Incunabula
INCUNABULA
Introduction
The term incunabula (or "cradle books") denotes books printed before 1500, including broadsheets, or other typographical products printed from letterpress composed of movable type. The first book known to be printed by Gutenberg in Germany dates from 1445. Jews were denied the opportunity of learning the art of *printing as long as it was exclusively practiced within Germany, where the strict rules of the guilds forbade the admission of apprentices who were not proved to be legitimately born sons of Christian citizens.
In 1465 Conrad Sweynheym and Arnold Pannartz, two immigrant printers from Germany, established themselves at Subiaco, near Rome, printing books in Latin. It can be assumed that they were the teachers, instructors, or foremen of an industrious group of Jewish printers (or typesetters) supposed to have been active in Rome or its vicinity c. 1470 (see printers' list, no. 1).
Numbers of Incunabula
It has been estimated that c. 50,000 incunabula editions were published, c. 35,000 of them still represented by copies fully or partially preserved. Included in this total are the 175 (207) editions printed with Hebrew letters ascertained by copies preserved in public collections (see below). It is in no way certain that there is a complete list of all books printed in Hebrew during the 15th century. Two books supposed to have been printed before 1492 (s-tc 249 and 250) have not been included in the list at the end of this entry because there is no proof for their existence. Another case is the 15th-century Venetian *Haggadah woodcuts (Soncino-Blaetter, 1 (1925), 78) because it is not sure whether these are pages from a book or parts of a cycle of illustrations. During the last two centuries the interest in, and the knowledge of, Hebrew incunabula has increased considerably. While de *Rossi listed 60 items in 1776 and 86 in 1795, J. Jacobs in 1906 (in je, 6 (1906), 778–9) enumerated 102, and A.M. Habermann in 1950 (in EIV, 2 (1950), 984–5) had 153 titles. H.M.Z. Meyer (in A. Freimann and M. Marx, Thesaurus… (19692), supplement to pt. 1) listed 185 incunabula of which ten were considered doubtful. The number of the "lost" incunabula has been estimated as one third of the number of "confirmed" editions. The scarcity of incunabula – and the high prices they command – though natural enough in view of the small editions printed and the lapse of time, is also due in a certain measure to the inroads of Church *censorship and book burnings in Italy, and in Spain to the Inquisition and expulsions.
Size and Number of Leaves
Incunabula have mostly appeared in folio format (106) against 40 in quarto and 29 in octavo or smaller formats. As to the number of leaves, it is impossible to account for those of the 70 incunabula which are only partially preserved. An analysis of the 105 complete editions reveals the following figures:
2 folios and 2 quartos each containing 1–16 leaves;
8 folios and 10 quartos and 3 smaller sizes each containing 17–96 leaves;
28 folios and 14 quartos and 5 smaller sizes each containing 97–192 leaves;
23 folios and 3 quartos each containing 193–400 leaves;
6 folios and 1 smaller size each containing 401–626 leaves.
Together 67 folios and 29 quartos and 9 smaller sizes = 105 incunabula.
Size of Editions, Appearance, Colophons
Owing to the scarcity of paper and the complicated manual work involved in the operation of the printing presses, editions were relatively small-sized. During the 1470s, many Latin books appeared in editions of 100 or 125 copies; Sweynheym and Pannartz produced only 275 to 300 copies of each of their twenty-eight publications. Hebrew printers, too, have occasionally reported on the size of their editions: 300 copies of the 1477 edition of the Book of Psalms (no. 40); 380 of Hoshen Mishpat in 1480 (no. 136); and 400 of David Kimhi's commentary on the Latter Prophets (no. 148). It seems possible that Abraham Conat limited his Tur Oraḥ Ḥayyim to 125 copies.
The proto-printers were not interested in creating anything looking different from the style and form of the manuscript codices. Books from Conat's presses have often been taken for manuscripts with popular appeal. The early incunabula, therefore, have no title pages, open spaces are left for the illuminators and illustrators, and only at the end of the text, in the so-called *colophon, some information is given on the printer(s), their scholarly or technical staff, the place of work, and the date at which the printing was completed. Unfortunately, these colophons are often missing and very seldom contain all the information desired by the presentday bibliographer.
Printing Methods
Hebrew incunabula were printed by the same methods and with the same utensils as those used by the non-Jewish presses. A letterpress was composed from types, the lead block supporting each of them being 27 mm. long and 6 mm. wide (according to the reproduction in Thes. A10, 2), the same measurements as of the Latin types of the same body. Types were arranged into lines by putting them into a composing stick, they were then transferred into the wooden galleys, and impressions of – mostly – two corresponding pages were made in the manually operated printing presses. Each copy had to be printed separately, the press each time to be opened, the letterpress to be blacked with printer's ink, and a new sheet of moistened paper to be inserted. When Conat claimed that the daily output of his printing shop was only 125 copies he may be taking also into account typesetting and correcting. The printers were keen to economize, to lease typographical material from other printers, or to buy it second hand. In order to make the fullest use of the labor invested in typesetting, the printer of the Bible in Brescia in 1493 (no. 10) broke some of the columns of the letter-press composed for this edition into two parts, thus producing every time two pages of a handy pocket edition published by him in the same year (no. 49).
Pagination, Signatures, Voweled Texts, Title Pages, Ornamentation
The numbering of the leaves or pages, the inclusion of "signatures" (the special marks inserted at the bottom of the pages as a guide for the bookbinder's work of compiling the book from single sheets) are not to be found in the first decades of Hebrew printing, and make their appearance only at a later time. The first Hebrew text with vowels was printed in the Mahzor Roma, 1485 (no. 102), signatures were first used by Joshua Soncino (no. 58), and the earliest attempt of a Hebrew title page was made by Gershom Soncino in his edition of Tur Oraḥ Ḥayyim (no. 130). Eliezer Alantansi is the only Jew known to have used a printer's mark during the 15th century (nos. 128 and 134).
Joshua Soncino was also the first to introduce ornamented initials (see *Books: Book Illustrations). He fitted such letters into frames of similarly engraved woodcut borders, marking in this way the beginning of a book. Such headings appeared for the first time in his edition of the Talmud tractate Berakhot, 1483 (no. 58). Four years later (no. 173) he began to use a beautifully ornamented woodcut frame previously used by Francesco del Tuppo in his edition of the Fables by Aesop, published at Naples, Italy, on February 13, 1485. Joshua used this border several times for framing the first pages of his editions before he passed it on to other printing shops. Other Hebrew printers who used ornamented initial letters and borders were the Gunzenhausers of Naples. They printed with Soncino's woodcuts. The frame in Bahya b. Asher's Pentateuch commentary (no. 117) was printed a month earlier in Leonardo Aretino's L'Aquila finished on June 27, 1492 by Aiolfo de Cantone. It may be assumed that this woodcut and all the other ornaments used by the Gunzenhausers were the work of Moses b. Isaac, a Jewish woodcut artist, the brother-in-law of Azriel Gunzenhauser.
The initials and frames used by the two Eliezers at Hijar and Lisbon (see printers' list no. 15 and 17) are produced from metal-cuts executed by the silversmith Alfonso Fernandes de Cordoba, a printer in Valencia (see printers' list no. 15).
Type Production, Paper
A Hebrew printer was able to acquire everything needed for his work by purchase, loan or exchange, the only exception being the Hebrew type which could not be obtained at the typefoundries or from other commercial sources. Every Hebrew printer therefore had to make his own set of matrices in order to case the typographical material required. The ductus to these types differs, of course, according to the style and taste of the scribes whose work was used as copy for the cutter of the punches (see *Printing; *Typography).
Hebrew incunabula were printed on excellent, locally made paper which stood the test of centuries and sometimes helps to locate books whose place of printing is not established by the colophon (no. 14). Copies of the same edition are known to have been printed on normal-size and on large-size paper, indicating that even then "deluxe editions" were produced. Thirty-six Hebrew incunabula survived in copies printed on parchment, thirty of them originating from Italian presses and six from Spain or Portugal. All these incunabula have also been published on ordinary paper.
