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Review of Zeev Gries, The Book in the Jewish World 1700-1900

Arthur Kiron University of Pennsylvania, [email protected]

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Recommended Citation Kiron, A. (2008). Review of Zeev Gries, The Book in the Jewish World 1700-1900. Judaica Librarianship, 14 80-87. http://dx.doi.org/10.14263/2330-2976.1075

This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/library_papers/95 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Review of Zeev Gries, The Book in the Jewish World 1700-1900

Abstract An important milestone in the study of the Jewish book was marked in 2002 with the publication of Ze'ev Gries's ha-Sefer ke-sokhen tarbut, be-shanim 1700-1900 ("The Book as an Agent of Culture, 1700-1900"). In this "slim volume," as he subsequently and modestly would refer to it, Gries introduced his readers to what he calls in Hebrew "toldot ha-sefer ha-Yehudi" (the "History of the Jewish book"). The book, based on his twenty-five previous years of research in the field, offered new insights and raised new questions. Thanks to this 2007 English-language edition, Gries's scholarship happily can reach a broader audience. Moreover, as Gries explains in his preface to the English edition, "the present volume draws heavily on (the Hebrew edition) but is not a direct translation." At the same time, Gries acknowledges and thanks Jeffrey Green for translating the original "Hebrew text as the basis of the present book." Originally published in Hebrew by ha-J9buts ha-me'ul).ad at the suggestion of its founding editor, Meir Ayali, the English edition is published appropriately by the Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, a cultural broker that brings to the English reading public important works of classical Jewish literature and modern scholarship that were originally written in Hebrew. However, for those interested in a comprehensive survey of the topic, as the title seems to promise, this book falls short of that expectation in several important ways.

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Zeev Gries, The Book in the Jewish World 1700-1900. Gries, Professor in the Goldstein-Goren Depart­ Translated from the Hebrew by Jeffrey Green. ment of Jewish Thought at Ben-Gurion University Oxford, Portland, Oregon: The Littman Library of in Be'er Sheva, specializes in what he calls Jewish Jewish Civilization, 2007. xvii, 251 p. ISBN: 978-1- cultural history, with a particular interest in the 874774-97-0. $39.95. impact of Hebrew and Yiddish printing on tradi­ tional Ashkenazic societies in Eastern Europe. His Reviewed by Arthur Kiron, University of Pennsylvania important work on Jewish conduct literature, Sifrut Library, Philadelphia, PA ha-hanhagot: toldoteha u-me~omah be-]Jaye ]Jaside ha-Besht, (1989) argues for the penetration of esoteric kabbalistic traditions into popular STUDYING THE JEWISH BOOK: A REVIEW ESSAY forms of religious observance via the agency of printing. Gries is especially well-known for his An important milestone in the study of the Jewish studies of Hasidism and Hasidic publishing, such book was marked in 2002 with the publication of as Sefer, safer l!e-sipur be-reshit ha-]Jasidut: min Ze'ev Gries's ha-Sefer ke-sokhen tarbut, be-shanim ha-Besht l!e-'ad Mena]Jem Mendel mi-I{ots~ (1992). 1700-1900 ("The Book as an Agent of Culture, He also has published valuable bibliographical 1700-1900"). In this "slim volume," as he subse­ surveys and review essays of, for example, contem­ quently and modestly would refer to it, Gries intro­ porary studies of Kabbalah and Hasidism and pio­ duced his readers to what he calls in Hebrew neering studies of both phenomena. "toldot ha-sefer ha-Yehudi" (the "History of the What is the "history of the Jewish book?" For Jewish book"). The book, based on his twenty-five Gries, as the original Hebrew title of his book indi­ previous years of research in the field, offered new cates (it speaks of "the book" "as an agent of cul­ insights and raised new questions. Thanks to this ture" -a formulation omitted from the English 2007 English-language edition, Gries's scholarship title), it means in part following in the footsteps of happily can reach a broader audience. Moreover, Elizabeth Eisenstein's The Printing Press as an as Gries explains in his preface to the English edi­ Agent of Change: Communication and Cultural tion, "the