Obj. ID: 39498
Jewish printed books Yalkut Shimoni wtih Berit Avraham by Abraham b. Samuel Gedaliah, Livorno, 1656-1657
This text was prepared by William Gross:
Part two, on the Prophets and Writings, of the popular and frequently printed Midrashic anthology on the Bible, Yalkut Shimoni (Part One, on the Torah, was issued in 1649-1652). This edition is significant for the accompanying commentary, Berit Abraham by R. Abraham b. Samuel Gedaliah (d.1672). Yalkut Shimoni is rarely issued with a commentary, and those that do exist are brief. This is apparently the only printing of the Berit Avraham.
R. Gedaliah was the scion of a distinguished Sephardi family that, after the expulsion from Spain, settled first in Turkey, afterwards in Safed and Tiberias, and later in Hebron. Gedaliah, born in Jerusalem, left for Italy in 1648 to print Berit Avraham. He supported himself and paid, in part, for the publication of his work by working as an editor for the printer, Yedidyah Gabbai.
Colophon in the shape of a menorah. Lacking title page [and other pages?].
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.