History of the Early Printed Hebrew Book: Specific Early Printers of Hebrew Books

This is a guide to the History of the Early Printed Hebrew Book. It was copied with permission from the guide at the University of Pennsylvania, created by Bruce E. Nielsen, and updated for Columbia University by Michelle Chesner

Specific Early Printers of Hebrew Books

Similar to looking at printing establishments in specific geographical areas there are a number of specific printers who have been subject to significant reasearch and historical study.  Prominent among them are the Soncino family in Italy and the Ottoman Empire, Daniel Bomberg in Venice, Christopher Plantin in Antwerp (see above, in the section on production and circulation) and Joseph Athias in Amsterdam.

Specific Early Printers of Hebrew Books

Arnheim, Arthur and Ulf Haxen
“Moses Hagiz og det hebraiske bogtrykkeri i Wandsbeck,” Fund og Forskning i Det Kongelige Biblioteks Samlinger 38 (1999) 119-133
Van Pelt Library. Z941 .C68
Research Annex (LIBRA).  Z941 .C68
https://tidsskrift.dk/index.php/fundogforskning/article/view/1363/2206

Benayahu, Meir
“The Books Printed in Venice at the Zanetti Press,” [Hebrew] Asufot 12 (1999) 9-163
Katz Center - Periodicals Gallery. BM1 .A79
Van Pelt Library. BM1 .A79

Fuks-Mansfeld, Renate G.
Abraham Hayim ben Zvi Hirsh Braatbard A Hebrew type-setter in Amsterdam in the first half of the eighteenth century
Zutot 1 (2001) 133-137
Katz Center - Stacks. DS101 .Z886
Van Pelt Library. DS101 .Z886
http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/journals/10.1163/187502101788691196

Habermann, Abraham Meir
“The Press of Paul Fagius and the Books of His Print Shop,” [Hebrew] pp. 149-166 in, פרקים בתולדות המדפסים העברים ועניני ספרים   = Studies in the history of Hebrew printers and books (Jerusalem : R. Mas, 738, 1978)
Katz Center - Stacks. Z228.H4 H19 1978
Katz Center - Reference Room. Z228.H4 H19 1978
Van Pelt Library. Z228.H4 H19

Habermann, Abraham Meir
(1564-1610) המדפיס זואן די גארה ורשימת ספרי בית דפוסו, שכ"ד-ש"ע = Giovanni di Gara:  Printer, Venice 1564-1610
Jerusalem, 1982
Katz Center - Reference Room. Z232.D57 H32 1982
Katz Center - Stacks. Z232.D57 H32 1982
Van Pelt Library. Z232.D5 H32 1982

Habermann, Abraham Meir
“The Parenzo Printers in Venice,” [Hebrew] Areshet 1 (1958) 61-90
Katz Center - Periodicals Gallery. Periodical
Van Pelt Library. Z228.H4 A74

Habermann, Abraham Meir
המדפיס קורנילייו אדיל קינד ובנו דניאל ורשימת הספרים שנדפסו על ידיהם = Printer Cornelio Adel Kind, his son Daniel, and a list of books printed by them
Jerusalem : R. Mas, 1980
Katz Center - Reference Room. Z232.A35 H33 1980
Katz Center - Stacks. Z232.A35 H33 1980
Van Pelt Library. Z232.A17 H3

Habermann, Abraham Meir
“The Sons of Hayim Halicz: A Family of Hebrew Printers,”  [Hebrew] Kiryat Sefer 33 (1957/58), 509-520
Katz Center - Periodicals Gallery. Z6367 .K57
Van Pelt Library. Z6367 .K57
   [repr. pp. 131-146 in his, פרקים בתולדות המדפסים העברים ועניני ספרים [Studies in the History of Hebrew Printers and Books (Jerusalem, 1978)
Katz Center - Stacks. Z228.H4 H19 1978
Katz Center - Reference Room. Z228.H4 H19 1978
Van Pelt Library. Z228.H4 H19 ]

