The Amsterdam Bible - Printed Entirely In Yiddish, Amsterdam 1687. With Unique Provenance.

The Amsterdam Bible - Printed Entirely In Yiddish, Amsterdam 1687. With Unique Provenance.

Presented here is a complete copy of the Amsterdam Tanach, printed entirely in Yiddish by the Attias family in 1687. Includes the Chumash, Nevi’im Rishonim, Nevi’im Acharonim, Ketuvim and Chomesh Megilloth. The Yiddish Tanach was intended to benefit those who weren’t fluent in the original Hebrew, such as women and young children during that era. 

This edition was preceded by the Tanach printed in Amsterdam by Uri Feivush HaLevi in 1679, which was also printed entirely in Yiddish. A major controversy arose, and Attias was accused by Feivush of infringing on his printing rights. Attias, on the other hand, claimed that in reality he was preparing his edition for print as early as 1678 but got delayed during printing. He used the approbations to support his claim, as they are dated 1678, one year prior to the release of Feivush’s edition. Both printers then accused each other of forging and falsifying their respective Rabbinical approbations, which eventually resulted in the financial ruin of both printing houses. For further reading, see: A.M. Haberman, Chapters in the History of the Hebrew Printers, pp. 300-310.

Interestingly, this Yiddish edition was printed by Joseph Attias, a Sephardic Jew who had no understanding of the Yiddish language. To complete the task, he commissioned an Ashkenazic Jew by the name Yosef Witzenhausen to translate. The translation differs slightly from that of the original Amsterdam edition, which was translated by another individual. 

In his introduction, Attias makes a special mention of R. Shabtai Bass of Prague, author of “Sifsei Yeshanim” for his tremendous help in preparing this edition, especially with the translation, since he was an expert in various languages. Ironically though, R. Shabtai Bass would later go on to print his supercommentary Sifsei Chachamim at the printing press of Uri Feivush, the competitor of Attias. 

With a striking copper engraved title page opposite the Hebrew title page depicting various Biblical scenes. Bound in original (?) contemporary vellum binding, with a unique ownership inscription attesting that this volume belongs to a pious woman of note. 

It reads in Hebrew: 

"שייך להאשה הצנועה המהוללה מרת חנה תחי' בת הרב מו"ה יששכר בער נ"י דק"ק גרידץ יע"א"

In English it reads: 

“This [volume] belongs to the pious and glorious woman Chanah, the daughter of R. Yissocher Ber of Greiditz”. 

This inscription is repeated twice in the inside as well, although adds that her father R. Yissachar Ber is from Mezritch, while she herself is from Greiditz. 

Very rarely do we find Hebrew books with original parchment bindings attesting to its provenance, especially that of a woman. As such, the inscription found on the binding of this book makes it far more collectible and intriguing, as it was owned and used by a pious woman during the late 17th-early 18th century. 

In overall very good condition. Few tears with paper repairs to first several leaves; light stains, not affecting text. Otherwise in very good condition. Light stains seen on parchment binding. Edges painted green, probably during the 18th century. This copy includes the copper-engraved plate, as well as the Latin introduction, which is lacking in many copies. 

[6], 79; 150 pp. 

Vinograd, Amsterdam 449.