present volume draws heavily on (the Transformation of Early Modern Europe. (Gries Hebrew edition) but is not a direct translation." At cites the fourth, revised edition, Cambridge, 1985.) the same time, Gries acknowledges and thanks Jef­ Eisenstein is best known for her synthetic, intellec­ frey Green for translating the original "Hebrew text tual history of the age of the hand-press, particu­ as the basis of the present book." Originally pub­ larly in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, as lished in Hebrew by ha-J9buts ha-me'ul).ad at the well as her studies of the role of journalism as a suggestion of its founding editor, Meir Ayali, the force for secularization in later centuries. Eisen­ English edition is published appropriately by the stein argued that the transition from manuscript to Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, a cultural print technologies of communication produced broker that brings to the English reading public revolutionary changes in the configuration of important works of classical Jewish literature and power and authority in early modern Christian modern scholarship that were originally written in Europe. The ability mechanically to fix a text and Hebrew. However, for those interested in a com­ to duplicate it rapidly for widespread circulation prehensive survey of the topic, as the title seems to led to decentralized control over and the popular­ promise, this book falls short of that expectation in ization of knowledge and information. Eisenstein several important ways. emphasizes the importance of vernacular printing

80 Reviews 81

(i.e., printing in languages other than Latin) as a gentsia." He then discusses sites of reading, such key factor which undermined the authority of the as institutional libraries, in terms of their growth Catholic Church and paved the way for the spread and function both as places where reading materi­ of Protestantism and new forms of scientific als were made available and as places of sociabili­ knowledge. Gries's understanding of the history of ty, at least for men in the case of the libraries of the the book is indebted also to Robert Darnton's bate midrash ("houses of study") in the eighteenth model of "a communications circuit" by which a century (pp. 66-67). Gries also analyzes the exis­ printed text makes its way into and affects the tence and contents of private libraries and the societies in which it circulates. Darnton has variety of works found there. In so doing, his analy­ defined the purpose of this scholarly enterprise as sis successfully complicates the picture of the the effort "to understand how ideas were transmit­ actual readers of popular and elite literatures in ted through print and how exposure to the printed order to call those presumptive categories into word affected the thought and behavior of question. He quantifies and analyzes, for example, mankind during the last five hundred years" several different types of both Jewish literary con­ (Darnton, 1982, p. 65). tent and non-Jewish sources which made their Gries's bibliography refers to the scholarship of way, especially via Yiddish publishing, into the Adrian Johns and Roger Chartier but he does not social consciousness of non-elite men, women, grapple in the body of the text with their sharp cri­ and children, and how these works subsequently tiques of Eisenstein and Darnton. It would be use­ expanded their intellectual horizons. ful to know how different his study of the Jewish Gries's second section presents the conflicting book might have looked had he adopted Johns's forces of enlightenment and reaction witnessed in and Chartier's very different approaches, respec­ the output of the Hebrew press and the spread of tively, to the subjects of textual fixity, and the ways Yiddish literature during the nineteenth century. in which material texts-books as physical arti­ Here, he argues against the thesis that the facts-signify meaning and affect reading habits haskalah, or Jewish enlightenment movement, and interpretation. To be sure, Gries does refer to was a primary cause of the uprooting of traditional Chartier for "a French perspective" on reading Jewish life. He is careful to point out the disparity habits during the late eighteenth century-and to between what we know about the lived experi­ the importance of "changes in the internal and ences of]ews and literary depictions of them. Gries external design