Habermann, Abraham Meir
“The Printer Hayim Shachor, his son Isaac and his son-in-law Yosef ben Yakor, and matters of books,” [Hebrew] pp. 103-130 in his, פרקים בתולדות המדפסים העברים ועניני ספרים = Studies in the history of Hebrew printers and books (Jerusalem : R. Mas, 738, 1978)
Katz Center - Stacks. Z228.H4 H19 1978
Katz Center - Reference Room. Z228.H4 H19 1978
Van Pelt Library. Z228.H4 H19

Heller, Marvin J.
“Moses ben Abraham Avinu and his printing-presses,” pp. 218-228 in, Studies in the making of the early Hebrew Book (Leiden; Boston:  Brill, 2008)
Katz Center - Stacks. Z228.H4 H46 2008
Van Pelt Library. Z228.H4 H46 2008

Hilgert, Earle
“Johann Froben and the Basel University Scholars, 1513-1523,” The Library Quarterly 41.2 (1971) 141-169
Van Pelt Library. Z671 .L713
http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/4306069.pdf?_=1463770328147

Huss, Boaz
“The Text and Context of the 1684 Sulzbach Edition of the Zohar,” pp. 117-138 in, Tradition, Heterodoxy, and Religious Culture (Beer-Sheva : Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, c2006) edd. Chanita Goodblatt and Howard T. Kreisel
Van Pelt Library. BM535 .T72 2006
http://hsf.bgu.ac.il/cjt/files/library%20files/tradition/Boaz%20Huss.pdf

Huss, Boaz
Translation of the preceding, “Text und Context des Sulzbacher Zohar,” Morgen-Glantz, Zeitschrift der Christian Knorr von Rosenroth-Gesellschaft 16 (2006) 135-159
Available via InterLibrary Loan electronic document delivery

Jelínková, Andrea
“Nipas ba-Ir ha-Mehulala Brin.  The first years of the Brno Hebrew Printing House and a Bibliography of Printed Books from 1754-1760,” Judaica Bohemiae 50.2 (2015) 91-107
Katz Center - Periodicals B1. DS135.C95 J82

Künast, Hans-Jörg
“Chajjim Schwarz und Paulus Aemilius - Jüdisch-hebräischer Buchdruck in Augsburg (1533 - 1544),” pp. 157-171 in, Fördern und Bewahren. Studien zur europäischen Kulturgeschichte der Frühen Neuzeit : Festschrift anlässlich des zehnjährigen Bestehens der Dr. Günther Findel-Stiftung zur Föderung der Wissenschaften (Wiesbaden : Harrassowitz, 1996) ed. Helwig Schmidt-Glintzer
Van Pelt Library. DD176.8 .F67 1996

Nosek, Bedřich
“Katalog mit einer Auswahl hebräischer Drucke Prager Provenienz. I. Teil:  Drucke der Gersoniden im 16. und 17. Jahrhundert,” Judaica Bohemiae 10.1 (1977) 13-41
Katz Center - Periodicals B1. DS135.C95 J82

Offenberg, Adri K.
“Peregrine printers,” Studia Rosenthaliana 35. 2 (2001) 157-171
Katz Center – Stacks. DS135.N4 S8
Van Pelt Library. DS135.N4 S8
http://www.jstor.org/stable/41482451?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

Piattelli, Mordechai Angelo
“More about the Printer Zuan di Gara,” [Hebrew] Kiryat Sefer 63 (1990-1991) 675-678
Katz Center - Periodicals Gallery. Z6367 .K57
Van Pelt Library. Z6367 .K57

Post, Rudolf and Jutta Schumacher
"Der jüdische Drucker Israel Sifroni in Freiburg i.B, 1583-1585," Schau-ins-Land. Jahresheft des Breisgau-Geschichtsvereins Schauinsland 125 (2006) 63–72
http://dl.ub.uni-freiburg.de/diglit/schauinsland2006/0063/

Rosenfeld, Moshe
Zebi Hirsch ben Chaim aus Fürth – Autor und Buchdrucker; ein Beitrag zum 300 jährigen Fürther jüdischen Buchdruck,“ pp. 34-40 in, Nachrichten für den jüdischen Bürger Fürths (1991)
Available as a scan from Yale University, Harvard University et al.

