Browse Items (141 total)

So central was Amsterdam to Hebrew printing that books published elsewhere still sought to link themselves to Amsterdam in the hope that it would increase respect for the product and improve sales. This Talmud commentary by Levi ben Shelomoh (Sefer…

Like many 16th century printers of Hebrew books, Ṿitsentso Ḳonṭi (also Vincenzo Conti) of Cremona, Italy was a Christian who employed Jewish assistants. On this copy of Sefer Tashbets, Ḳonṭi employed a particularly elaborate printer's…

As time went on, Hebrew books increasingly employed biblical figures and scenes on the title pages. Most common were Moses and Aaron, who often stand in front of the pillars of the gate on the right and left respectively, as on the title page of…

Images of the cosmos are also found on Hebrew title pages. The gateway on the title page of Shomer Emunim (Offenbach, 1723; below, flanked by Moses and Aaron) has the universe on top, with two angels on either side. Even though this is an 18th…

The tradition of putting a frame around the first page of a book arose even before the printing press, during the era of the scribes. Beginning in the 16th century, it became common to employ a gate as an architectural frame for the title page, as in…

Sefer Zekhirah ṿe-ʻinyene segulot is a book of medicine and folklore written by Zekharyah mi-Plungyan.

This copy was published in Varhsa in 1875 and has an illegible inscription on the title page:

שנו אחלם הן

Toftè'arukh was written by Moses ben Mordechai Zacuto (1625-1697), a rabbi, Kabbalist, and poet who lived in Amsterdam. Originally published in Hebrew in 1715, Tofte 'arukh is a play depicting the circles of hell. This version was translated…

This is the bookplate of Isaac Werne (born Wiernowsky), chief rabbi of the Loz Angeles orthodox rabbinate. Born in 1877 in Slonim, Poland, Werne was ordained by the rabbis of Slonim, Jettel, Azumitzs, and Warsaw in 1897. He received a Masters of Art…

This is the bookstamp of Emil Wassermann. Emil, who was born on May 12th 1842 in Wallerstein, Germany and died on November 12th 1911 in Berlin, Germany, was the initiator of the banking tradition in the Wassermann Family. He owned and directed A.E.…

This is the bookplate of Ernst Jonah (also Yonah ben Hanokh ha-Kohen) Ehrentreu, a German rabbi and teacher.

Ehrentreu was born in Munich in 1896 to Rabbi Hanokh (Heinrich Chanoch) Ehrentreu and Ida Jettel Ehrentreu. There he began his studies,…