of the books produced for [read­ concludes with an "Afterword" about the begin­ ers]" (pp. 18-19)-but he confines these remarks nings of Hebrew literary criticism and the revival of to footnotes. Hebrew as a spoken language in Israel. Following Gries takes pains to acknowledge his debt to the "Afterword," an appendix is found, containing Judaica librarians and pays tribute to two centuries a translation of the homage to Ya'ari, written by the of Judaic bibliographical achievements dating philosopher and former director of the Jewish from the formative period of the German-Jewish National and University Library, Samuel Hugo Wissenschaft des ]udentums scholars in the nine­ Bergman. (This article originally appeared in the teenth century. Chief among those he praises are Hebrew-language newspaper Davar in November Leopold Zunz and Moritz Steinschneider, "the 1966, shortly after Ya'ari's death earlier that year.) Moravian-born father of modern Hebrew bibliog­ The book helpfully provides a new bibliography of raphy," (p. 2). He calls the twentieth-century Israeli secondary sources (otherwise lacking in the librarian Abraham Ya'ari a "hero of culture" and a Hebrew edition), an index of primary source books "shining star" (p. 157). Gries grounds his own and periodicals, and indexes of places, people, and undertaking on their monumental research about subjects. the history of the transition from manuscript to In short, Gries conceives of the history of the print, even as he seeks to go beyond what he states Jewish book as an exercise in cultural history built has generally been regarded as a "tedious field of upon the technical labors of "bibliographers and Jewish history, best left to bibliographers" (p. 1). librarians." On the shoulders of these giants, he The book is divided into two parts. The first part proposes to analyze the impact of new technolo­ roughly corresponds to the eighteenth century and gies of communication on traditional Jewish life. the impact of print, particularly via the dissemina­ He identifies the print revolution in Jewish society tion of kabbalah, ethical works, and the "elite liter­ with a great awakening of non-elite, expanding cir­ ature" of Jewish legal works and commentaries, on cles of readers, both women and men, who earned the formation of what Gries calls a "nascent intelli- their livelihoods outside the professional offices of 82 Reviews the Jewish community. This nascent intelligentsia Hebrew pnntmg did not lead inevitably to a played a crucial role as a catalyst for wider changes process of secularization but in fact played a cru­ in the social consciousness of the public, evidence cial role in re-shaping and reinforcing ritually of which is mirrored in and discernible via the observant forms of Jewish worship and study even print output of the time. At the heart of this demo­ as it helped to create a new, secular Jewish national cratic narrative and the popular practices and life (see, e.g., pp. 104-105). audiences embedded in it are the historical experi­ Gries's book is not so much about the "Book in ences of highly literate Ashkenazic Jewish men liv­ the Jewish World" but about the Hebrew, and to a ing in Eastern Europe who were raised in tradition­ lesser extent Yiddish, printed book in the Ashke­ al religious educational environments. Reading, nazic world. The author does consider the printing writing, and publishing in Hebrew and Yiddish, output of Amsterdam and mentions in passing and gradually finding their way into the modern printing centers in Germany and Italy. Regrettably, era during a time when the civil and political sta­ he almost completely neglects the world of tus of European Jewry was changing, they eventu­ Sephardic and Middle Eastern Jews as well as the ally moved to Israel and participated in the renew­ books that were printed or copied in the Balkans al of Jewish national sovereignty. and Islamic lands or otherwise circulated there. In his preface to the English edition, Gries This is surprising because Abraham Ya'ari, the hero makes a point of differentiating his linguistic­ of this telling, took a keen interest in and pub­ nationalist approach from that of Benedict Ander­ lished numerous books and articles about the sub­ son. Anderson has linked the spread of vernacular ject of non-Ashkenazic Jewries. Curiously, even print culture and new media in the nineteenth within the geographical frame of Eastern Europe, century