Shevet Musar- Jerusalem 1863- The beginning of the printing press of Rabbi Yoel Moshe Salomon - A new printing ...

Shevet Musar- Jerusalem 1863- The beginning of the printing press of Rabbi Yoel Moshe Salomon - A new printing press in Zion.
Shevet Mussar. Jerusalem 1863. S. Ha'Levi 85.

Author: Rabbi Eliyahu HaCohen of Izmir. The book is known as one of the most widespread mussar works. Printed in various different editions.

This edition constitutes a landmark in the history of publishing in Jerusalem. Yisrael Beck was the only publisher until 1862, when two of his former partners, Michel Hacohen and Yoel Moshe Solomon, along with Yechiel Brill, began to work in printing as well. The two were Jerusalemites who returned from overseas. During the two years they spent overseas, they studied in Yeshivot and prepared for rabbinic ordination, until one day they decided to learn a trade so that they would not need to use their Torah knowledge to make money. They traveled to Konigsberg and studied the art of printing there.

This book was chosen to be the first book printed by the new publishing house, in order to “sanctify” their business, as they wrote in the introduction: “to sanctify our new publishing house with this holy book.” Therefore, they put in effort to obtain letters of recommendation from the Rabbis of Jerusalem for this edition. Their recommendations essentially serve as a general recommendation of the right of the owners to establish their own publishing house. However, it turned out that they printed a different book first, due to various considerations.

The letter of recommendation reads, as a paraphrase of the famous words: “A new mizbe’ach will be erected in Zion” - “On a new printing press which was established in Zion, our home of life!” The publishers took this sentence and printed it in large letters on the title page of the second part of the book. Under this sentence, they added an impressive illustration of the printing press.

One of the most significant innovations of their printing press was the addition of illustrations, which the printing press of Beck was incapable of doing. In the book before us, the printers wrote in large letters on the title page of the second part that the book was printed by a new printing press and under it printed an impressive illustration of the printing press. The book contains additional nice illustrations of the holy places, the Cave of Machpela among them.

The book includes two parts which were bound together.

130 pages. 

A collector's item is important and rare

Good condition. Few pages detached. A small tear at the first title page.