Sidorko, Clemens P.
"Eliezer Ben Naphtali Herz Treves als Pionier des jüdischen Buchdrucks in Zürich, Tiengen und Basel um 1560," Aschkenas 17 (2010) 457–472
Katz Center - Stacks. DS101 .A574
Van Pelt Library. DS101 .A574

Spiegel, Jacob
"Regarding the Bragadin and Justinian Editions of Maimonides' Mishneh Torah," [Hebrew] Kiryat Sefer 47 (1972)493-501
Katz Center – Periodicals Gallery. Z6367 .K57
Van Pelt Library. Z6367 .K57

Tamani, Giuliano
La tipografia de Jacob Marcaria : 1557-1563
Trento : Provincia autonoma di Trento, Servizio Beni culturali, Ufficio Beni librari e archivistici ; Riva del Garda : Comune di Riva del Garda, Biblioteca Civica, 1991
Katz Center - Reference Room. Z232.M35 C7 1991

Vodsedálková, Martina
“Drei hebräische Drucke gersonidischer Herkunft,” Judaica Bohemiae 23.2 (1987) 92-94
Katz Center - Periodicals B1. DS135.C95 J82

Yaari, Avraham
“The Printing House of Rabbanit Judith Rosanes in Lvov,” [Hebrew] Kiryat Sefer 17 (1940) 95-108
Katz Center - Periodicals Gallery. Z6367 .K57
Van Pelt Library. Z6367 .K57

Zafren, Herbert C.
"Dyhernfurth and Shabtai Bass: A Typographic Profile," pp. 543-580 in, Studies in Jewish bibliography, history and literature in honor of I. Edward Kiev (New York : Ktav Publishing House, 1971) ed. Charles Berlin
Katz Center - Stacks. BM42 .K537 1971
Van Pelt Library. BM42 .K537

Zafren, Herbert C.
"More on Dyhernfurth," Studies in Bibliography and Booklore 10 (1971/72) 62-68
Katz Center - Periodicals Gallery. PN6067 .S883L
Van Pelt Library. PN6067 .S883
http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/27943440.pdf?acceptTC=true

Israel ben Abraham

Bamberger, S
“Wandsbecker Druckperiode des Israel ben Abraham 1726-1733,” pp. 101-108  in, Festschrift für Aron Freimann zum 60. Geburtstage (Berlin : Die Gesellschaft, 1935) edd. Alexander Marx and Hermann Meyer
Van Pelt Library. Z228.H4 .F4

Heller, Marvin J.
“Israel ben Abraham, His Hebrew Printing-Press in Wandsbeck, and the Books He Published,” pp. 169–193 in, Further Studies in the Making of the Early Hebrew Book (Leiden: Brill, 2013)
Katz Center – Stacks. Z228.H4 H442 2013
Van Pelt Library. Z228.H4 H442 2013

 

Joseph Athias

Habermann, Abraham Meir
“The Amsterdam Printer Joseph Athias, the inventor of the stereotype,” [Hebrew] pp. 293-310 in, פרקים בתולדות המדפסים העברים ועניני ספרים = Studies in the history of Hebrew printers and books (Jerusalem : R. Mas, 738, 1978)
Katz Center - Stacks. Z228.H4 H19 1978
Katz Center - Reference Room. Z228.H4 H19 1978
Van Pelt Library. Z228.H4 H19

Offenberg, Adri K.
“The Hidden Treasure of Athias,” Quaerendo 37.2 (2007) 96 – 110
Van Pelt Library Z1007 .Q13
http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/journals/10.1163/157006907x174247

 