to the rise of modern nationalisms. By Gries does not discuss Karaite Jewish publishing in contrast, Gries looks to the "high" cultural lan­ Hebrew letters. Moreover, he downplays Ladino, guage of Hebrew as the foundation of Jewish unity Judea-Spanish, and Judea-Arabic works printed in across the ages and the instrument of Jewish Hebrew letters. In his treatment of Judea-Arabic, national consciousness in the modern period. for example, Gries refers to its heyday "during the "The linguistic factor uniting the Jewish people" 'Golden Age of the Jews of Spain' ... between the Gries explains, "was not their vernacular language, tenth and twelfth centuries," but he dismissively as Anderson would have it, but rather their ancient concludes that "the decline of Judea-Arabic litera­ sacred language, Hebrew, which lay at the heart of ture began halfway through the late Middle Ages, Jewish religious life and education wherever Jews in consonance with the general decline of culture lived and throughout the centuries, 'till today.'" in those lands where it was used-the lands of "Thus," he continues, "a discussion of the history Islam'' (pp. 95-96). of the Hebrew book [notice his switch from a study In one of the only instances in which he men­ of ha-sefer ha-Yehudi (the Jewish book) to ha-sefer tions Sephardic culture, Gries recalls the travels of ha-'Ivri (the Hebrew book)] forms the core of my the distinguished Sephardic Rabbi I;Iayim Yosef work here" (pp. vii-viii). David Azulai (known by the acronym "I;IIDA''). Gries points out another distinctive characteris­ From his travelogue we find out that Jews used tic of the history of the Hebrew printed book, valuable books as a kind of portable commodity by namely, that "although the printing may have been which they could transfer their wealth from one localized, the books themselves circulated place to another under the watchful but otherwise throughout the Jewish diaspora" (p. 7). He is ignorant eyes of non-Jewish authorities (p. 24). emphatic that the "history of the book in the Jew­ However, Gries's reliance on the I;IIDA's observa­ ish world must therefore be considered not in the tions about the "limited nature of people's knowl­ context of those places where books were printed edge of Lurianic kabbalah" among the Jews of but rather in relation to where they circulated" (p. Tunis as evidence of the "limited availability there 33; emphasis in the original). In contrast to Ander­ of books on the subject" (p. 23) does not tell us son, Gries finds the unifying force of the Hebrew anything about the means, limited or not, by language in extended networks of religious, eco­ which knowledge of all kinds circulated among nomic, and social forms of oral and print commu­ Jews living in Islamic lands. So, for example, the nication that transcended national boundaries in persistence of manuscript copying after the advent advance of the creation of a Jewish nation-state. of Hebrew printing is mentioned in relation to the Pursuing this line of investigation Gries persua­ spread of kabbalistic teachings in Eastern Europe sively argues that the transnational agency of (p. 71) and among maskilim (enlighteners) who Reviews 83 copy by hand and circulate satires (p. 115). Howev­ 170-71) Ya'ari, Chane Shmeruk, Yehoshua Mond­ er, it is not investigated as an alternative to print as shine, and Moshe Rosman for their studies of the a form of communication among North African, changes made to the different editions of the Levantine, and Yemenite Jewish communities dur­ Shivl}e ha-Besht, his own arguments are not simi­ ing this time. larly buttressed by these types of technical investi­ Chief among the book's strengths must be gations. In short, many of the historical conclu­ counted the ways in which Gries deploys his bib­ sions Gries derives from "the book" in the Jewish liometric methodology. The book contains multi­ world of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries ple instances of Gries's analyses of tallies of printed are not sufficiently grounded in evidence based on editions and quantitative comparisons of genres. the "tedium" of a book's making. His systematic approach illuminates, for example, Gries provides expert accounts of serialized the popularity of a given work (e.g., lfok le­ Jewish publishing in Eastern Europe and insight­ Yisra'el), and tells a reader much about the emerg­ fully points to the value of book reviews as a