Talmud Bavli Bomberg. First Print. Tractate Eduyot. Venice, 1521.

Talmud Bavli Bomberg. First Print. Tractate Eduyot. Venice, 1521.

Tractate Eduyot with the commentaries of the Ramban and the Ra’avad. Complete volume from the prominent, first edition set of Talmud, printed in the famed Daniel Bomberg Press, Venice.

The Venice Shas became the template for the page layout and pagination used in all subsequent editions of the Talmud. Until today all pagination references of tractates are based on this Venice edition.

Venice, 1521. Daniel Bomberg Press.

[1] 7, 9 leaves. 33.5 cm. Generally good condition. Some pages have been professionally restored. The title page is slightly stained with taping on the margins. Beautiful, modern, leather binding.

Stefansky, Sifrei Yesod No. 41.

Daniel Bomberg – ‘Leader of Printers’ (1475-1549) was a most prominent printer of Hebrew books, active during the first century of printing. Bomberg was born in Antwerp, Belgium to a Christian merchant. He moved to Venice where he established the first Venetian Hebrew Printing House. Despite not being Jewish, Bomberg greatly influenced Hebrew printing both in his lifetime as well as future generations. He is famed as the leading printer of Hebrew books in the 16th Century.

During the years 1516-1549, Bomberg printed approximately 250 titles, including seminal Jewish works that had never been previously published. Bomberg was the first to print the Talmud Bavli in its entirety, the Talmud Yerushalmi and the Mikraot Gedolot Tanach. Up until 1543, Bomberg’s press was the only one operating in Venice. Christian entrepreneurs, jealous of his success, then followed suit, and set up competing Printing Houses.

Talmud Bavli, Venice, 1520-1523. First Edition Printed in its Entirety. Bomberg Press:

This is likely the most impressive accomplishment of the Bomberg Press. Up until this point, only individual tractates of the Talmud were printed in Spain, prior to the Expulsion. This was followed by the Soncino Family Press publications.

However, Bomberg was the first to print the complete Talmud Bavli. This famed edition, ‘The Venice Print’ became the template for all subsequent publications of the Talmud.

Bomberg obtained a special papal license from Pope Leo X, and hired expert scholars to work on the edition. They referenced many manuscripts of the commentaries Rashi, Tosafot and the Rosh. This ensured they would produce a product that would be optimally accurate, hence this edition is of extreme import. Additionally, this edition is almost entirely unaffected by censorship changes, unlike the tractates published by Soncino.

Despite being a mammoth undertaking, this project was executed rapidly. The publication took place between 1520-1523, amazingly completed in under three years.