Study of Incunabula
The study of incunabula has been hampered by the fact that more than one third of the editions known contain no information as to when, where, or by whom they were printed. Furthermore no colophons are preserved for a large number of books which survived in fragments only, having been saved from oblivion by the 16th-century custom of using waste paper as a substitute for wooden boards in book covers. The same applies to Hebrew incunabula, and this is the reason for the many lacunae in the list of Hebrew printers. The first to investigate incunabula systematically was the Italian Hebraist and collector G.B. de'Rossi. His careful description of 86 incunabula, most of them in his possession, is unsurpassed in spite of many corrections needed in detail. Moritz *Steinschneider in his Catalogus Librorum Hebraeorum in Bibliotheca Bodleiana (1852–1860) enumerated the incunabula described by de'Rossi more briefly and added 17 further incunabula. Important are his notes on the personalities of the printers, appearing as the third part of the catalog. In his article on Jewish typography in Ersch-Gruber encyclopedia (vol. 28, 1851, repr. 1938) he enumerates 89 numbers and estimates that there exist rather less than 100. Following the publication of many learned papers and special catalogs, Aron Freimann in his paper (Ueber Hebraeische Inkunabeln, 1902) arrived at a total of 101 incunabula which he arranged according to printing places and presses. Freimann-Marx's Thesaurus Typographiae Hebraicae Saeculi xv (1932) contains 330 large plates with facsimile reproductions of the typographically most important parts of 126 books, 123 of them incunabula. More recently, Y. Vinograd (1995) has collected 207 Hebrew incunabula.
The importance of Hebrew incunabula for Jewish scholarship lies in their use for textual criticism, these early editions having been printed from reliable manuscripts and edited and proofread by scholars. This is true, in particular, for the many Bible editions and the uncensored texts of the Talmud and Maimonides' Code.
Collections
Public collections of importance are listed below, the numbers attached indicating the number of Hebrew incunabula in their possession, duplicates not being counted:
Cambridge, University Library (29);
Cincinnati, Hebrew Union College (65);
Copenhagen, Det Kongelige Bibliotek (50, mostly from the Lazarus Goldschmidt Collection);
Frankfurt on the Main, Stadtund Universitaetsbibliothek (49, formerly 59);
Jerusalem, Jewish National and University Library (65, mostly from the S. Schocken Collection);
London, British Museum;
New York, Jewish Theological Seminary (127);
Oxford, Bodleian Library;
Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale (34);
Parma, Bibliotheca Palatina (Collection de Rossi);
St. Petersburg, Bibliotheca Friedlandiana (34);
Turin, Biblioteca Nazionale (25);
Vienna, Kultusgemeinde (28).
List of Printers
Twenty-four (or twenty-six; see no. 9) Hebrew printing shops are known to have been working during the 15th century, 12 (14) of them in Italy, nine in the Iberian Peninsula, one in Paris, one in Leiden, and one in Constantinople. For 18 of these presses their places of printing are mentioned in the colophons of the books produced by them. While the location of three more printing houses may be assumed with a certain degree of probability, it is impossible to place four of the printers on the map. On the other hand, the books printed for the "patrons" at *Faro do not indicate the name of their printers. There are, finally, five more or less completely preserved books (nos. 86, 88, 89, 111, and 149 in the list) which contain no colophon or any other means of identification of the printer, the place of printing, or the date.
The following is a complete list of printers based on the documentary evidence of the colophons in books preserved:
italy
1. obadiah (b. moses?), manasseh, and benjamin, of Rome (colophon of no. 163). A comparison of the measurements of their book pages with the size of other contemporary productions has led to the assumption that they had learned the trade from Conrad Sweynheym and Arnold Pannartz, two German master printers working from 1465 at Subbiaco, a monastery in the neighborhood of Rome, and in Rome itself. It has been assumed, therefore, that Rome was the place of Hebrew printing sometime between 1469 and 1472. Identity of the typographical material used led to the conclusion that the books recorded as nos. 16, 107, 150, 153, 163, 167, and 170 also originate from this printing shop. Obadiah may be identical with his namesake under 2 (below).
2. solomon b. judah and obadiah b. moses (colophon of no. 156). The place of printing and the dating are conjectures based on typographical comparison. Obadiah may be identical with the leader of the group of printers under 1 (above).
3. *abraham b. garton b. isaac. He completed the printing of no. 171 on February 18, 1475, at Reggio di Calabria, as stated in the colophon. This is the first Hebrew book to appear with a full statement of all the three important bibliographical facts.
4. meshullam cusi and his sons, printers at *Piove di Sacco; their first-known work (no. 124) was published on July 3, 1475. The sons are supposed to have printed no. 98, using the typographical material belonging to their father's estate.
5. abraham b. solomon *conat of Mantua, talmudist and physician. June 1476 and June 1477 are two dates recorded in the colophons of books originating from his press; his name is mentioned in no. 127, 143, 141, and 151, the place of printing in no. 127, and the dates in nos. 127 and 132. Printers employed by him were Abraham Jedidiah ha-Ezrahi of Cologne and Jacob Levi of Tarascon, as well as his wife Estellina. The printing of no. 132 began at his presses but after the first 31 leaves *Abraham b. Ḥayyim dei Tintori of Ferrara took over and printed the remaining 60 leaves.
6. abraham b. hayyim dei tintori. He completed no. 120 on May 17, 1477, and the remainder of no. 132 on June 25, 1477, working at this time at *Ferrara. Later on, printing at *Bologna for Joseph b. Abraham Caravita, he completed no. 13 on January 26, 1482. No. 54 has been ascribed to him. Nathan of Salo worked as editor of no. 152, and Joseph Ḥayyim b. Aaron Strasbourg Ẓarefati was corrector of no. 13. In 1488, Abraham himself served as corrector for Joshua Soncino.
7. joseph, his son Ḥayyim mordecai, and hezekiah montero, of Ventura. Joseph bears the title "Meister," probably because he was the apprentice of a German master printer. It has been suggested that his son was called Ḥayyim Mordecai and that the name Neriah is only based on a typographical error (ונריה instead of ובריה; Aram., "and his son"). No. 40 was finished in his printing shop on August 24, 1477, but no place of printing is mentioned in the colophons; some bibliographers assume that the work was done at Bologna. Nos. 41 and 42 are ascribed to this office.
8. isaac b. aaron d'este and moses b. eliezer rafael. Only one book is known to have been printed by this firm (no. 14). The colophon of their work gives no indication of the place or date of printing, but mentions the names of six co-workers employed.
9 (a). joshua solomon b. israel nathan soncino, the founder of this leading family of printers which for three generations produced books remarkable for their number, contents, and typographical perfection. The family originated from Speyer on the Rhine, and settled in the first half of the 15thcentury at Soncino, a small town in Lombardy. Joshua's name appears in the colophons of nos. 6, 55, 58, 65, 90, and 121. The place name is mentioned in nos. 6, 33, 58, 65, 71, 87, 101, and 139, while Naples as place of printing is reported in nos. 45, 55, 90, and 146. The earliest date recorded for Soncino is December 19, 1483 (no. 58), and the latest July 23, 1489 (no. 84); the list of books printed at Naples extends from May 25, 1490 (no. 90) to May 8, 1492 (no. 55). Editors of books printed by Joshua were: Solomon b. Perez Bonfroi Zarefati (no. 121) and Samuel b. Meir Latif (no. 71), both of them later employed by *Gunzenhauser, and David b. Eleazar ha-Levi (nos. 82 and 84), who had previously worked as corrector (no. 76); other correctors were Gabriel b. Aaron Strasbourg (nos. 58 and 65), the brother of Joseph Ḥayyim b. Aaron (no. 13), Abraham b. Ḥayyim dei Tintori (no. 6), and Mordecai b. Reuben Ẓarefati (nos. 82 and 84).
9 (b). joshua solomon soncino and joseph ibn peso. They completed on May 8, 1492, at Naples, the printing of no. 55. This is the most voluminous book ever printed by Joshua (see 9, above) and therefore he may have been obliged to execute this work in partnership, something he never did before or afterwards.
9 (c). benei soncino, the sons of Soncino. This imprint appears in nos. 108 (Soncino, October 31–December 29, 1485), 102 (Soncino and Casalmaggiore, September 10, 1485–August 21, 1486), and 63 (Naples, 1491). It is unknown if this was a partnership – and who were the partners – or if this is the name of an enterprise belonging to Joshua, as it is sometimes assumed.