source ing canonical status of the Zohar or about a partic­ of information. At the same time, he ignores the ular subject (e.g., ethical literature) and its wide widespread circulation of non-Hebrew Jewish circulation and popular appeal. He carefully newspapers during the same period throughout explains and qualifies his statistical findings in Western Europe and the Atlantic world. He also terms of the underlying shortcomings of the vari­ ignores serialized publishing of Judea-Spanish ous bibliographies upon which his calculations are belles lettres. (Though it appeared too late for Gries based. to consult for the Hebrew edition of his book, At the same time, Gries's reliance on numbers Sarah Abrevaya Stein's 2004 comparative study of to draw general historical conclusions does not the Yiddish and Ladino press in the Russian and come to grips with the basic critique of a biblio­ Ottoman empires might yet serve as a model for metric approach: the book is not a fixed and stable future comparative undertakings.) entity. Its processes of composition, redaction, On several occasions Gries refers to the migra­ physical production, page layout, typographic tion of Jews from Eastern Europe to North America choices, paper selection, format, binding, artistic and in one instance he mentions the popularity of illustration, distribution, re-issuance, and condi­ the literary output of one of the emigres, Yehudah tions of sale play an important, if not a more Yudl Rozenberg (Yudel Rosenberg). And yet, he important role than, bibliometrics in explaining treats Rozen berg as an extension of Eastern Euro­ how communication occurs and meaning is trans­ pean culture and does not examine the local con­ mitted. To his credit, Gries provides a valuable text of his adopted homes in Toronto and Montre­ two-page section entitled "Topics in the history of al, where he not only served as a rabbi but also the book that demand an author" (pp. 129-130). published at least three books.l And while Gries Here he calls for studies of"the design and illustra­ devotes a section of the book to the subject of cen­ tion of books as agents of culture," "the technology sorship in Eastern Europe (pp. 131-135), he pays of Jewish printing," "the increase in the number of almost no attention to the emergence of Hebrew Jewish public libraries during the nineteenth cen­ and Yiddish printing in North America, a region tury," and "the opening up of Hebrew literature to unfettered by governmental censorship of Jewish the wonders of science" (p. 129). books, and thus an alternate outlet for publishing Indeed, Gries's book sparkles with ideas and controversial literature. desiderata. And this is not to say that Gries, a self­ Accounts of other locations of Hebraic creativity described book-worm, has not done the kind of in the West beyond the confines of the Pale of Set­ work he recommends. Yet despite Gries's apparent tlement during the nineteenth and early twentieth commitment to the idea, he does not engage here centuries are similarly attenuated. Consider for in a systematic way with the book as a material example, the almost invisible role assigned by text, i.e., as an artifact operating simultaneously Gries to the Italian port city of Livorno in this his­ within and beyond traditional conceptions of tory. Yet, according to Yeshayahu Vinograd's bibli- interpretation. So, for example, one might have hoped to find Gries discussing the use of "Rashi" letters in Ashkenazic and Sephardic printing, or l See Goldman, 2006, entry nos. 631, 632, 661, 873. "Vaybertaytsh" ("women's" print type, which Her­ The third of these works by Rozenberg was pub­ bert Zafren [1983b, 1986] has carefully studied) in lished jointly in Montreal and in New York City; a Yiddish printing. And while Gries praises (pp. fourth was published in New York City. 84 Reviews ography of books printed in Hebrew letters (1993), spirit of the times I shall conclude with some Livorno was the fifth largest center of Hebrew remarks on books, printing and women" (p. 176; cf. printing in the world before 1864. In short, Gries's the Hebrew edition, p. 182). Like his discussion of focus on the "Hebrew" and "Yiddish" book in East­ Judea-Arabic, the subject of gender is left until the ern Europe consequently overshadows the depth conclusion of the chapter, suggesting that it is an and extent of diasporic Jewish printing in all lan­ afterthought rather than an integral part