Obj. ID: 38022
  Printed Books  Sheelot ve-Teshuvot by Yosef ben Shelomo Kolon, Cremona, 1557

This text was prepared by William Gross:

This volume records halakhic questions and answers by R. Joseph Colon ben Solomon Trabotto, also known as Maharik (c. 1420, Chambיry – 1480), who is considered Italy's foremost Judaic scholar and Talmudist of the 15th C.
The book's title page is the form of an elaborately-decorated arch, with an illustration of the Akedah above. Cremona is one of four cities in which this woodcut frame was used (the others are Venice, Padua and Cracow). It is a fine example of the traveling of wood blocks for printing from one city to another. For other examples in the GFC, see B.1817 (Venice, 1565), and B.1568 (Padua, 1567).
R. Colon (whose name is related to the French word colombe, or 'dove') was a scion of the Trabotto family, known for its large number of scholars. After the final expulsion of Jews from the French Kingdom in 1394, his family emigrated first to the Franche-Comté and subsequently settled in the city of Chambéry, the capital of the Duchy of Savoy, which was home to a significant population of rabbinic scholars. Among these were Yohanan Treves, the last chief rabbi of France and Yeshaya Astruc ben Abba Mari.
R. Colon's responsa are among the classic productions in this field of rabbinic literature and exercised tremendous influence on the subsequent development of Halakhah. His influence is particularly notable in the Ashkenazic orbit, as reflected in Moses Isserles' glosses on the Shulhan Arukh. Colon's responsa were the central pillar of later Italian halakhah, and there is scarcely an Italian rabbi of the 16th, 17th and 18th century who does not quote him. These responsa are distinguished by his encyclopedic knowledge and methodical analysis of sources.
The book's printer, Vincenzo Conti, worked in several locations, but is best known for his printing activity in Cremona, where his press was active from 1556-1567. The initial privilege given to Conti to print in Cremona was for Latin books, which he began to do in 1555. The following year he began to print Hebrew books. In all, he issued more than forty titles while in Cremona.
Conti took great pride in his Hebrew books, having new fonts cast, rather than acquiring worn letters from other presses (thus accounting for the clear and attractive look of his books) and employing skilled Jewish workers. He used cursive rabbinic type for the text of his earlier books, until the fonts were burned in 1559. Square letters were cast to replace them, thus distinguishing his earlier and later works.