Torah. Helek Rishon Sefer Bereshit. Amsterdam, Bi-defus ube-vet Shelomoh ben Yosef Props, 1715. Duodecimo, brown leather with raised bands with some worming to the spine leather and the leather of the front board, free front endpaper strongly soiled with some early pen, old rabbinic notes on the following blanks in three different hands, 152, 14 leaves (303, 29 pp.), some occasional internal soiling and water-staining, with some wear to the rear endpaper. Hardbound. Good-. Text is in Hebrew. Includes the text of the Zohar in parallel columns of "Midrash Ha-Na'alam." Published in three volumes. This is the first. The second volume was of Shemot and the final three books of Moses are in the last volume. Complete sets are rare. (83515)      $395.00


Sources

Jewish Encyclopedia and the standard Hebrew bibliographical sources.

Luminet, Jean-Pierre."Willem Janszoon Blaeu." Online article, https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1503/1503.08327.pdf, retrieved last on 5/2/2017.

Printing and the Mind of Man Assembled at the British Museum and at Earls Court London 16-27 July 1963. London, Messrs F.W. Bridges & Sons Ltd. and The Assocation of British Manufacturers of Printer's Machinery (Proprietary) Ltd., 1963

Short-Title Catalogue of Books Printed in the Netherlands and Belgium and of Dutch and Flemish Books Printed in Other Countries from 1470 to 1600 now in the British Museum. London, Trustees of the British Museum, 1965.

Steinberg, S.H. Five Hundred Years of Printing. New York, Criterion Books, 1959.

END

American Radicalism, Rare American Jewish History and one ringer.

Pamphlets are a large part of my inventory. Below is a selection of some of the more interesting English language pamphlets and ephemeral items that have come through in the past couple of months. Mostly American radicalism with a Jewish connection (though mostly tenuous) and a couple of rare items specifically Jewish.

   Alpert, William I. Auxiliary Brooklyn Hebrew Home & Hospital for the Aged [fund-raising letter]. Brooklyn, New York, Auxiliary Brooklyn Hebrew Home & Hospital for the Aged , c. 1927. Royal octavo, paper covers, 4 pp., creased across the center horizontally, b/w photos and a political cartoon on the rear. Softbound. Very Good. A fund raising letter/ brochure. The Brooklyn Hebrew Home was founded in 1907 and continues today at a different location and under the name Metropolitan Jewish Health System. Some images from the Brooklyn Visual Heritage archive can be found here.  (83396)     $18.00

    Cohn, Michael A. Some Questions and an Appeal. New York, Independent Sacco-Vanzetti Committee, 1927. Octavo, stapled paper covers with minor wear to the spine, 11 pp., minor soiling to the rear cover. Softbound. Good. Cohn was involved with the defense of the most important American Anarchists beginning with Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman. This is Cohn's third and last publication on Sacco and Vanzetti. Uncommon. (83374)     $95.00

   Fraina, Luis C. Revolutionary Socialism: A Study in Socialist Reconstruction. New York, The Communist Press, Publishers, 1918. Small octavo, paper covers with wear at the spine ends, 246 pp. Softbound. Fraina was a product of the hard-scrabble streets of the Bowery. He came to socialism and then to communism through his own program of self-education. He was one of the founders of the American Communist Party. His European and Soviet travels in 1919-1920 led to probably fallacious accusation of espionage. He had a long and active life, spending time in Mexico in the 1920s, and becoming an active Lovestonite in the latter part of the 1930s. He broke with communism in 1940. He died in the early 1950s while being hounded by the House Un-American Activities Committee and his old friends from the Communist Party. Very Good-. Signed by Fraina (later known as Lewis Corey) on the free front endpaper. (81972)      $50.00