of his guages throughout the Jewish world. story of an expanding nascent intelligentsia of Gries's preference for studying the book in the male and female readers. Jewish world thematically-by examining the The shifting titles in the Hebrew and English edi­ printing of works of Jewish law, commentaries, tions of Gries's book point to additional methodo­ ethical literature, kabbalah, children's literature, logical tensions. To recall, the Hebrew title includes and the sites of reading such as public and private the phrase sokhen tarbut (agent of culture); in an libraries-provides a valuable entree to some of earlier formulation in 1992, Gries referred to print­ the most recondite forms of Jewish learning and to ing as an emtsa'i ¥sher (medium of communica­ often overlooked topics of investigation. However, tion). In the English edition these concepts of his thematic approach comes at the expense of agency are omitted from the title altogether. It is no detailed analyses of the specific locales, time semantic quibble to raise this underlying question frames, and local conditions in which printing and of "agency" (perhaps the driving force of the book's reading occurred. When, for example, he compares overall argument): i.e., to what extent did Jewish Lemberg (Lviv) and Vilna (Vilnius) as important printing cause great historical changes in Jewish life Jewish publishing centers in the second half of the to occur? To say that Jewish books (in any lan­ nineteenth century, he bases his discussion on the guages) are a medium of communication is to say memoirs of the literary critic Abraham Piperna that they are a necessary factor but not a sufficient (see pp. 113, 116) and on a quantified comparison explanation for change over time. To say that the of the printing output of those two cities, in an Jewish printed book is akin to an autonomous agent attempt to show that the traditional picture of of culture, "the magic kiss" that awakens "the nas­ them as bastions, respectively, of Hasidim and Mit­ cent intelligentsia as a kind of Sleeping Beauty" (p. nagdim ("Opponents of Hasidisrn'') is not so clear 91), may lead some to conclude mistakenly that the cut. But his conclusion is not supported by any technology of printing and the production of additional analysis of the local conditions that pre­ Hebrew and Yiddish literature were primarily vailed at the time. Similarly, though he occasional­ responsible for changing the consciousness of the ly refers in the course of the book to the rise and Jewish world between 1700 and 1900. The danger of decline of book prices, and links those price levels misinterpretation requires greater clarification. to social and cultural factors (see, e.g., p. 49), he The bibliography of this book is a valuable either minimizes or does not explore the demo­ entree to both the field of general and Jewish book graphic, economic, legal, and political conditions studies. However, it lacks entries for noted scholars also affecting them. and lay specialists of general print culture such as Regrettably Gries, who has published a rich and Philip Gaskell, Donald McKenzie, and Anthony detailed study of "The Hasidic Managing Editor as Rota, as well as scholars of the Jewish book (manu­ an Agent of Culture" (1996), rarely delves into the script as well as print) such as Mordechai Glatzer, emerging, changing, and increasingly specialized Menahem Schmelzer, and Herbert Zafren. Also roles of publishers, editors, typesetters, correctors, surprising, given the intended English-reading booksellers, and other human "agents" of the busi­ audience of this translation, is the absence of an ness of Jewish book culture. On those few occa­ entry for Raphael Posner and Israel Ta-Shema's sions when he does-for example, his brief discus­ basic yet still useful compilation of articles from sion of the role of maskilim as proofreaders and the Encyclopedia Judaica, entitled The Hebrew typesetters-the historical picture of how they Book: An Historical Survey (1975). The bibliography made their living within the traditional world helps (which is not found in the 2002 Hebrew edition, the reader to understand where these cultural fig­ and hence we can infer was compiled for the 2007 ures came from. By contrast, when an extended edition) also omits the valuable recent study and discussion of a printer-publisher does come to the bibliography of Karaite printing published by fore, as it does during