Ambrosius Froben

Pallman, Heinrich
"Ambrosius Froben von Basel als Drucker des Talmud," Archiv für Geschichte des deutschen Buchhandels 7 (1882) 44-61
Available via HathiTrust Digital Library. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924106306362;view=1up;seq=56

Staehelin, Ernst
"Des Basler Buchdruckers Ambrosius Froben Talmudausgabe und Handel mit Rom," Basler Zeitschrift für Geschichte und Altertumskunde 30 (1931)
Van Pelt Library. DQ361 .H44
http://www.e-periodica.ch/digbib/view?pid=bzg-002:1931:30::13

Plantin

Fuks, Leo and Renate Fuks
“The Hebrew Production of Plantin-Raphelengius Presses in Leyden 1585-1615,” Studia Rosenthaliana 1 (1970) 1-24
Katz Center – Stacks. DS135.N4 S8
Van Pelt Library. DS135.N4 S8
http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/41481359.pdf?_=1464606462461

Voet, Leon
The Golden Compasses: A History and Evaluation of the Officina Plantiniana at Antwerp. I: Christopher Plantin and the Moretuses: Their Lives and Their World, two volumes
Amsterdam, Van Gendt ; New York, Abner Schram, [1969-c1972]
Van Pelt Library Z232.P71 V6
Rare Book & Manuscript Library - Rare Book Collection. Z232.P71 V6

Voet, Leon and Jenny Voet-Grisolle
The Plantin Press at Antwerp (1555-1589). A bibliography of the works printed and published by Christopher Plantin, I-III: A-L
Amsterdam : Van Hoeve, c1980-c1983
Rare Book & Manuscript Library - Reference Collection. Z232.P71 V63 1980

Daniel Bomberg

Freimann, Aaron

“Daniel Bomberg’s Bücher-Verzeichnis,” Zeitschrift für Hebräische Bibliographie 10 (1906) 38-42
Katz Center - Reference Room. Z6367 .Z48
Katz Center – Stacks. Z6367 .Z48
Available via HathiTrust Digital Library.  http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015011392019;view=1up;seq=50

Gatch, Milton McCormick and Bruce E. Nielsen
“The Wittenberg Copy of the Bomberg Talmud,” Gutenberg-Jahrbuch (2003) 296–320
Van Pelt Library. Z1008 .G98
https://www.digizeitschriften.de/dms/img/?PID=PPN366382810_0078|log42

Habermann, Abraham Meir
המדפיס דניאל בומבירגי ורשימת ספרי בית דפוסו = The Printer Daniel Bomberg and the list of books published by his press
Tsefat : ha-Muse?on le-?omanut ha-defus, 1978
Katz Center - Reference Room. Z232.B68 H33 1978
Katz Center - Stacks. Z232.B68 H33 1978

Hirsch, Jacob
“Daniel Bomberg and his Project:  A Reappraisal,” [Hebrew] Yad la-kore 18 (1979) 105-08
Katz Center – Periodicals B2.  Z3476.Y335

Kalman, Ruthie
מלאכת הספר בדפוס בומבירג בוינציאה, במחצית הראשונה של המאה ה-16 = The Books’ Craft of Daniel Bomberg’s Press in Venice in the First Half of the 16th Century
MA Thesis, Jerusalem, Hebrew University School of Library and Archive Studies, 1992
Available via BorrowDirect from Harvard

Mehlman, Yisrael
“The Printing House of Daniel Bomberg in Venice,” [Hebrew] pp. 13-42 in, גנוזות ספרים : מאמרים ביבליוגרפיים = Hidden books : bibliographic articles (Jerusalem:  Jewish National and University Library, 1976)
Van Pelt Library. Z228.H4 M43

Nielsen, Bruce E.
“Daniel van Bombergen, A Bookman of Two Worlds,” pp. 56-75 and 230-252 in, The Hebrew Book in Early Modern Italy (Philadelphia:  University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011) edd. Joseph R. Hacker and Adam Shear
Katz Center - Stacks. Z228.H4 H425 2011
Van Pelt Library. Z228.H4 H425 2011
http://site.ebrary.com/lib/upenn/docDetail.action?docID=10642680
http://muse.jhu.edu/books/9780812205091

