Obj. ID: 37294
Jewish printed books  Manat Chelki by Raphael Meir Chasan, Izmir (Smyrna), 1889

This text was prepared by William Gross:

Red leather binding with tooled gold decoration and the name הצעיר יצחק ארריטי הי"ו בכר רפאל יעקב ז"ל
Izmir became an important center of Hebrew printing in the Ottoman Empire beginning in the mid-17th century. Its first printing house was founded in 1657 by Avraham b. Yedidya Gabbai, who published in Izmir in two distinct periods, from 1657-1660, and again from 1671-1675. After Gabbai left Izmir, all printing activity in that city ceased for the next fifty years. It was resumed between 1728-1739, and again between 1754-1767, and then lay dormant again for another 60 years.
Only from the mid-19th century onward did Hebrew printing in Izmir continue uninterrupted until 1950. Several printing houses were active by the second half of the century, including that of Avraham Pontrimoli, a member of a learned family in Izmir, and Ya’akov Poli. Pontrimoli and Poli founded their press in 1876, and continued to work together for 8 years. Pontrimoli continued to print until 1889, publishing some 35 books during his 13 years of printing activity.
This book was published in 1889 by Pontrimoli.