Rare antique item exceptionally
Daniel Bomberg– "The Greatest of Hebrew
Printers" of Venice
Daniel Bomberg (Bombirgi; 1475-1549), an
outstanding printer of Hebrew books in the first
century of the history of print, was the son of a
Christian merchant, born in Antwerp, Belgium.
He left his hometown at an early age and settled
in Venice where he established the first Hebrew
printing press in the city. In spite of being a non-Jew,
Daniel Bomberg was the foremost printer of Hebrew
books in the 16th century and had a crucial influence
on the development of Hebrew printing and on other
printers of his generation and future generations.
Between the years 1516 and 1549 Bomberg printed
nearly 250 Hebrew books including some of the
most important basic books which came off his
press setting a standard of beauty and perfection.
Bomberg was the first to print a complete edition
of the Babylonian Talmud, the first who printed the
Jerusalemite Talmud and the first who printed an
edition of the bible "Mikraot Gedolot". Until the year
1543 Bomberg was the only printer of Hebrew books
in Venice. Later on many Hebrew presses were
established in Venice by Christian entrepreneurs
who envied his success. Amongst the competitors
were Marco Antonio Justinian and Alvise Bragadini
(the commercial fights between the latter led to
the burning of the Talmud in the years 1553-1554.)
Venice became an empire of Hebrew printing of all
times thanks to Bomberg.
The books printed in Bomberg Press were well known
for their beauty and elegance and have been imitated
throughout generations by numerous printers.
Bomberg Press used paper and ink of exceptional
quality and the typesetting was meticulous and
precise. The beauty and quality of the press were
most probably the reasons for Bomberg's success.
The design of the letters was so splendid that printers
praised their books as printed in "Bombirgi Letters".
Babylonian Talmud – Venice, 1520-1523 – First
complete edition of the Talmud printed in
Bomberg Press
One of the masterpieces printed by Bomberg, and
his most impressive achievement, was the printing
of the Babylonian Talmud. Single tractates of the
Talmud have been printed in Spain (prior to the
expulsion of Jews) and later in the Soncino family
printing press, but Bomberg's edition is the first
complete one – from Seder Zera'im to Seder Taharot.
This famous edition ("Venice print") turned to be the
master edition and served as a basis and reference
for later editions. For printing this edition Bomberg
obtained special permission from Pope Leo X and
employed Jewish scholars and proofreaders who
assisted in publishing this perfect set. To reach this
goal Bomberg gathered all the manuscripts which he
could find in order to publish a version which would
be as accurate as possible. Bomberg used various
manuscripts of the Talmud, of Rashi commentaries,
Tosafot and the ROSH. For that reason this edition
is of major importance. In addition, this edition is
almost free of censorship disruptions as opposed
to earlier tractates which have been printed by the
Soncino printers.
The project was of immense volume and included
arrangement of the version according to various
manuscripts, proofreading and printing and was
completed in an unprecedented speed. In less
than three years, between the years 1520-1523,
the complete Talmud was printed, by this order:
in the year 1520 the following tractates were
printed: Berachot, Shabbat, Yoma, Kidushin, Sotah,
Sanhedrin, Makot, Avoda Zarah and Nidah. In 1521
the following tractates have been printed: Beytza,
Hagiga, Moed Katan, Rosh HaShanah, Sukkah,
Ta'anit, Megilah, Ketubot, Gitin, Baba Kama, Baba
Metzi'a, Baba Batra, Shavuot, Horiyot, Adayot, Avot
and Hulin. In 1522 the following tractates have been
printed: Shekalim, Seder Zera'im, Eiruvin, Yevamot,
Nedarim, Nazir, Minhot, Temurah, Zevachim,
Kritut, Bechorot, Arachin, Seder Kodashim with
Rambam commentary, Seder Taharot with Rambam
commentary and Hilchot Ketanot by ROSH. In 1523,
the following tractates were printed: Me'ila, Kanim,
Tamid, Midot, Semachot, Kalah and Sofrim and by
that the printing of the Talmud has been terminated.
Pesachim tractate does not bear a date and it might
have been the first to be printed.
This edition introduced the typographic format
of a Gemara Leaf (Tzurat HaDaf) for generations.
The numbering of pages appeared here for the first
time as it is known today, and became the accepted
numbering in most of the editions of the Talmud that
followed the Venice edition to the Vilnius edition
and the editions printed nowadays.
As suitable for the Bomberg printing press, the
tractates were printed on paper of fine quality, and
the letters are set spaciously and clearly using ink of
exceptional quality. A minimal title page precedes
the tractates. The first word of each tractate is
ornamented with a floral decoration. "Piskei Tosafot"
and Rambam commentary are printed in the end of
most tractates. This edition was the first to add ROSH
verses at the end of each tractate and ever since they
appear in all of the Talmud editions that followed.
Babylonian Talmud – Second and Third Edition
Printed by Bomberg
The first edition printed by Bomberg was a big
success. All of the copies were sold out within a
short period of time and it was necessary to print a
second edition. This edition was printed by Bomberg
printing press between the years 1526-1531, initiated
by the Jews Cornelio Edelkind of Padua who was the
proofreader of the first edition.
The second edition is similar to the first one; however
some changes and improvements have been
introduced. In Eiruvin, Pesachim, Shekalim, Sukah
and Shavu'ot the version was corrected according
to new manuscripts. The ROSH commentary for
Eiruvin tractate was divided into paragraphs, and
the Ashrei glosses were added unlike the first edition.
The two editions are very similar and it is not easy
to distinguish between them, but there are some
differences. The main difference is in the titles. In the
second edition (as well as in the third edition), the
title of each tractate appears on the right side of the
leaf number, as common today. In the first edition,
the title of the tractates does sometimes not appear
at all while in others it appears to the left side of the
leaf number.
The popularity and success which Bomberg's Talmud
gained led to the appearance of a competitor, a
Venetian nobleman by the name of Marco Antonio
Justinian who founded a Hebrew printing press,
hired Jewish workers and proofreaders and printed
the complete Babylonian Talmud in the years 1546-
1551. This is in fact the third edition of the Babylonian
Talmud printed in Venice (following the two editions
printed by Bomberg) and also gained much success.
Bomberg tried to push Jusinian aside and started
to print in 1548, while Justinian printed his edition,
an additional edition, but he lost the "war" since he
only printed several tractates. Part of the tractates
which are attributed to Bomberg's third edition have
not at all been reprinted but were in fact copies of
previous editions which were not sold to which
Bomberg added new title pages in order to create the
impression that he competes with Justinian and is
printing a new edition.