Kitzur Amudei Gola (Samak) – Krakow, 1579

Kitzur Amudei Gola (Samak) – Krakow, 1579
Kitzur Amudei Gola – Kitzur Samak by Rabbi Yitzchak of Korvil. Krakow, 1597. Printed by Yitzchak Prostitz.
The kitzur (abridgement) was done by Rabbi Yekutiel Zalman ben Moshe of Posen, who also added things and expounded upon sources from other books. He also noted sources next to each mitzvah.
Ancient signature on title page: "Ya'akov ben Uri".
32 leaves. 18 cm. Good condition. Spotting. Worm damages and tears (some restored). Library stamps. Plain cardboard binding.
The city of Krakow which was full of Torah scholars such as the Rama, his colleagues and disciples, keenly felt the lack of a local printing press for many years. The city scholars had to travel to Prague or Italy to print their books. This was because the book traders had exclusive permits which they received from the Polish King Sigmund the II. After much effort, Yitzchak ben Aharon the legislator of Prostitz who moved to Krakow, succeeded in receiving a permit to establish a printing press for 50 years. More than a hundred books were printed in this printing press, most very rare. In general, books printed in Poland and Krakow in the 18th century are scarcer than other books from those times, also due to limited printings but primarily because of the pogroms which took place in 1648 which emptied all the Jewish libraries throughout Poland, Lithuania and Russia.