10. joseph b. jacob gunzenhauser (ashkenazi) and his son azriel. Joseph's name is mentioned in nos. 43, 118, 144 and 165, first on March 28, 1487, and for the last time on January 23, 1490. Father and son are mentioned together in no. 122, and the son alone in nos. 114 and 117 (November 9, 1491, and July 3, 1492). They printed at Naples, as stated in the colophons of nos. 38, 43, 114, 117, 122, 144, 146, and 165. It is most probable that the first book printed by Joshua Soncino at Naples was produced by order of Joseph, because the name Ben Porat mentioned in the colophon as the initiator of this work is a synonym for Joseph (Gen. 49:22). The names recorded as Gunzenhauser's collaborators or employees are: Jacob Baruch b. Judah Landau, author of no. 149, who also edited no. 43, the first book to be printed by Gunzenhauser; his son Abraham, who corrected no. 114; Ḥayyim b. Isaac ha-Levi Ashkenazi (no. 51); Samuel b. Samuel of Rome (no. 38); Moses b. Shem Tov b. ḥabib of Lisbon (no. 122); Samuel b. Meir Latif (no. 147), mentioned above as a member of Soncino's staff; Asher b. Perez Minẓ (= Min Ẓarefat), typesetter of no. 114; Samuel b. Hezekiah ha-Levi (no. 114); the brothers Solomon and Yom Tov b. Perez Ẓarefati (nos. 117, and 144), who presumably were the brothers of the Asher b. Perez, mentioned before. The Gunzenhausers remained in good relations with the Soncinos, as shown by the use of Soncino's woodcut in Gunzenhauser's book (cf. nos. 117 and 164).
11. gershom (also called Menzlein) b. moses soncino, nephew of Joshua Soncino. During the 15th century he printed at Soncino (no. 158), Brescia (nos. 10, 24, 49, 123), Barco (no. 110), and at another unidentified place in Italy. This unsteady life was a result of chicanes which prevented a prolonged stay. Seventeen of the books printed by him are known to be incunabula, and 11 of them bear his name. Incunabula bearing his imprint are dated between December 19, 1488, and November 16, 1497. The only name of a co-worker given by one of his colophons is Eliezer b. Samuel who edited no. 158.
12. solomon b. moses soncino, a brother of Gershom. According to the evidence of the colophons preserved, he has only one book (no. 125) to his credit. No dates or places of work are reported. It could be assumed that he was one of the "Sons of Soncino" (see 9 (c) above).
spain and portugal
13. juan de lucena, a Marrano printer working at Montalban, Spain. The names of his co-workers are recorded in no. 103, but there is no proof that the book described under this number was really a product of his printing shop.
14. solomon b. moses ibn alkabeẒ, a printer at Guadalajara, Spain. His name and place of residence are reported in nos. 136 and 148, the latter being finished during the last week of December 1480. Another book attributed to his press (no. 172) was published on September 5, 1476, while no. 148 was printed in 1482. Other books attributed to his presses, on the evidence of the typographical material used, are nos. 59, 62–64, 67, 70, 74, 80, 81, 112, 133, and 135.
15. eliezer b. abraham ibn alantansi, owner of a printing shop and physician at Hijar, Spain. The name of the printer and the town are mentioned in the colophon of no. 134. Abraham b. Isaac b. David corrected no. 17, which was most probably printed by Eliezer for Solomon b. Maimon Zalmati. The books produced by Eliezer's presses are outstanding for their technical perfection and beautiful ornamentation. The frame printed in no. 16 has been praised by the historians of book illustration as the most remarkable example of this period. Most delicately incised animals, fruits, flowers, and ornamental lines enliven the black background, and the same balance between black and white is sustained in the composition of the initials. These metal engravings are the work of Alfonso Fernandez de Cordoba, a silversmith, type cutter, and printer in Valencia. Alfonso used the same frame, together with a suitable set of Latin initials, in the Manuale Caesar Augustanum, supposed to have been printed by him at Hijar in about 1487. But the relation between this book and Eliezer's publication is obscured by the fact that the Hebrew printing took place before and after the Latin printing, and that the frame shows proofs of wear and tear not to be found in the Hebrew books. This frame, together with the initial letters and other printing types used by Eliezer, can later be traced to the books originating from the presses of Eliezer Toledano (no. 19) in Lisbon.
16. printing shop at faro, a town in the Portuguese province of Algarve. The identity of the printer(s) working at this town for Don Samuel Gacon (no. 15, finished on June 30, 1487) and for Don Samuel Porteira (no. 73, published in December 1494 or 1496) is unknown. Nos. 60 and 79 are attributed to one or the other of these two patrons (or publishers).
17. eliezer toledano, mentioned as printer in nos. 19, 37, 115, and 166; the same colophons show Lisbon as his place of work. The earliest date in his colophons is July 18, 1488, while 1492 appears in no. 37. Eliezer, like his namesake in Hijar, was a physician and used in his books the frame, initial letters and printing types to be found in the works of the Hijar presses. It was therefore obvious to assume the identity of these two printers, especially as the activities at Hijar ended at approximately the time the work at Lisbon began. The distance between Hijar and Lisbon is approximately 400 miles, with Toledo as the midway station; that the new arrival was called by a name different from the one he bore at his place of departure is not surprising; it can be paralleled by many examples from European Jewry during the Middle Ages down to the 18th century. But no definite assertions can be made until further facts come to light.
18. shem tov ibn Ḥala and his son judah. They printed one book (no. 116), finished on October 21, 1491, at some unidentified place in Spain or Portugal.
19. moses ibn shealtiel. The one book produced by him in Spain or Portugal (no. 159) contains no reference to place or date of printing.
20. samuel b. musa, together with immanuel, working as printers at Zamora, Spain; their names and place of work appear in the colophon of no. 174.
21. samuel d'ortas and his three sons, one of them named abraham, printers at Leiria, Portugal. Their names are found in nos. 53 and 34, their place of work in no. 34 only. Their colophons are dated July 25, 1492, January 1494, and June 2, 1495.
constantinople
22. david and his son samuel ibn naḥmias, printers at Constantinople. Their edition of the Arba'ah Turim is dated December 13, 1493, as clearly stated in the colophon of no. 126. The correctness of the date has been doubted because other works were printed at this press at a much later period only.
key to incunabula list (below)
Incunabula (index to places of publication)
- Barco 110
- Bologna 13, 40, 42, 54
- Brescia 10, 24, 27, 49, 50, 66, 97, 123, 168
- Casalmaggiore 102
- Constantinople 126
- Faro 15, 60, 73, 79
- Ferrara 152
- Guadalajara 59, 62, 63, 64, 67, 69, 70, 74, 80, 81, 112, 133, 135, 136, 148, 172
- Hijar 7, 16, 17, 18, 36, 109, 128, 134, 137, 157
- Iberian peninsula 1, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 39, 47, 56, 83, 93, 95, 96, 106, 131, 159, 160, 161
- Italy 12, 14, 78, 86, 88, 111, 130, 169
- Leiria 9, 26, 34, 53, 129
- Lisbon 19, 25, 37, 52, 92, 115, 162, 166
- Mantua 89(?), 120, 127, 132, 138, 141, 143, 151
- Montalban 103
- Naples 8, 11, 20, 21, 22, 23, 38, 43, 44, 45, 48, 51, 55, 89(?), 90, 91, 111, 113, 114, 117, 118, 144, 146, 147, 149, 164, 165, 175
- Piove di Sacco 98, 119, 124
- Reggio di Calabria 171
- Rome 107, 145, 150, 153, 155, 156, 163, 167, 170
- Sarco 100
- Soncino 6, 33, 35, 57, 58, 61, 65, 68, 71, 75, 76, 77, 82, 84, 85, 87, 99, 101, 102, 104, 105, 108, 121, 125, 139, 140, 154, 158, 173
- Spain 2, 3, 4, 5, 46, 116
- Unknown 41, 94, 174
Incunabula (index to dates of publication)
- 1469 108, 145, 150, 163, 167, 170
- 1470 108, 145, 150, 163, 167, 170
- 1471 108, 145, 150, 163, 167, 170
- 1472 108, 145, 150, 163, 167, 170
- 1473 153, 155
- 1474 153, 155
- 1475 98, 103, 124, 153, 155, 156, 171
- 1476 120, 127, 138, 151, 172
- 1477 25, 40, 41, 42, 120, 132, 138, 151, 152
- 1478 42, 120, 138, 151
- 1479 42, 120, 138, 151
- 1480 1, 12, 14, 42, 119, 120, 136, 138, 151
- 1481 14, 25
- 1482 13, 14, 54, 113, 133, 135, 148
- 1483 14, 58
- 1484 14, 61, 65, 121, 139
- 1485 14, 33, 68, 97, 99, 102, 104, 109, 110, 112, 128, 137
- 1486 14, 35, 36, 87, 102, 105, 110, 137
- 1487 14, 15, 16, 36, 38, 43, 51, 71, 101, 110, 134, 137, 173, 174
- 1488 6, 14, 16, 57, 72, 110, 122, 137, 140, 154, 175
- 1489 14, 16, 75, 76, 77, 82, 84, 110, 107, 118, 137, 144, 166
- 1490 14, 17, 22, 23, 44, 45, 48, 85, 90, 92, 110, 125, 137, 147, 149, 158, 164, 165
- 1491 8, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 37, 47, 48, 115, 116, 123, 146, 159, 168
- Before 1492 25
- 1492 8, 22, 23, 24, 26, 37, 48, 53, 55, 114, 117, 162, 174
- 1493 26, 27, 49, 66, 126
- 1494 10, 26, 60, 73, 79 1495 11, 26, 34, 129
- 1496 60, 62, 73, 79, 100, 110
- 1497 78, 130, 169
- 1498
- 1499
- Unknown 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 18, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 39, 46, 50, 52, 56, 83, 86, 88, 89, 91, 93, 94, 95, 96, 106, 131, 141, 142, 143, 157, 160, 161
- After 1482 59, 62, 63, 64, 67, 69, 70, 74, 80, 81
† Numbers given in italics indicate either a span of possible publication dates or one uncertain date.