his discussion of the rebetsin Barry Walfish in 2003. Yehudit Rosanes, the topic of printing and gender The critique offered here is not intended to be a is marred by the patronizing comment that, "in the call to "add" more to the overall story, norto mini- Reviews 85 mize the strengths of this important study, but to lated by Lydia G. Cochrane. Stanford, CA: integrate some of the above-mentioned desiderata Stanford University Press, 1994. into the analysis itself. Anyone interested in the *Chartier, Roger (1995). Forms and Meanings: circulation through print of information and Texts, Performances, and Audiences: From knowledge and how it affects communal praxis Codex to Computer. Philadelphia: University of and authority, needs to consider the interplay and Pennsylvania Press, 1995. exchanges that took place among Jewish commu­ Darnton, Robert (1982). "What is the History of nities in and beyond the Pale of Settlement. To take Books?" Daedalus, vol. 111, no. 3 (Summer one final example: in his brief discussion of "the 1982), pp. 65-83. Vilna-born Professor Nahum Slouschz, who was Di Porto, Bruno (1993). "La stampa periodica raised and educated in Odessa, and later in Gene­ ebraica a Livorno," Nuovi Studi Livornesi, vol. va and Paris," Gries (pp. 188-89) makes no refer­ 1 (1993), pp. 173-198. ence to Harvey Goldberg's fascinating studies of *Eisenstein, Elizabeth (1979). The Printing Press as how Slouschz's contact with Mordekhai Ha-Cohen an Agent of Change. 2 vols. Cambridge, Eng­ in Libya was predicated on the imperial conditions land: Cambridge University Press, 1979. 2 vols. then structuring European-North African relations (4th edition, 1985.) (Goldberg, 2004; Ha-Cohen, 1980). Their personal *Eisenstein, Elizabeth (1992). Grub Street Abroad: relationship illuminates our understanding of the Aspects of the French Cosmopolitan Press from complex interplay of these conditions as a Euro­ the Age of Louis XIV to the French Revolution. pean-educated Jewish visitor encounters and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992. exploits an educated North African Jew thoroughly Febvre, Lucien; Martin, Henri-Jean (1997). The versed in haskalah literature which had circulated Coming of the Book: The Impact of Printing, there from Eastern Europe. Gries's omission of 1450-1800. Translated from the French by David Gerard. London: Verso, 1997. [Cited by such concerns from his discussion of Slouchz Gries, but not listed in his end bibliography.] shortchanges his reader. Gries seems to operate somewhere between the Finkelstein, David; McCleery, Alistair (2005). An Introduction to Book History. New York: Rout­ forest and the trees, between historians of the ledge, 2005. book and the historiography of Ashkenazic culture, between bibliographers and intellectual historians, Gaon, Moshe David, ed. (1965). ha-1tonut be-Ladino: bibliyografyah: shelosh me'ot 'itonim. [Jerusa­ between quantitative bibliometrics and qualitative lem]: Mekhon Ben-Tsevi ba-Universitah ha- judgments based on unproven assumptions about 'Ivrit, 725 [1965]. . the relationship between numbers and lived expe­ Gaskell, Philip (1972). A New Introduction to Bibli­ riences. A great deal of useful information can be ography. NewYorkand Oxford: Oxford Univer­ gleaned from this path-breaking work. Indeed, I sity Press, 1972. know of no better introduction in English to Goldberg, Harvey E. (2004). "The Oriental and the Hebrew and Yiddish printing and the Hebrew press Orientalist: the Meeting of Mordecai Ha­ in the Ashkenazic heartlands of Eastern Europe Cohen and Nahum Slouschz," Jewish Culture during this time period. Yet, readers will need to and History, vol. 7, no. 3 (2004), pp. 1-30. treat with caution many of the author's approach­ Goldman, Yosef (2006). Hebrew Printing in America es, generalizations, and conclusions. 1735-1926: A History and Annotated Bibliogra­ phy. Research and editing by Ari Kinsberg. Brooklyn, New York: Yosef Goldman, 2006. 2 vols. [Editor's note: This book was reviewed by SELECTED SUPPLEMENTAL Arthur Kiron in volume 13 of Judaica Librari­ BIBLIOGRAPHY anship (2007).] Grafton, Anthony, ed. (2002). "AHR Forum: How [*indicates works cited both in this review and in Revolutionary was the Print Revolution?" Gries's Book in the Jewish World] American Historical Review, vol. 107, no. 1 Ben-Ur, Aviva (2002). "Ladino in Print: Toward a (February 2002), pp. 84-128. Comprehensive Bibliography," Jewish History, *Gries, Zeev (1989). Sifrut ha-hanhagot: toldoteha vol. 16 (2002), pp. 309-326. u-melf,omah be-l}aye l}aside ha-Beshf, {The Lit­ *Chartier, Roger (1994). The Order of Books: Read­ erature of Customs: Its History and Place in the ers, Authors, and Libraries in Europe Between Life of the Followers of R. Yisra'el Ba'al Shem the Fourteenth an Eighteenth Centuries. Trans- Tov]. [Jerusalem]: Mosad Biy~, 750, [1989]. 86 Reviews

