Obj. ID: 35436
Printed Books Sefirat ha-Omer, Amsterdam, 1796
The following description was prepared by William Gross:
Many of the printed Sefirat ha-Omer books are done in miniature versions, small enough to be easily carried in the pockets of a garment. These were printed mostly in Holland and Italy. They generally have an introduction about the general laws pertaining to the holiday and then the daily prayers themselves. This book is printed by the famous firm of Proops in the late 18th century.
The Proops family was involved in the printing of Hebrew books in Amsterdam from the beginning of the 18th century. As the longest lasting such printing house in that city over generations, their publications spanned more than 150 years.
During the nineteenth century (and sometimes even earlier), when the Jewish world center of print moved to Eastern Europe, and the social place and function of women improved, there were 24 women active in Hebrew printing and publishing, 17 of whom were in Eastern Europe. A substantial number of printing houses came to be run by widows, the most famous of whom was the Widow (Dvoyre) Romm, who exerted substantial control over the great Lithuanian publishing house from 1860 until her death in 1903. In at least one case, a major Hebrew press, in Lwów, was founded and run from 1788 to 1805 by a woman, Yudis Rosanes, who came from the Żółkiew line of Uri Fayvesh ha-Levi.