List of Incunabula (alphabetical from no. 106)
abbreviations used:
- Goff Heb = F.R. Goff (ed.),
- Incunabula in American Libraries (1964), 316–25;
- Thes = Freimann-Marx,
- Thesaurus Typographiae Hebraicae… (1967–692); signatures in parentheses refer to vol. 2 in preparation;
- s-tc =
- Short-title catalog in Supplement, ibid.
1. the holy bible – Complete Edition. Pentateuch, Prophets and Hagiographa. [In Spain or Portugal], printer unknown [1480?]. Folio.
Goff Heb 12; Thes (b50); s-tc256.
2. (–.–) [?] Unvocalized text in 2 columns, 28 lines to a full page. [Spain], printer & date unknown. Folio.
Goff Heb 16, 6; Thes (b54); s-tc257.
3. (–.–) [?, or Pentateuch only]. Unvocalized text, one column, 28 lines to a full page. [Spain], printer & date unknown. Folio.
Goff Heb 16, 3; Thes b38; s-tc258.
4. (–.–) [?] Unvocalized text in one column of 30 [?] lines to a full page. [Spain], printer & date unknown. Folio.
s-tc259.
5. (–.–) [?, or Prophets only]. Text with vowels & accents, 2 columns, 27 or 29 lines to a full page. [Spain], printer & date unknown. Folio. Probably "Portugal, 1487."
s-tc260.
6. (–.–). Corrected by Abraham b. Ḥayyim dei Tintori. Soncino, Joshua Soncino, Iyar 11, 5248 (= April 22, 1488). Folio.
Goff Heb 8; Thes a45; s-tc49.
7. (–.–) With Targum Onkelos. [Hijar, Eliezer Alantansi], no date.
s-tc229.
8. (–.–) [Naples, Joshua Soncino, 1491 or 1492]. Folio.Goff Heb 9; Thes a75; s-tc69.
9. (–.–) [? or Pentateuch only]. [Leiria, Don Samuel D'Ortas], date unknown.
s-tc253.
10. (–.–) Brescia, Gershom Soncino, Sivan 19–25, 5254 (= May 24–30, 1494). Octavo.
Goff Heb 10; Thes A81; s-tc89.
11. (–.–) [? or Prophets & Hagiographa only]. Vocalized text, two columns, 32 lines to a complete page. [Naples?], printer unknown, [1495?] Quarto.
s-tc110.
12. (–) pentateuch With Targum Onkelos and Rashi. ייי for the name of God and ה for Elohim. [Italy?], printer unknown, [1480?]. Folio.
s-tc109.
13. (–.–) With Targum Onkelos and Rashi. Corrected by Joseph Ḥayyim b. Aaron Strasbourg Ẓarefati. Printed for Joseph b. Abraham Caravita. Bologna, Abraham b. Ḥayyim dei Tintori, Adar i 5, 5242 (= January 26, 1482). Folio.
Goff Heb 18; Thes a15; s-tc22.
14. (–.–) With Targum Onkelos, Megillot, and Haftarot. Corrected by Joshua bar Jekuthiel, typesetting by Isaiah and Judah, sons of Samuel Raphael Ha-Rofe, and by Benjamin and Joseph, the sons of Elhanan bar Eliezer, and Solomon bar Solomon. [Northern Italy], Isaac b. Aaron d'Este and Moses b. Eliezer Raphael, [1480–1490]. Folio.
Goff. Heb 13; Thes b40; s-tc27.
15. (–.–) Printed by order of Don Samuel Gacon. Faro, printer unknown, Tammuz 9, 5247 (= June 30, 1487). Folio.
Thes b14; s-tc233.
16. (–.–) With Megillot and Haftarot. [Hijar], Eliezer ibn Alantansi [1487–88?]. Folio.
Goff Heb 14; Thes b12; s-tc227.
17. (–.–) With Targum Onkelos and Rashi. Corrected by Abraham B. Isaac b. David. Printed for Solomon b. Maimon Zalmati. Hijar [Eliezer ibn Alantansi], Av 5250 (= July 19–August 17, 1490). Folio.
Goff Heb 19; Thes b11; s-tc228.
18. (–.–) With Megillot and Haftarot. [Hijar, Eliezer ibn Alantansi], date unknown. Octavo.
s-tc 230.
19. (–.–) With Targum Onkelos, Rashi, and a poem by David ben Joseph ibn Yahya. Corrected by Joseph Calphon. Lisbon, Eliezer Toledano [probably in collaboration with Judah Gedaliah], Av 5251 (= July 8–August 6, 1491). Folio.
Goff Heb 20; Thes b20; s-tc240.
20. (–.–) Vocalized text with accents. 19 lines to a full page. [Naples, Joshua Soncino, 1491?]. Quarto.
Thes a70a; s-tc61.
21. (–.–) With Rashi, Megillot, Haftarot and Megillat Antiochus. Naples, Benei Soncino, 5251 (= 1491). Folio.
Goff Heb 21; Thes a70; s-tc63.
22. (–.–) With Haftarot. [Naples, Joshua Soncino], date unknown. [Between 1490 and 1492]. Folio.
Goff Heb 17; Thes a98; s-tc64.
23. (–.–) [Naples, Joshua Soncino], date unknown. [Between 1490 and 1492?]. Octavo.
Goff Heb 16, 1; Thes a99; s-tc65.
24. (–.–) With Megillot and Haftarot. Brescia, Gershom Soncino, Shevat 24, 5252 (= January 23, 1492). Quarto.
Goff Heb 15; Thes a78; s-tc84.
25. (–.–) Vocalized text with accents. 32 (?) lines to a full page. [Lisbon?], Eliezer [Toledano?], before 1492. Folio.
s-tc245.
26. (–.–) Vocalized text with accents. 17 lines to a full page. [Leiria?, Don Samuel d'Ortas or his sons?, between 1492 and 1495?]. Octavo.
s-tc262.
27. (–.–) Vocalized text with accents. Megillot and Haftarot. Brescia, Gershom Soncino, Kislev 15, 5254 (= November 24, 1493). Octavo.
Thes (a79); s-tc85.
28. (–.–) With Haftarot. 2 columns, 25 or 26 lines to a full page. [At a unknown place in Spain or Portugal, printer and date unknown]. Folio.
Thes (b55); s-tc261.
29. (–.–) With Haftarot. Unvocalized text. 18–19 lines to a full page. Place, printer and date unknown [Spain or Portugal?]. Quarto.
Goff Heb 17, 2; Thes (b39); s-tc263.
30. (–.–) Vocalized text with accents. Place [Spain or Portugal], printer, and date unknown. Folio.
Goff Heb 16, 5; Thes b49; s-tc264.
31. (–.–) Vocalized text with accents. 2 columns, 15 lines to a full page. Place [Spain or Portugal], printer, and date unknown. Folio.
Goff Heb 16, 4; Thes b48; s-tc265.
32. (–.–) Corrected according to the Hilleli codex. With Megillot and Haftarot. 1 or 2 columns, 32 lines to a full page. Printed somewhere in Spain or Portugal, printer and date unknown. Folio.
Goff Heb 16, 2; Thes b30; s-tc266.
33. (–) former prophets. With commentary by David Kimḥi [Soncino], Joshua Soncino, Ḥeshvan 6, 5246 (= October 15, 1485). Folio.
Goff Heb 22; Thes a31; s-tc36.
34. (–.–) With Targum Jonathan and commentaries by Levi b. Gershom and D. Kimhi. Leiria [Don Samuel d'Ortas and his] three sons, Shevat 19–21, 5254 (= January 26–28, 1495). Folio.
Goff Heb 23; Thes b27; s-tc254.
35. (–) latter prophets. With commentary by D. Kimḥi [Soncino], Joshua Soncino [1486?]. Folio.
