Obj. ID: 38745
Jewish printed books  Toledot Adam by Rashba, Livorno, 1657

This text was prepared by William Gross:

She'elot and Teshuvot from the Rashba.
One of earliest books from Livorno, where Hebrew printing began only in 1650.

The first Hebrew print-shop in Livorno, which was to become an important center of Hebrew printing for 200 years, was established in 1650 by Yedidyah Gabbai established. Gabbai named his shop Stampa del Kal Nahat, after his father's commentary on Mishnayot, Kal Nahat. Gabbai took this task upon himself solely for the communal good, forsaking his previous business in precious stones, which had brought him into contact with dukes and other people of high standing. A number of the books Gabbai printed were either begun elsewhere and finished in Livorno, or begun in Livorno and finished elsewhere. Gabbai employed the three-crown ornament of the Bragadini family, though not as a device, but rather as a tail-piece. The title pages, as seen in this volume, are adorned with a shield bearing the famous five balls, the escutcheon of the Medici's, rulers of the Duchy of Tuscany at the time of Grand Duke Ferdinand II, who is mentioned on Gabbai's title pages.
The volume was brought to press by R. David b. Yehudah Sabibi, author of Mazil Nefashot (Venice, 1663).