Obj. ID: 39191
Jewish printed books  Bnei Ya'akov by Yitzhak ben Abba Meiri, Istanbul, 1714

This text was prepared by William Gross:

Title page with Italian-style frontispiece showing an architectural gateway with twisted columns. The same frame was used on B.757.
This volume was issued by Yonah ben Ya’akov of Zalazitz, also known as Yonah ha-Ashkenazi, the person who re-initiated printing activity in Istanbul during the 18th century. A Jewish refugee from Poland, Yonah b. Ya’akov was the foremost Ottoman printer of his day, and was responsible for 188 of the c.210 books that were printed in Istanbul during this time. His printing house published some of the most important books that were written in that time. He was also one of the Jewish printers who assisted the Turks in founding the first Ottoman printing house.
Yonah b. Ya’akov founded his press in Istanbul, but was forced to move it to the Ortaköy suburb after a fire which broke out in the capital in 1712. The present volume was issued two years after this fire. Seven years later he was able to return and establish his enterprise in Istanbul.
In 1728 he founded a branch of his press in Izmir which was active for eleven years, and printed more than 30 books there. During the same period he printed 60 books in Istanbul. Due to another fire in 1740, Yonah b. Ya’akov’s activities were again interrupted. He resumed printing in 1742 in partnership with his sons, who continued to print for more than thirty years after his death in 1745.