  Goldman, Emma. The Truth About the Boylsheviki. ["Dedicated as my last contribution before going to Jefferson City, Mo., prison for two years, to the Boylsheviki in Russia in appreciation of their glorious work and their inspiration in awakening Boylshevism in America."]. New York, Mother Earth Publishing Ass'n., [1918]. Octavo, stapled paper covers, 12 pp., small chips at the open corners of the rear panel. Softbound. Good. Uncommon. (83375)       $295.00

   Hillquit, Morris, preface by. The Trial of Scott Nearing and the American Socialist Society. Presiding Judge - Julius M. Mayer. Attorneys: - For the Government: Earl B. Barnes. For the Defense: Seymour Steadman of Chicago, S. John Block of New York, Walter Nelles of New York, I.M. Sackin of New York, United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, New York City, February 5th to 19th, 1919. New York, The Rand School of Social Science, 1919. Duodecimo, paper covers, 249 pp., ads. Softbound. Nearing was acquitted but the the American Socialism Society was not. Nearing's radical socialism faded into the background of his Tolstoyan preaching of simple living. This is how I knew him in my youth and his old age. He one of the few figures from the teens whose activity ran from the teens through the eighties. Very Good.  (81974)    $27.50

   Panken, Jacob. Socialism for America. New York, Rand School Press, c. 1933. Octavo, stapled paper covers, 16 pp. Softbound. Very Good. Briefly inscribed by the author on the front cover. Panken was a major figure in the Socialist Party of America in the first third of the Twentieth Century. He served as a municipal court judge in New York City for ten years and ran for many other higher offices as the Socialist candidate unsuccessfully. He was eventually pushed out of the party late in his career and founded the Social Democratic  Federation. Sadly he was also active in the anti-Zionist camp. (82004)     $35.00

   Rosenberg, Arthur. Label-Advertising or Bootlegging? The Alternatives Under NIRA's Prohibitions. New York, The Author, 1933. Octavo, stapled paper covers with mild soiling, 12 pp., political cartoon. Softbound. The history of advertising is tied up in the history of prohibition and the subsequent effort to rectify all of the falsehood that was of the essence of bootleg liquor advertising. Good.  (82006)        $40.00

   Sacher, H. A Hebrew University for Jerusalem. Zionist Pamphlets No. 4. London, "The Zionist", 1915. Octavo, stapled paper covers, 16 pp. Softbound. Very Good. An uncommon pamphlet and an early one on the subject of a Jewish university in the Land of Israel. Sacher was a lawyer with office in both Mandate Palestine and London. He was active in the actual work that led to the creation of Hebrew University. (83398)      $75.00

   Weinberger, Harry. Free Speech and Free Press. The first casualties of war are Free Speech and Free Press. New York, The Author, [c. 1917]. Duodecimo, stapled paper covers, 8 pp. Softbound. Very Good. Reprinted from "The FRA." Undated. Because it discusses the Irish Revolt it can't be dated earlier than 1917. The 1917 date of US entry into World War One seems another logical reason to date the pamphlet 1917 as well. Worldcat usually lists 1917, but there is one date entry that places the date at 1944. Perhaps the item was reprinted by Weinberger again during the Second World War. The type face indicates the teens more than the 40s, but if the item was a reprint then that might be of no consequence. I'll bet on 1917 as the date, but with the above concerns as noted. (82007)      $25.00

   Ritual of Chevra Rofa Cholim, including Opening, Closing, Initiation and Installation Ceremonies, The Order of Business and Funeral Ritual. [San Francisco], Chevra Rofa Cholim, 1890s. 16mo, black cloth with gold lettering, marbled pastedown endpapers, 13 pp., two sheets loose. Hardbound. Good. Chevra Rofa Cholim was one of the many Jewish burial societies in San Francisco in the 1890s. There are no copies listed in Worldcat and the book does not appear in Sara Cogan's bibliography on the Jews of San Francisco and I could not locate it in Kaganoff's "Judaica Americana." The Magnes Museum collection which was surrendered to the Bancroft Library may include a copy of this book, but if so, it has not been cataloged. A rare book and perhaps a unicum. (83291)      $350.00