Schmelzer, Menahem
"Rashi's Commentary on the Pentateuch and on the Five Scrolls, Venice, Bomberg, 1538," pp. 425-433 in, Studies in Jewish bibliography, history and literature in honor of I. Edward Kiev (New York : Ktav Publishing House, 1971) ed. Charles Berlin
Katz Center - Stacks. BM42 .K537 1971
Van Pelt Library. BM42 .K537

Menasseh ben Israel

De Haas, J.J.M., A.K. Offenberg and M.G. Ootjers, edd.
Menasseh ben Israel [electronic resource]:  a digital collection of seventeenth-century Jewish printing in Amsterdam
Amsterdam : Amsterdam University Press, c1999.
Katz Center - CD-ROM. Z232.M243 M46 1999
Research Annex (LIBRA). Z232.M243 M46 1999

Fuks, Leo and Renate
"Menasseh Ben Israel as a bookseller in the light of new data," Quaerendo 11 (1981) 34-45
Van Pelt Library. Z1007 .Q13
http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/journals/10.1163/157006981x00049

Gnirrep, Kees and Adri Offfenberg
"Menasseh ben Israel as a Supplier of Books to the Municipal Library in Amsterdam in 1635 and 1639," Quaerendo 42 (2012) 293-307
Van Pelt Library Z1007 .Q13
http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/journals/10.1163/15700690-12341245

Offenberg, Adri K.
Menasseh ben Israel (1604-1657), A Biographical Sketch
Amsterdam :  Menasseh ben Israel Instituut, 2011
Van Pelt Library. BM755.M25 O44 2011

Roth, Cecil
A Life of Menasseh ben Israel, Rabbi, Printer and Diplomat
Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1934
Katz Center - Stacks. BM755.M25 R6 1934
Van Pelt Library. BM755.M25 R6

Yaari, Abraham
“The Original Catalogue of the Printing House of Menasseh Ben-Israel in Amsterdam,” [Hebrew]  Kiryat Sefer 21 (1944-1945) 192-201
Katz Center - Periodicals Gallery. Z6367 .K57
Van Pelt Library. Z6367 .K57

Gershom Soncino

Busi, Giulio
“Gershom Soncino a Venezia : cronaca di una disillusione,” pp. 13-27 in, L'attività editoriale di Gershom Soncino 1502-1527. Atti del convegno Soncino, 17 settembre 1995 (Soncino (Cremona) : Edizioni dei Soncino, c1997) ed. by Giuliano Tamani
Van Pelt Library. Z232.S69 A88 1997

Freimann, Aron
"Die Familie Soncino," Soncino-Blätter 1 (1925/26)  9-12
Katz Center - Reference Folio. Z6367 .S69

Freimann, Aron
“Die Soncinaten- Drucke in Salonichi und Constantinople (1526-1547),” Zeitschrift für Hebräische Bibliographie 9 (1905) 21-25
Katz Center – Reference Room. Z6367 .Z48
Katz Center – Stacks. Z6367 .Z48
Available via HathiTrust Digital Library.  http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.c042829132;view=1up;seq=4

Habermann, Abraham Meir
המדפיסים בני שונצינו : תולדותיהם ורשימת הספרים העברים שנדפסו על ידיהם = The Printers sons of Soncino:  their history and list of books printed in Hebrew by their press
Vienna : Be-hotsa?at bet mish?ar sefarim shel Dav?id Frenk?il, 693 [1933]
Katz Center - Reference Room. Z232.S66 H32 1933

Loifer, Yaakov

משונצנו ועד וילנא : סיפורו המרתק של דף הגמרא המודפס = From Soncino to Vilna : the fascinating story of the printed Talmud page
Jerusalem : ha-Modi?a, 2012
Van Pelt Library. Z6371.T2 L6 2012