Goff Heb 24; Thes a39; s-tc42.
36. (–.–) [Hijar, Eliezer ibn Alantansi, 1486–7?].
Thes (b10); s-tc223.
37. (–.–) isaiah and jeremiah with commentary by D. Kimḥi. Lisbon, Eliezer Toledano [probably together with Judah Gedaliah], 5252 (= 1491–92). Folio.
Goff Heb 25; Thes b21; s-tc242.
38. (–) hagiographa with commentaries by D. Kimḥi on Job, by Joseph b. Simeon Kara on Lamentations, and by Rashi on the remaining books. [Corrected or typeset by] Samuel b. Samuel of Rome. Naples [Joseph Gunzenhauser], Tishri 9, 5248 (= September 26, 1487). Quarto.
Goff Heb 26; Thes a59; s-tc72.
39. (–.–) Unvocalized text; 30–31 lines to a full page. [Spain or Portugal], printer and date unknown.
Goff Heb 27; Thes (b56); s-tc 267.
40. (–) psalms. With commentary by D. Kimḥi. [Bologna], Meister Joseph, Neria [his son?] Ḥayyim Mordecai and Hezekiah Montro of Ventura, Elul 20, 5237 (= August 29, 1477). Folio.
Goff Heb 28; Thes a13; s-tc 24.
41. (–.–) Unvocalized text. 19 lines to a full page. Without indication of place, printer, or date [pl. and pr. as in No. 40; 1477?]. Duodecimo.
Thes a14a; s-tc25.
42. (–.–) With an index for 149 psalms and Grace after Meals. [place and printer as in no. 40; between 1477 and 1480]. Duodecimo.
Thes a4a; s-tc26.
43. (–.–) With commentary by D. Kimḥi edited by Jacob Baruch b. Judah Landau. Naples, Joseph Gunzenhauser, Nisan 4, 5247 (= March 28, 1487). Quarto.
Goff Heb 29; Thes a57; s-tc70.
44. (–.–) [Naples, Joshua Soncino, 1490?]?
Goff Heb 31, 3; Thes a91; s-tc58.
45.(–.–) Together with Job and proverbs. Naples [Joshua Soncino], Kislev 29, 5251 (= December 12, 1490). Quarto.
Goff Heb 32; Thes a68; s-tc60.
46. (–.–) [Spain, Shem Tov ibn Ḥalaz and his son Judah], date unknown. 32mo.
s-tc247.
47. (–.–) [Spain, or Portugal, printer unknown, 1491?]. 32mo.
Goff Heb 126, 3; Thes b32 a; s-tc268. [Perhaps identical with no. 46].
48. (–.–) [Naples, Joshua Soncino, 1490–1492?]. Duodecimo.
Goff Heb 31, 1 and 2; Thes a100; s-tc66.
49. (–.–) Brescia, Gershom Soncino, Tevet 7, 5254 (= December 16, 1493). Duodecimo.
Goff Heb 30; Thes a80; s-tc86.
50. (–.–) With ד for the name of God. 16 lines to a full page. [Brescia, Gershom Soncino], date unknown. Duodecimo.
Thes a80a; s-tc87.
51. (–) proverbs with commentary by Immanuel b. Solomon of Rome. Corrected [or typeset] by Ḥayyim b. Isaac ha-Levi Ashkenazi. [Naples, Joseph Gunzenhauser, 1487]. Quarto.
Goff Heb 34; Thes a58; s-tc71.
52. (–.–) With the commentary Kav ve-Naki by David b. Solomon ibn Yaḥya. [Lisbon, Eliezer Toledano], date unknown. Folio.
Goff Heb 35; Thes b23; s-tc244.
53. (–.–) With Targum Onkelos and commentaries by Menahem ha-Meiri and Levi b. Gershon. Typesetting by Abraham b. Samuel d'Ortas [Leiria], Don Samuel d'Ortas, Av 1 5252 (= July 25, 1492). Folio.
Goff Heb 33; Thes b26; s-tc252.
54. (–) the five scrolls. Esther with commentary by Abraham ibn Ezra, the other books with Rashi. [Bologna, Abraham dei Tintori, 1482]. Folio.
Thes a16; s-tc23.
55. Mishnah. Mishnayot with commentary by Maimonides. Naples, Joshua Soncino and Joseph ibn Peso. Iyar 11, 5252 (= May 8, 1492). Folio.
Goff Heb 82; Thes a73; s-tc68.
56. (–) Unvocalized text without commentary. 30–31 lines to a full page. [Spain or Portugal, printer and date unknown].
s-tc269.
57. (–) Avot. With commentary by Maimonides. Translated from the Arabic by Samuel b. Judah ibn Tibbon. [Soncino, Joshua Soncino, 1488 (?)]. Folio.
Goff Heb 83; Thes a41; s-tc43.
58. babylonian talmud. Berakhot, with Rashi, Tosafot, Piskei Tosafot, and the commentaries of Maimonides and Mordecai b. Hillel. Corrected by Gabriel b. Aaron of Strasbourg. Soncino, Joshua Soncino, Tevet 20, 5244 (= December 19, 1483). Folio.
Goff Heb 102; Thes a26; s-tc28.
59. (–) Berakhot with Rashi. [Guadalajara, Solomon ibn AlkabeẒ, after 1482]. Folio.
Goff Heb 103, 2; Thes b5; s-tc212.
60. (–.–) [Faro, Don Samuel Gacon, 1494 or 1496]. Folio.
Goff Heb 103, 1; Thes b16; s-tc235.
61. (–) Shabbat, with Rashi and Tosafot. [Soncino, Joshua Soncino, about 1484]. Folio.
Goff Heb 11; Thes a29; s-tc31.
62. (–) Eruvin, with Rashi. [Guadalajara, Solomon ibn Alkabeẓ, after 1482]. Folio.
Thes (b6); s-tc213.
63. (–) Yoma, with Rashi. [Guadalajara, Solomon ibn Alkabeẓ, after 1482]. Folio.
Goff Heb 119; Thes b74; s-tc214.
64. (–) Beẓah, with Rashi. [Guadalajara, Solomon ibn Alkabeẓ, after 1482]. Folio.
Goff Heb 105; Thes b58; s-tc215.
65. (–.–) With Rashi, Tosafot, Piskei Tosafot and commentaries by Maimonides and Mordecai b. Hillel. Corrected by Gabriel b. Aaron of Strasbourg. Soncino, Joshua Soncino, Adar i 6, 5244 (= February 2, 1484). Folio.
Goff Heb 104; Thes a28; s.-t.c. 30.
66. (–.–) [Brescia, Gershom Soncino, 1493]. Folio.
Thes a88; s-tc88.
67. (–) Ta'anit. [Guadalajara, Solomon ibn Alkabeẓ, after 1482]. Folio.
s-tc216.
68. (–) Megillah with Rashi, Tosafot, etc. [Soncino, Joshua Soncino, 1485(?)]. Quarto.
Thes a33; s-tc24.
69. (–) Ḥagigah, with Rashi. [Guadalajara, Solomon ibn Alkabeẓ, after 1482]. Folio.
Goff Heb 108; Thes (b7); s-tc217.
70. (–) Ketubbot, with Rashi. [Guadalajara, Solomon ibn Alkabeẓ, after 1482]. Folio.
Goff Heb 112; Thes b7 b; s-tc218.
71. (–.–) With Rashi, Tosafot and Piskei Tosafot, edited by Samuel b. Meir Latif. Soncino [Joshua, Soncino], Kislev 20, 5248 (= December 5, 1487). Folio.
Goff Heb 111; Thes a43; s-tc46.
72. (–) Gittin, with Rashi and Tosafot. Soncino [Joshua Soncino], Adar 6, 5248 (= February 19, 1488). Folio.
Goff Heb 106; Thes a44; s-tc47.
73. (–.–) With Rashi. Faro, printed for Don Samuel Porteira, Tevet 15, 5257 or Tevet 11, 5257 (= December 12, 1496 or December 16, 1496). Folio.
Goff Heb 107; Thes b15; s-tc234.
74. (–) Kiddushin, with Rashi. [Guadalajara, Solomon ibn Alkabeẓ, after 1482]. Folio.
Goff Heb 113; Thes b6; s-tc219.
75. (–.–) With Rashi, Tosafot and Piskei Tosafot. [Soncino, Joshua Soncino, 1489]. Folio.
Goff Heb 114; Thes a51; s-tc52.
76. (–) Bava Kamma, with Rashi, Tosafot and Piskei Tosafot. Corrected by David b. Eleazar ha-Levi. [Soncino, Joshua Soncino, 1489(?)]. Folio.
