Obj. ID: 38752
Jewish printed books Menorat ha-Ma'or by Yitzhak Aboab, Venice, 1595
This text was prepared by William Gross:
An extremely popular ethical work based on aggadah by R. Isaac Aboab (late 14th C). Almost nothing is known about Aboab, who is known as Aboab I to distinguish him from the later sage of the same name (II, 15th C), to whom thisw work has also at times been attributed. It is believed, but this is not certain, that his father's name was Abraham and that he was a resident of Spain, beginning to write and deliver sermons at a late age.
This is the early seventh edition of R. Aboab's Menorat ha-Ma'or, which was an extremely popular text, printed in more than 80 editions into the 20th century. R. Aboab wrote two other works: Aron ha-Edut, a code arranged according to the Ten Commandments, and Lehem ha-Panim, on prayers (extant only in manuscript).
Architectural title page. Di Gara printer's mark on the final page.
The printer Giovanni di Gara (active 1564-1610) was known in Venice as the “heir of Bomberg” not only because Bomberg instructed him in Hebrew printing, but also because Di Gara acquired most of Bomberg’s Hebrew types. He was born in Riva del Garda to Christian parents sometime between 1520 and 1530 and moved to Venice with his family as a young boy. He began working at Bomberg’s press as a child. It is believed Di Gara’s first Hebrew books were printed at Bomberg’s own press, since some of them bear the phrase “in the house of Bomberg”. In other early Hebrew books, Di Gara noted when he used Bomberg’s types with the phrase “with the letters of Bomberg”. Over time, this phrase came to mean ‘in the Bomberg style’.
Di Gara worked closely with the press of fellow Venetian Bragadini, as evidenced by the use of his types from 1599 to 1600 and the incorporation of his three-crown printer’s mark (Di Gara’s own printer’s mark was a small single crown). Di Gara employed Jews whenever legally permitted to do so to ensure the accuracy of his Hebrew editions. Books printed under the supervision of Christian typesetters suffered from many errors, whose corrections were costly to the firm.
Di Gara’s press printed close to 300 Hebrew books from approximately 1565 until his death in 1609 (at least one Hebrew book was printed posthumously from his press in 1610).