JAP Preservation Program Milestones in Hebrew Printing
From the year 1850 the introduction of inexpensive pulp based papers brought about a further revolution in Hebrew publishing. Printing and owning books were no longer the prerogative of the wealthy, now the middle class could also afford to acquire Sifrei Kodesh. Publishing societies printed hundreds of unpublished works from manuscripts, new editions of early imprints, journals and newspapers blossomed, new collections of contemporary Responsa and commentaries appeared in every Jewish community......
The blessing of cheap paper brought a curse in disguise. The acids used to break down wood chips into pulp continue to acidify the paper matrix causing it after several decades it to turn brown, brittle and crack. Many important works from the last generation are no longer usable, they are simply disintegrating into piles of brown flakes. The following quote is from the Judaica Archival Project application to the brittle book initiative of the National Endowment For The Humanities.
"In correspondence and conversations we have had with the librarians of the major Judaica libraries in the world we have found unanimous agreement that brittle 19th century printed Rabbinic works are one of the most pressing issues on every Jewish Research library's preservation agenda."
"I am pleased to hear that you are considering a project aimed at the preservation microfilming of Judaica books. The problem of deteriorating books in our libraries is both serious and extensive. Nineteenth and early Twentieth Century imprints in large numbers, have already reached the brittle stage. The only practical means now available for preserving these works is microfilming.".... (2)
"...I handle rare Hebraica with regularity and have never seen Hebrew books in more need of immediate filming than Eastern European imprints of the turn of the century. As you are interested in Rabbinics, you are aware of the vast body of material from Eastern Europe which awaits microfilming. Any project which addresses this need should be given unqualified support. ... " (the emphasis is Mr. Hill's) (3)
"The Jewish National and University Library has been working with the Judaica Archival Project, under the directorship of Mr. Yaakov Rosenes, since 1988. During all these years, Mr. Rosenes has shown a great deal of resourcefulness and devotion to the Judaica Archival Project's mission. His competence hardly needs to be described in words: it is manifested by the rich choice of Rabbinic literature on microfiche that the Project has been able to produce in a short period of time, and offer cheaply to scholars, with only scarce financial resources available.
The Project may be regarded as a rather helpful step towards the common aim of preserving the Jewish printed heritage. A very large number of Judaica and Hebraica books, particularly those published since 1850, have been printed on low-quality paper, which is now so brittle that their very existence is at great risk unless they are not used at all anymore. The only rational way at the present to preserve the works which these books contain in a usable form is to capture their images on microforms. ......."
We are asking you, as a concerned individual, to study our Adopt-A-Book program, and to consider joining in this unique initiative.
The invention of printing was a unique event in the history of the Mesora, (the transmission of Jewish traditions from Sinai to present times). A change in information technology which happened outside the Jewish world, had a profound effect on the methodology of Torah study. The invention of printing came at a most fortuitous time. With the scattering of Spanish Jewry across Europe and around the Mediterranean following the Spanish expulsion in 1492, there was a traumatic break in the smooth flow of the Mesora, effectively closing the era of the Early Commentators. The invention of printing softened this blow by providing the means whereby communities in exile could consult with the great leaders of earlier generations through their writings.
Rabbinic leaders were highly enthusiastic about the new technology. The craft of printing was considered an Avodat HaKodesh - holy work, and the printing press was likened to an altar. A later commentator (Maharitz Chayot - Galicia 19th century) compared it to the art of "writing with many pens" referred to in the time of the Second Temple in Tractate Yoma 38b.
The first books printed entirely in Hebrew letters, Rashi's commentary on the Pentateuch were printed in Rome c. 1469, only 13 years after Gutenberg printed his bible. Within a decade Hebrew printing had spread from Italy to Spain and Constantinople with the press of Gerson and Joshua Solomon at Soncin near Cremona being the most active.
Here are a few landmark dates and events in early Hebrew printing: 1475 - Rashi's commentary on Pentateuch the first dated Hebrew work is printed in Reggio di Calabria in Italy.. 1482 - First Spanish Hebrew book printed in Guadaljara 1492 - Expulsion from Spain and destruction of Hebrew books 1494 - David Nahmias begins printing in Constantinople 1512 - Beginning of Hebrew printing in Salonika 1484 - 1556 The Soncino family prints in Soncin, Naples, Brescia, Cassal Maggiore, Barca, Fano, Pesaro, Ortona, Rimini, Constantinople and Egypt. 1513 - Press of Gershon Solomon Cohen in Prague prints prayer book 1520 - Daniel Bomberg of Venice prints the first complete Talmud edition. The Venice community sends a copy to Henry VIII of England as a gift 1533 - Hayim ben David Schwartz moves his press from Prague to Augsburg Germany and in 1546 to Heddenheim and finally in 1550 to Lublin Poland. 1542 - Beginning of censorship of Hebrew books by the Roman Curia 1550 - Giustiniani and Bragadini enter into competition with Bomberg in Venice 1554 - The burning of the Talmud at Ferrara and closing of the Venice printers 1556 - First edition of Zohar is saved in Mantua but the first edition of the Zioni commentary printed in Cremona is burned 1565 - Printing resumes in Venice and first edition of Shulkan Aruch appears 1569 - Isaac ben Aaron of Prossnitz prints in Cracow 1578 - The Talmud begins to appear in Basel 1627 - Gutel the daughter of Leb Setzer prints in Prague 1627 - Menasheh ben Israel and Daniel De Fonseca begin printing in Amsterdam 1658 - Uri Phoebus begins printing in Amsterdam and in Zolkiev in 1692 1697 - Jacob Proops begins printing in Amsterdam
By 1700 dozens of Hebrew presses were continuously active in Eastern Europe, Italy, and the Mediteranean Countries and printing continued in Western Europe in Germany itself even as late as 1940. The Nazi destruction of Jewish civilization in Europe included not only the murder of Jewish people but the erasing of Jewish culture by burning Jewish books in synagogues, libraries, and homes. During WWII refugees printed Hebrew books in such exotic locations as Beirut, Johannesburg, Harbin and Shanghai but the great centers of Hebrew printing continued to migrate until today they are in New York and Jerusalem, both of which were unknown for Hebrew publishing in the 18th century.