Goff Heb 100; Thes a49; s-tc50.
77. (–) Bava Meẓia, with Rashi and Tosafot. [Soncino, Joshua Soncino, 1489]. Folio.
Goff Heb 101; Thes a50; s-tc51.
78. (–) Sanhedrin, with Rashi and Tosafot. [Somewhere in Italy], Gershom Soncino, Kislev 21, 5258 (= November 16, 1497). Folio.
Goff Heb 116; Thes a84; s-tc93.
79. (–) Shevu'ot with Rashi. [Faro, for Don Samuel Gacon or Don Samuel Porteira, 1494 or 1496]. Folio.
Goff Heb 118; Thes b17; s-tc236.
80. (–) Middot, with Rashi. [Guadalajara, Solomon ibn Alkabeẓ, after 1482]. Folio.
Thes b7.d; s-tc220.
81. (–.–) Ḥullin, with Rashi. [Guadalajara, Solomon ibn Alkabeẓ, after 1482]. Folio.
Goff Heb 110; Thes b57; s-tc221.
82. (–.–) With Rashi, Tosafot and Piskei Tosafot, edited by David b. Eleazar ha-Levi (Pizzighetone), corrected by Mordecai b. Reuben Ẓarefati of Basle. [Soncino, Joshua Soncino], Tammuz 15, 5249 (= June 14, 1489). Folio.
Goff Heb 109; Thes a53; s-tc53.
83. (–.–) [Spain or Portugal], printer and date unknown. Folio.
Goff Heb 110, 2; Thes b35; s-tc221.
84. (–) Niddah, with Rashi, Tosafot and Piskei Tosafot, edited by David b. Eleazar ha-Levi, corrected by Mordecai b. Reuben Ẓarefati of Basle. [Soncino, Joshua Soncino], Av 25, 5249 (= July 23, 1489). Folio.
Goff Heb 115; Thes a54; s-tc54.
85. prayer books. Various prayers, according to the German rite. [Soncino, Solomon Soncino, 1490(?)]. Quarto.
Goff Heb 121; Thes a87; s-tc100.
86. (–) siddur. Daily prayers, German rite. [Italy, printer and date unknown]. Octavo.
Goff Heb 122; Thes a97; s-tc107.
87. (–.–) Tefillat Yaḥid, the so-called Sidurello. Daily prayers, Roman rite. Soncino [Joshua Soncino], Iyar 2, 5246 (= April 8, 1486). Octavo.
Goff Heb 121; Thes a35; s-tc39.
88. (–.–) Roman Rite. [Italy, printer and date unknown]. Duodecimo.
Thes a95; s-tc106.
89. (–.–) Various prayers according to the Roman rite. [Italy, printer and date unknown]. Printed at Naples(?) or Mantua, 1513 (?). Octavo.
Goff Heb 123; Thes a96; s-tc108.
90. (–.–) Seder Tefillot. Daily prayers according to the Spanish rite. A poem by Moses b. Shem Tov b. Habib. Printed for Ben Porat [ = Joseph (probably Gunzenhauser)]. Naples, Joshua Soncino, Sivan 5, 5240 (= May 25, 1490). Quarto.
Goff Heb 124; Thes a90; s-tc57.
91. (–.–) Spanish rite. [Naples, Joshua Soncino, date unknown.] Octavo.
Goff Heb 126, 1; Thes a92; s-tc59.
92. (–.–) Seder Me'ah Berakhot, Spanish rite, with graphic symbols for the sounds of the shofar. [Lisbon, Eliezer Toledano, 1490(?)]. Octavo.
Goff Heb 125; Thes b44; s-tc239.
93. (–.–) Spanish rite, 13 lines to a full page, [Spain or Portugal, printer and date unknown]. Octavo.
Thes b43; s-tc27.
94. (–.–) Spanish rite. ייי for the name of God, 11 lines to a full page. Octavo.
s-tc 272.
95. (–.–) Spanish rite. ייי for the name of God; 15 lines to a full page. [Spain or Portugal, printer and date unknown]. 16mo.
Goff Heb 126, 4; Thes b46; s-tc273.
96. (–.–) Spanish rite. 18 lines to a full page. [Spain or Portugal, printer and date unknown]. 16mo.
Goff Heb 126, 5; Thes b47; s-tc274.
97. (–.–) Of an undetermined rite. [Brescia, Gershom Soncino, 1485.] Duodecimo.
Goff Heb 127; Thes a102; s-tc90.
98. (–) SELIḤOT, German rite. [Piove di Sacco, Meshullam Cusi's sons, 1475]. Folio.
Thes a3; s-tc12.
99. (–.–) German rite. [Soncino, Joshua Soncino, 1485(?)].
Thes a34; s-tc38.
100. (–.–) German rite. Vocalized text. Sarco, Gershom Soncino, Tishri 8, 5257 (= Sept. 15, 1496). Folio.
Goff Heb 96; Thes a83; s-tc92.
101. (–) seder taḤanunim. Roman rite. Soncino [Joshua Soncino], Iyyar 23, 5247 (= May 16, 1487). Quarto.
Goff Heb 99; Thes a40; s-tc44.
102. (–) MAḤZOR Minhag Roma, Soncino and Casalmaggiore, Benei Soncino, Tishri–Elul 20, 5246 (Sept. 10, 1485–August 21, 1486). Folio.
Goff Heb 73; Thes a37; s-tc41.
103. (–.–) le-Yom ha-Kippurim. [Montalban?, Juan de Lucena, his daughters Theresa and Juana, together with Diego de Monbel and Inigo de Gurcos, 1475(?)]. Octavo.
Goff Heb 72; Thes b53; s-tc201.
The identification of the printing house is questionable.
104.(–) passover haggadah; together with tractate Avot, German rite. [Soncino, Joshua Soncino, approx. 1485]. Quarto.
Thes a38; s-tc35.
105. (–.–) [Soncino, Joshua Soncino, 1486]. Duodecimo.Goff Heb 42; Thes a36; s-tc40.
106. aaron b. meshullam ha-kohen of lunel, Orḥot Ḥayyim. [Spain or Portugal], printer and date unknown. Folio.
Goff Heb 2; Thes b37; s-tc275.
107. abudraham, david b. joseph b. david, Perushha-Berakhot ve ha-Tefillot. Lisbon, Eliezer Toledano [probably with the collaboration of Judah Gedaliah], Tevet 1, 5250 (= November 25, 1489), Folio.
Goff Heb 36; Thes b19; s-tc238.
108. adret, solomon b. abraham (Rashba). Responsa. [Rome(?), Obadiah, Manasseh, and Benjamin of Rome, between 1469 and 1472]. Octavo.
Goff Heb 95; Thes a25; s-tc6.
109. albo, joseph, Sefer ha-Ikkarim. Soncino, Benei Soncino, Ḥeshvan 22, 5246 (= December 29, 1485). Folio.
Goff Heb 64; Thes a32; s-tc37.
110. alfasi, isaac, Halakhot. [Hijar, Eliezer Alantansi, between 1485 and 1490]. Folio.
Goff Heb 44; Thes b34; s-tc231 and 276.
111. (Anonymous) luʾaḤ, Calendar for the year 5257 [Barco, Gershom Soncino, 1496.]
Goff Heb 3; Thes a82; s-tc91.
112. (–) Sefer Kol Bo. [Italy (or Naples), printer unknown, 1485(?)]. Folio.
Goff Heb 67; Thes a94; s-tc105.
113. (–) Megillat Antiochus, Aramaic text with Hebrew translation; Judah Halevi, Mi Khamokha; and: Tefillat ha-Derekh; Benedictions for different occasions; Passover Haggadah; Ḥaruzim (rules and calculations for the calendar). [Guadalajara(?), Solomon ibn Alkabez(?), 1482 (?)]. Folio.
s-tc209–211.
114. (–) Petaḥ Devarai. [Naples, Joshua Soncino], Adar ii 1, 5252 (= February 28, 1492). Quarto.
Goff Heb 91; Thes a72; s-tc67.
115. avicenna, The Canon. Translated from the Arabic by Joseph b. Judah al-Lorki and Nathan b. Eliezer ha-Me'ati. Corrected by Abraham b. Jacob Landau, typesetting by Asher b. Perez Minz. Naples, Azriel Gunzenhauser, Kislev 7, 5252 (= November 9, 1491). Folio.
Goff Heb 4; Thes a71; s-tc103.