Manzoni, Giacomo
Annali tipografici dei Soncino: contenenti la descrizione e illustrazione delle stampe ebraiche, talmudiche, rabbiniche, greche, latine ed italiane eseguite dai medesimi ... Tom. II. Tom. III. Tom. IV
Farnborough, Gregg, 1969 [repr. 1st ed., Bologna, presso Gaetano Romagnoli, 1883-1886]
Katz Center - Reference Room. Z232.S66 M36
Katz Center - Reference Room. Z232.S66 M36 1980z
Van Pelt Library. Z232.S69 M2 1969

Marx, Moses
"Gershom (Hieronymus) Soncino's Wander-Years in Italy, 1498-1527," HUCA 11 (1936) 427-501
Katz Center - Periodicals Gallery. BM11 .H4
Van Pelt - Judaica/Ancient Near East Resource Room (401). BM11 .H4

Marx, Moses
"Gershom Soncino:  Contributions to the History of his Life and Printing," pp. i-x in, ספר היובל לכבוד אלכסנדר מארכס  A Tribute to Professor Alexander Marx (New York :  Jewish Theological Seminary of America, 1943) ed. David Fränkel
Katz Center - Stacks. BM42.M379 F736 1943

Melzer, Zwi
Gerschom Soncino (1465-1534) : ein jüdischer Drucker zur Zeit der Renaissance
Stuttgart : Fachhochschule für Druck, 1982
Van Pelt Library. Z232.S69 M44 1982a

Nuovo, Angela   
“La parte volgare del catalogo di Gershom Soncino,” pp. 59-93  in, L'attività editoriale di Gershom Soncino 1502-1527. Atti del convegno (Soncino, 17 settembre 1995), ed. Giuliano Tamani,
(Soncino (Cremona) : Edizioni dei Soncino, c1997)  
Van Pelt Library. Z232.S69 A88 1997

Sacchi, Federico
I Tipografi Ebrei de Soncino I (Cremona :  Ronzi e Signori, 1877)
Library at the Katz Center - Reference Room. Z232.S69 S2 1877
Available via HathiTrust Digital Library.  http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.31158005752794

Sandal, Ennio
Gershom, Girolamo, Hieronymus, le edizioni del Soncino nelle città adriatiche 1502-1527
Soncino (Cremona) : Edizioni dei Soncino, 2001
Van Pelt Library. Z232.S69 G478 2001

Soave, Moses
Dei Soncino, Celebri Tipografi Italiani nei secoli XV XVI (Venice : Longo, 1878)
Available via HathiTrust Digital Library.  http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/100155434

Tamani, Giuliano
L'attivita` editoriale di Gershom Soncino, 1502-1527 : atti del convegno : Soncino, 17 settembre 1995
Soncino (Cremona) : Edizioni dei Soncino, c1997
Van Pelt Library. Z232.S69 A88 1997

Tamani, Giuliano
“Gershom Soncino/Hieronymus Soncino,” pp. 1-7 in, L'attività editoriale di Gershom Soncino 1502-1527. Atti del convegno Soncino, 17 settembre 1995 (Soncino (Cremona) : Edizioni dei Soncino, c1997) ed. by Giuliano Tamani
Van Pelt Library. Z232.S69 A88 1997

Marco Antonio Giustiniani

Heller, Marvin J.
“The printer's mark of Marco Antonio Giustiniani and the printing house that used it,” pp. 44-53 in, Studies in the making of the early Hebrew Book (Leiden; Boston:  Brill, 2008)
Katz Center - Stacks. Z228.H4 H46 2008
Van Pelt Library. Z228.H4 H46 2008

Kuntz, Marion Leathers
“Marcantonio Giustiniani Venetian patrician and printer of Hebrew books and his gift to Guillaume Postel: Quid pro quo?,”  Studi veneziani, XVII (1989) 51-63
Van Pelt Library. DG670 .S882
Research Annex (LIBRA). DG670 .S882