Essays on the Making of the Early Hebrew Book

Marvin J. Heller is an award-winning author of books and articles on early Hebrew printing and bibliography. Among his books are the Printing the Talmud series, The Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century Hebrew Book: An Abridged Thesaurus, and several collections of articles.

Contents

Preface



part 1: Hebrew Book Arts

1 The Eagle Motif in 16th and 17th Century Hebrew Books

 Appendix: Biblical Verses Containing References to the Eagle as [ים] נשר [מ][כ][ה]



2 The Lion Motif on Early Hebrew Title Pages and Pressmarks



3 The Fish Motif on Early Hebrew Title Pages and as Pressmarks



4 Keter Shem Tov: A Study in the Entitling of Books, Here Limited to One Title Only

 1 Discourses, Literal and Kabbalistic, on the Torah

 2 Halakhah and Minhag

 3 Biographical and Related Anecdotal Works

 4 Miscellanea

 5 Summary



5 Entitling Hebrew Books from Shir ha-Shirim (Song of Songs)

 1 Song of Songs 1

 2 Song of Songs 2

 3 Song of Songs 3

 4 Song of Songs 4

 5 Song of Songs 5

 6 Song of Songs 6

 7 Song of Songs 7

 8 Song of Songs 8

 9 Additional Hebrew Books from Shir ha-Shirim (Song of Songs)



part 2: Makers and Places of Hebrew Books

6 Belvedere and Kuru Tsheshme: Sephardic Printing in Late-Sixteenth-Century Constantinople

 1 Books Printed at Belvedere

 2 Books Printed at Kuru Tsheshme

 3 Conclusion



7 Kesef Nivhar, Kesef Mezukkak, Kesef Zaruf, and Other Works: The Career and Books of Rabbi Josiah ben Joseph Pinto



8 The Laniados: A Sixteenth–Seventeenth Century Family of Sages in Aram Zova (Aleppo, Haleb) and the Books That They Wrote



9 Benjamin ben Immanuel Mussafia: A Study in Contrasts



10 Sur me-Ra Leon (Judah Aryeh) Modena’s Popular and Much Reprinted Treatise against Gambling

 I

 II

 III

 IV



11 R. Nathan Nata ben Moses Hannover: The Life and Works of an Illustrious and Tragic Figure

 I

 II

 III

 IV



12 Offenbach Revisited: An Enigma Reexamined



13 An Early-Seventeenth-Century Hebrew Press in Chieri: A Passing Phenomenon, a Brief Mirage

 I

 II

 III



14 Hamburg: A Varied Early Hebrew Press

 I

 II

 III

 IV

 V



15 Hebrew Printing in Verona Resumed, but Briefly



16 On the Identity of the First Printers in Slavuta



Part 3: Christian-Hebraism

17 Hebrew Printing in Altdorf: A Brief Christian-Hebraist Phenomenon

 I

 II

 III

 IV

 V



18 Christian-Hebraism in England: William Wotten and the First Translation of the Mishnah into English

 I

 II

 III

 IV



Part 4: Book Varia

19 Concise and Succinct: Sixteenth-Century Editions of Medieval Halakhic Compendiums



20 Unicums, Fragments, and Other Hebrew Book Rarities

 1 Introduction

 2 Incunabula: Editions of Rashi’s Torah Commentary

 3 Early Soncino Family Editions of the Bible

 4 A Unicum Tehilim (Psalms)

 5 Talmud Rarities

 6 Books Burned in Italy in the Mid-Sixteenth Century

 7 From the Cairo Genizah

 8 Constantinople Imprints

 9 Meshal ha-Kadmoni



21 Who Can Discern His Errors? Misdates, Errors, Deceptions, and Other Variations in and about Hebrew Books, Intentional and Otherwise: Revisited

 I

 II

 III

 IV

 V

 VI



22 Approbations and Restrictions: Printing the Talmud in Eighteenth-Century Amsterdam and Two Frankfurts

 1 Amsterdam—Benveniste Talmud

 2 Frankfurt on the Oder—Michael Gottschalk

 3 Marcheses and de Palasios and Solomon Proops

 4 Frankfurt on the Main Talmud

 5 Aftermath



23 Adversity and Authorship: As Revealed in the Introductions of Early Hebrew Books



24 Seventeenth-Century Potpourri on Megillat Esther



25 Yitzi’at Mitzra’im (The Exodus) in Print: The First Editions of the Printed Haggadah

 I

 II

 III

 IV

 V

Bibliography