116. baḤya b. asher, commentary on the Pentateuch. Edited by Samuel b. Abraham Perez. Without indication of place [Spain], Shem Tov ibn Halaz and his son Judah, Ḥeshvan 17, 5252 (= October 21, 1491). Folio.
Goff Heb 5; Thes b31; s-tc246.
117. (–.–) Edited by Solomon b. Pereẓ Bonfroi Ẓarefati. Corrected by Samuel b. Hezekiah ha-Levi. Naples, Azriel Gunzenhauser, Tammuz 8, 5252 (= July 3, 1492). Folio.
Goff Heb 6; Thes a74; s-tc104.
Published for Abraham and Jacob Pax (not Falcon).
118. baḤya b. joseph ibn paquda, Ḥovot ha-Levavot. Translated from the Arabic by Judah b. Saul ibn Tibbon. Corrected by Solomon b. Perez [Bonfroi Ẓarefati] [Naples], Joseph Gunzenhauser, Kislev 25, 5250 (= November 19, 1489). Quarto.
Goff Heb 7; Thes a63; s-tc76.
119. eldad ha-dani, Sefer Eldad. Together with various halakhot and responsa. [Piove di Sacco, Meshullam Cusi and sons, 1480?]. Quarto.
Goff Heb 41; Thes a6; s-tc15.
120. finzi, mordecai, Luḥot (astronomical tables). [Mantua, Abraham Conat, between 1476 and 1480]. Quarto.
Thes a9; s-tc18.
121. gabirol, solomon ibn, Mivḥar ha-Peninim. Translated from the Arabic by Judah b. Saul ibn Tibbon with commentary, edited by Solomon b. Perez Bonfroi Ẓarefati. [Soncino]. Joshua Soncino, Shevat 17, 5244 (= January 14, 1484). Quarto.
Goff Heb 98; Thes a27; s-tc29.
122. ibn ezra, abraham, commentary on the Pentateuch, edited and corrected by Moses b. Shem Tov b. Ḥabib of Lisbon. Naples, Joseph Gunzenhauser and his son [Azriel], 36thday of Omer (= Iyyar 18, 5248 = April 29, 1488). Folio.
Goff Heb 1; Thes a60; s-tc73.
123. immanuel b. solomon b. jekuthiel of rome, Sefer ha-Mahbarot. Brescia, Solomon Soncino, Ḥeshvan 26, 5252 (= October 30, 1491). Quarto.
Goff Heb 43; Thes a77; s-tc83.
124. jacob b. asher, Arba'ah Turim. Piove di Sacco, Meshullam Cusi and sons, Tammuz 28, 5235 (= July 3, 1475). Folio.
Goff Heb 47; Thes a2; s-tc11.
125. (–.–) [Soncino], Solomon Soncino [1490]. Folio.Goff Heb 48; Thes a56; s-tc99.
126. (–.–) Edited by Elijah b. Benjamin ha-Levi. Constantinople, David and Samuel ibn Naḥmias, Tevet 4, 5254 (= December 13, 1493). Folio.
Goff Heb 49; Thes c. 1; s-tc301.
127. (–.–) Oraḥ Ḥayyim. Mantua, Abraham Conat, Sivan 14, 5236 (= June 6, 1476). Folio.
Goff Heb 50; Thes a4; s-tc13.
128. (–.–) Hijar, Eliezer ibn Alantansi, Elul 5245 (= August 12–September 9, 1485). Folio.
Goff Heb 51; Thes b8; s-tc222.
129. (–.–) [Leiria, Abraham b. Samuel d'Ortas], Sivan 10, 5255 (= June 2, 1495). Folio.
Goff Heb 53; Thes b29; s-tc255.
130. (–.–) [Italy, Gershom Soncino, 1497]. Quarto.
Goff Heb 54; Thes a85; s-tc94.
131. (–.–) [Spain or Portugal, printer and date unknown]. Folio.
Goff Heb 52; Thes b33; s-tc277.
132. (–.–) Yoreh De'ah. [Mantua, Abraham Conat] and Abraham b. Ḥayyim at Ferrara, Av 15, 5237 (= June 25, 1477). Folio.
Goff Heb 55; Thes a5; s-tc14.
133. (–.–) [Guadalajara, Solomon ibn Alkabeẓ, 1482(?)]. Folio.
Goff Heb 52; Thes b2. a; s-tc207.
134. (–.–) Hijar, Eliezer ibn Alantansi, 5347 (= 1487). Folio.
Goff Heb 56; Thes b9; s-tc226.
135. (–.–) Even ha-Ezer. [Guadalajara, Solomon ibn Alkabeẓ, 1482(?)]. Folio.
Goff Heb 58; Thes b2; s-tc208.
136. (–.–) Ḥoshen Mishpat. Guadalajara, Solomon ibn Alkabeẓ, Shevat 20–28, 5241 (= December 24–30, 1480). Folio.
Goff Heb 59; Thes b3; s-tc205.
137. (–.–) [Hijar, Eliezer ibn Alantansi, between 1485 and 1490]. Folio.
Goff Heb 60; s-tc225.
138. jedaiah ha-penini, Beḥinat ha-Olam [Mantua], Estellina, the wife of Abraham Conat, assisted by Jacob Levi from Tarascon [Between 1476–1480]. Quarto.
Thes a11; s-tc20.
139. (–.–), with a short commentary. Soncino [Joshua Soncino], Kislev 24, 5245 (= December 12, 1484). Quarto.
Goff Heb 61; Thes a30; s-tc33.
140. (–), Bakkashat ha-Memin with: moses kimhi, Mahalakh Shevilei ha-Da'at; joseph b. Ḥanan ezobi, Ka'arat Kesef; Mishlei Hamishim Talmidim. Soncino, [Gershom Soncino], Av 13, 5248 (= July 21, 1488). Octavo.
Thes a46; s-tc79.
141. joseph b. guryon, Sefer bin Guryon, the so-called Josippon [Mantua], Abraham Conat, the 49th day of Omer (= 5 Sivan), no year. Quarto.
Goff Heb 65; Thes a8; s-tc278.
142. joshua b. joseph ha-levi, Seder Halikhot Olam, with jonah b. abraham gerondi, Sefer ha-Yirah ve-sod ha-Teshuvah [Somewhere in Spain or Portugal, printer and date unknown]. Quarto.
Goff Heb 63; Thes b28; s-tc278.
143. judah bar jehiel (rofeẒ), Sefer Nofet Zufim. [Mantua], Abraham Conat, [no date], Quarto.
Goff Heb 62; Thes a7; s-tc16.
144. kalonymus b. kalonymus, Even Boḥan. Edited by Yom Tov b. Perez Ẓarefati. Naples, Joseph Gunzenhauser, Elul 28, 5249 (= August 25, 1489). Quarto.
Goff Heb 66; Thes a62; s-tc75.
145. kimḤi, david b. joseph (radak), Sefer ha-Shorashim. [Rome?, Obadiah (b. Moses?), Manasseh; and Benjamin of Rome, between 1469 and 1472]. Folio.
Goff Heb 38; Thes a24; s-tc5.
146. (–.–) Naples [Joshua Soncino], Shevat 30, 5251 (= February 10, 1491). Folio.
Goff Heb 40; Thes a69; s-tc62.
147. (–.–) Corrected by Samuel b. Meir Latif. Naples [Azriel Gunzenhauser], Elul 5250 (= August 18–September 15, 1490). Folio.
Goff Heb 39; Thes a66; s-tc101.
148. (–) Commentary on Latter Prophets. Guadalajara, Solomon ibn Alkabez, 5242 (= 1482). Folio.
Goff Heb 37; Thes b1; s-tc15.
149. landau, jacob baruch b. judah, Sefer Agur and Sefer Ḥazon. [Naples, Azriel Gunzenhauser, 1490 (?)], Quarto.
Goff Heb 68; Thes a67; s-tc102.
150. levi b. gershom (ralbag), commentary on Daniel. [Rome(?), Obadiah, Manasseh and Benjamin of Rome(?), between 1469 and 1472]. Quarto.
Goff Heb 71; Thes a22; s-tc4.
151. (–) Commentary on the Pentateuch. [Mantua], Abraham Conat with the help of Abraham Jedidiah ha-Ezraḥi of Cologne, [between 1476 and 1480]. Folio.
Goff Heb 69; Thes a10; s-tc19.
152. (–) Commentary on Job. Edited by Nathan of Salo. [Ferrara], Abraham b. Ḥayyim dei Tintori, Sivan 4, 5237 (= May 17, 1477). Quarto.
Goff Heb 70; Thes a12; s-tc21.
