Obj. ID: 37511
Jewish printed books  Shkhiot ha-Chemdah, Venice, 1772

This text was prepared by William Gross:

The Bragadin press was established in Venice in 1550 by Alvise Bragadin. This press continued as one of Venice’s leading Hebrew print-shops, issuing Hebrew titles in the 18th C under several generations of Bragadins (the last of whom was Alvise III). In the last decades of the The Seventeenth Century Hebrew Book, when this book was published, only the family name, Bragadin, or Nella Stamparia Bragadina appears on the title pages. Throughout the years, the output of the Bragadini press was considerable, and covered the gamut of Hebrew works. The press was somewhat unusual, however, in that the Bragadins themselves did not always take an active role in their printing-house, leaving its operation to other printers, and lending their name to other presses.
The Vendramin Hebrew press was established in 1630 by Giovanni Vendramin, who thereby broke the monopoly enjoyed by the Bragadin family in Venice. The press eventually joined with that of Bragadin, however, and the combined presses continue to operate well into the 18th C.