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Obj. ID: 39685  Sefer Sod Hashem, Amsterdam, 1745

© Gross Family Collection, Photographer: Unknown,

6 image(s)

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Name/Title
Sefer Sod Hashem | Unknown
Object Detail
Date
1745
Synagogue active dates
Reconstruction dates
Artist/ Maker
Historical Origin
Unknown
Community
Unknown |
Location
Unknown |
Site
Unknown
School/Style
Unknown|
Period
Period Detail
Gross Family Collection No.
B.2320
Material/Technique
Paper, Ink, Letterpress, Signature, Writing
Material Stucture
Material Decoration
Material Bonding
Material Inscription
Material Additions
Material Cloth
Material Lining
Tesserae Arrangement
Density
Colors
Construction material
Measurements
Height
15.2 cm
Length
Width
10.7 cm
Depth
Circumference
Thickness
Diameter
Weight
Axis
Panel Measurements
Hallmark
Iconographical Subject
Unknown |
Condition
Extant
Documented by CJA
Surveyed by CJA
Present Usage
Present Usage Details
Condition of Building Fabric
Architectural Significance type
Historical significance: Event/Period
Historical significance: Collective Memory/Folklore
Historical significance: Person
Architectural Significance: Style
Architectural Significance: Artistic Decoration
Urban significance
Significance Rating
Description

This text was prepared by William Gross:

It was customary for Mohalim (circumcisers) to possess circumcision books which contained the laws and prayers relating to circumcision as well as directions for the mohel regarding the proper procedure for performing the ceremony. These books were intended to be brought to the circumcision ceremony and were consequently small in size to as to be easily portable. Such books are found in manuscript form, especially in the 18th century as a part of the renaissance of small illustrated prayer manuscripts. But printed books were cheaper and more accesable to the average mohel.
While it is one of the classic printed circumcision prayer books, this edition of Sefer Sod Hashem has a number of manuscript pages as well. These are not the usual lists of the circumcised children, but other texts regarding the ceremony. This classic book was printed 14 times until the middle of the 19th century. There are six edition in the Gross Family Collection.
The press set up by Solomon Proops became the most famous of all the presses operating in Amsterdam in the 18th century, apart from the Menasseh ben Israel press. Solomon's father Joseph came to Amsterdam from Poznan. Solomon Proops was initially involved in the bookselling trade, and in 1677 was admitted to the Amsterdam Guild of Booksellers, Printers and Bookbinders. In 1704 he set up his own press, which was to become the longest operating and most productive of all the Jewish presses in Europe in the 18th C. He acquired the fame of a printer who produced beautiful books that could be bought at a reasonable price.
Solomon Proops died in 1734, and his three sons Joseph, Jacob and Abraham inherited his press. They were too young to run the press themselves, however, taking over operations only when they reached maturity. Initially Solomon’s sons refrained from listing their names in the works they printed. Instead they identified themselves as “Orphans of the late Solomon Proops”. They only started to place their names on title pages of their works in 1751.

Custom
Contents
Codicology
Scribes
Script
Number of Lines
Ruling
Pricking
Quires
Catchwords
Hebrew Numeration
Blank Leaves
Direction/Location
Façade (main)
Endivances
Location of Torah Ark
Location of Apse
Location of Niche
Location of Reader's Desk
Location of Platform
Temp: Architecture Axis
Arrangement of Seats
Location of Women's Section
Direction Prayer
Direction Toward Jerusalem
Signature
Colophon
Scribal Notes
Watermark
Binding
Decoration Program
Summary and Remarks
History/Provenance
Main Surveys & Excavations
Bibliography
Short Name
Full Name
Volume
Page
Type
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Researcher
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Architectural Drawings
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Computer Reconsdivuction
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