Obj. ID: 38162 Machzor me-Kol ha-Shanah, Prague, 1661
sub-set tree:
This text was prepared by William Gross:
An early Prague Machzor with a beautiful architectural gateway title page for both parts. Ornamental lettering. Illustrated signs of the zodiac.
Judah Bak was the son of Jacob Bak, who established the Bak Press in Prague in 1605. His grandfather, Gershon b. Moses Bak, was a renowned Venetian printer of Hebrew books who printed in Verona and Venice before coming to Prague. Judah and his brother Joseph succeeded their father, and, from 1623, printed under the name Benei Jacob Bak. After Joseph left the firm in 1660, Judah printed alone until 1669, when a libel suit caused a temporary cessation in printing. Eight generations of the Bak family printed Hebrew books in Prague until the beginning of the 19th C.