153. moses b. jacob of coucy, Sefer Mitzvot Gadol [Rome(?), Obadiah, Manasseh, and Benjamin of Rome, between 1473 and 1475]. Folio.
Goff Heb 84; Thes a19; s-tc7.
154. (–.–) [Soncino], Gershom Soncino, Tevet 15, 5249 (= December 19, 1488). Folio.
Goff Heb 85; Thes a48; s-tc80.
155. moses b. maimon (maimonides), Moreh Nevukhim. Translated from the Arabic by Samuel b. Judah ibn Tibbon. With a table of contents by Judah b. Solomon al-Ḥarizi. [Rome(?), between 1473 and 1475]. Quarto.
Goff Heb 80; Thes a18; s-tc8, where a name of a printer has been erroneously inserted.
156. (–) Mishneh Torah. [Rome(?)], Solomon b. Judah and Obadiah b. Moses [1475]. Folio.
Goff Heb 76; Thes a1; s-tc9.
157. (–.–) [Hijar, Eliezer ibn Alantansi, date unknown]. Octavo.
s-tc232
158. (–.–) Edited by Eliezer b. Samuel. Soncino, Gershom Soncino, Nisan 1, 5250 (= March 23, 1490). Folio.
Goff Heb 77; Thes a55; s-tc81.
159. (–.–) [Somewhere in Spain or Portugal], Moses ibn Shealtiel, [1491?]. Folio.
Goff Heb 78; Thes b32; s-tc248.
160. (–.–) [Spain or Portugal, printer and date unknown]. Folio.
Goff Heb 79, 1; Thes b36; s-tc279.
161. (–.–) [Spain or Portugal, printer and date unknown]. Folio.
Goff Heb 79, 2; Thes b41; s-tc280.
162. (–.–) Hilkhot Sheḥitah. [Lisbon, Eliezer Toledano, 1492?]. Duodecimo.
Goff Heb 75; Thes b22; s-tc243.
163. moses b. naḤman (naḤmanides). Commentary on the Pentateuch. [Rome(?)], Obadiah, Manasseh, and Benjamin of Rome [Between 1469 and 1472]. Folio.
Goff Heb 86; Thes a20; s-tc1.
164. (–.–) [Naples]. [Joseph Gunzenhauser], Tammuz 13, 5250 (= July 2, 1490). Folio.
Goff Heb 88; Thes a65; s-tc78.
165. (–) Sha'ar ha-Gemul. Naples, Joseph Gunzenhauser, Adar i 1, 5250 (= January 29, 1490). Quarto.
Goff Heb 89; Thes a64; s-tc77.
166. (–) Ḥiddushei ha-Torah and letter sent from Jerusalem to his son. Lisbon, Eliezer Toledano, Av 18, 5249 (= July 16, 1489). Folio.
Goff Heb 87; Thes b18; s-tc237.
167. nathan ben jehiel, Sefer ha-Arukh. [Rome(?), Obadiah, Manasseh, and Benjamin of Rome, between 1469 and 1472]. Folio.
Goff Heb 90; Thes a23; s-tc2.
168. sahula, isaac b. solomon ibn, Mashal ha-Kadmoni. [Brescia, Gershom Soncino, 1491]. Quarto.
Goff Heb 45; Thes a76; s-tc82.
169. (–.–) [Somewhere in Italy], Gershom Soncino [1497]. Quarto.
Goff Heb 46; Thes (a86); s-tc95.
170. Solomon b. Isaac (Rashi), commentary on the Pentateuch. [Rome(?). Obadiah, Manasseh, and Benjamin of Rome, between 1469 and 1472]. Quarto.
Goff Heb 92; Thes a21; s-tc3.
171. (–.–) Reggio di Calabria, Abraham b. Garton. Adar 10, 5235 (= February 18, 1475). Folio.
Goff Heb 93; Thes a1; s-tc10.
172. (–.–) [Guadalajara, Solomon ibn Alkabeẓ], Elul 16, 5236 (= September 1476). Folio.
Goff Heb 94; Thes b4; s-tc202.
173. (–.–) [Soncino, Joshua Soncino], Sivan 14, 5247 (= June 6, 1487). Folio.
Thes a42; s-tc45.
174. (–.–) Zamora, Samuel b. Musa and Immanuel, 5247, or [5]252 (= 1487 or 1492). Folio.
Thes b13; s-tc25.
175. trevot, perez, Makrei Dardekei. [Naples, Joseph Gunzenhauser], Elul 1, 5248 (= August 8, 1488). Folio.
Goff Heb 81; Thes a61; s-tc74.
The following are more recent data on the Hebrew incunabula that are known today and the places where they were printed, as collected by Vinograd (1995):
1469: 9 in Rome
1473: 1 in Lisbon
1474: 5 in Mantua
1475: 1 in Mantua, 2 in Piove di Sacco, 1 in Reggio di Calabria
1476: 1 in Guadalajara, 1 in Mantua
1477: 1 in Bologna, 1 in Mantua, 1 in Ferrara, 1 without place
1479: 1 in Guadalajara
1480: 2 in Italy, 2 in Bologna, 8 in Guadalajara, 8 in Toledo, 1 in Naples, 1 in Spain
1482: 1 in Bologna, 13 in Guadalajara, 2 in Lisbon, 1 in Soncino
1483: 2 in Bologna
1484: 5 in Soncino
1485: 3 in Hijar, 2 in Spain, 2 in Soncino
1486: 1 in Hijar, 1 in Paris, 6 in Soncino
1487: 1 in Italy, 2 in Hijar, 3 in Naples, 2 in Faro, 2 in Soncino
1488: 2 in Napoli, 8 in Soncino
1489: 1 in Lisbon, 1 in Naples, 7 in Soncino
1490: 4 in Italy, 3 in Hijar, 1 in Brescia, 1 in Lisbon, 3 in Leiria, 7 in Naples, 5 in Spain, 1 in Portugal, 1 in Casalmaggiore, 2 in Soncino, 2 without place
1491: 1 in Brescia, 2 in Lisbon, 6 in Naples, 5 in Spain, 1 in Soncino
1492: 2 in Brescia, 4 in Lisbon, 2 in Leiria, 7 in Naples, 3 in Zamora, 6 in Spain, 3 in Faro, 2 in Portugal
1493: 1 in Soncino
1494: 3 in Brescia, 1 in Leiria, 1 in Constantinople
1495: 1 in Italy, 1 in Brescia, 1 in Leiria, 2 in Portugal
1496: 1 in Barco, 1 in Leiden
1497: 1 in Italy, 1 in Barco, 1 in Portugal
1498: 1 in Barco
At least 15 of these Hebrew incunabula can be seen in complete reproduction at the web-page of the Jewish National and University Library: http://www.jnul.huji.ac.il/dl/books/html/bk_all.htm
bibliography:
G.B. de Rossi, Annales hebraeo-typographici saeculi xv (1795); G. Manzoni, Annali tipographici dei Soncino, 2 vols. (1883–86); A. Berliner, Ueber den Einfluss des ersten hebraeischen Buchdrucks… (1896); A. Freimann, in: Zeitschrift fuer Bibliothekswesen, 19 (1902), 108ff.; A. Marx, Studies in Jewish History and Booklore (1944); A. Freimann and M. Marx, Thesaurus typographiae hebraicae saeculi xv (1929–31; 19692– ), with bibliography of 77 titles. add. bibliography: I. Sonne, in: Kiryat Sefer, 14 (1937–38), 374–75; Ch. Berlin (ed.), Hebrew Printing and Bibliography (1976); P. Tishby, in: Kiryat Sefer, 58 (1983), 808–57, 860, (1985), 865–962; M. Beit-Arié, in: Scripta Hierosolymitana, 29 (1989), 1–26; idem, The Makings of the Medieval Hebrew Book (1993); Y. Vinograd, Ozar ha-Sefer ha-Ivri: Reshimat ha-Sefarim she-Nidpesu be-Ot Ivrit me-Reshit ha-Defus ha-Ivri bi-Shenat 229 (1469) ad Shenat 623 (1863) (1993); S. Iakerson, Catalogue of Hebrew Incunabula from the Collection of the Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America (2005).
[Herrmann M.Z. Meyer /
Angel Sáenz-Badillos (2nd ed.)]
incunabula
in·cu·nab·u·la / ˌinkəˈnab-yələ; ˌing-/ • n. (sing. in·cu·nab·u·lum / ˌinkəˈnabyələm; ˌing-/ or in·cu·na·ble / inˈkyoōnəbəl/ ) early printed books, esp. those printed before 1501. ∎ archaic the early stages of the development of something.DERIVATIVES: in·cu·nab·u·list / -list/ n.