*Gries, Zeev (1992a). "Li-demuto shel ha-mevi li­ ing articles appearing under this rubric by defus ha-Yehudi be-shalhe yeme ha-benayim'' Sarah Abrevaya Stein, Jonathan Frankel, Tony ["On the Figure of the Jewish Managing Editor Michels, and Rachel Rojanski.] in the Late Middle Ages"], Igeret ha-al):ade­ Posner, Raphael; Ta-Shema, Israel, eds. (1975). The miyah ha-le'umit ha-Yisre'elit le-mada'im, vol. Hebrew Book: An Historical Survey. Foreword 11 (July 1992), pp. 7-11. by Dr. Jacob Rothschild. Jerusalem: Keter Pub­ *Gries, Zeev (1992b). Sefer, safer l!e-sipur be-reshit lishing House, 1975. ha-hasidut: min ha-Besht ve-'ad Menahem Robinson, Ira (1991). "Literary Forgery and Hasidic Mendel [English title on verso of title mi-~otsl): Judaism: the Case of Rabbi Yudel Rosenberg," page: The Book in Early Hasidism]. [Tel Aviv]: Judaism, vol. 40, no. 1 (1991), pp. 61-78. ha-J.(ibuts ha-me'ul;md, 1992. *Gries, Zeev (1992c). "ha-Defus ke-emtsa'i kesher Robinson, Ira (1992). "The First Hasidic Rabbis in ben kehilot Yis'ra'el ba-tekufah ha-semllkhah North America," American Jewish Archives, le-gerush Sefarad: h~damot le-'iyun ve­ vol. 44, no. 2 (1992), pp. 501-515. diyun" ["Printing as a Means of Communica­ Robinson, Ira (1993). "Kabbalist and Communal tion among Jewish Communities Shortly after Leader: Rabbi Yudel Rosenberg and the Canadi­ the Expulsion from Spain; Introductory an Jewish Community," Canadian Jewish Stud­ Remarks for Examination and Discussion''], ies, vol. 1 (1993), pp. 41-58. Da'at, vol. 28 (Winter 1992), pp. 5-17. Rofe, Yosef (1971-1972). "Toldot bate ha-defus ha­ *Gries, Zeev (1996). "The Hasidic Managing Editor 'Ivriyim bi-Livorno" ["History of Hebrew Print­ as an Agent of Culture," in Hasidism Reap­ ing in Livorno"], Tagim: l):ovets bibliografi praised, edited by Ada Rapoport-Albert (Lon­ torani-mada'i. vol. 2 (1971-72), pp. 123-134; don; Portland, OR: The Littman Library ofJew­ vols. 3-4 (1972-73), pp. 132-40. ish Civilization, 1996), pp. 141-155. Rota, Anthony (1998). Apart from the Text. New Ha-Cohen, Mordecai (1980). The Book of Morde­ Castle, DE: Oak Knoll Press, 1998. chai: a Study of the Jews of Libya: Selections from the Highid Mordekhai of Mordechai Schmelzer, Menahem Hayyim (1988). "Hebrew Hakohen. Based on the complete Hebrew text Printing and Publishing in Germany, 1650- as published by the Ben-Zvi Institute, Jerusa­ 1750: On Jewish Book Culture and the Emer­ lem. Edited and translated with introduction gence of Modern Jewry," Leo Baeck Institute and commentaries by Harvey E. Goldberg. Year Book, vol. 33 (1988), pp. 369-383. [Also Philadelphia: Institute for the Study of Human appeared in his Studies in Jewish Bibliography Issues, 1980. and Medieval Hebrew Poetry; Collected Essays (New York: Jewish Theological Seminary of Heller, Marvin J. (2004). The Sixteenth Century America, 2006).] Hebrew Book: An Abridged Thesaurus. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 2004. 2 vols. Schmelzer, Menahem Hayyim (1998). "Decorated Hebrew Manuscripts of the Eighteenth Centu­ Heller, Marvin J. (2007). Studies in the Making of ry in the Library of the Jewish Theological the Early Hebrew Book. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 2007. Seminary of America," in Occident and Orient; *Johns, Adrian (1998). The Nature of the Book: Print a Tribute to the Memory ofAlexander Scheiber, and Knowledge in the Making. Chicago; Lon­ ed.: Robert Dan (Budapest: Akademiai Kiad6; don: University of Chicago Press, 1998. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1988), pp. 331-351. [Also McKenzie, Donald Francis (1999). Bibliography appeared in his Studies in Jewish Bibliography and the Sociology of Texts. Cambridge; New and Medieval Hebrew Poetry; Collected Essays York: Cambridge University Press, 1999. (New York: Jewish Theological Seminary of America, 2006).] McKenzie, Donald Francis (2002). Making Mean­ ing: "Printers of the Mind" and Other Essays. Singerman, Robert, compiler (1990). JudaicaAmer­ Edited by Peter D. McDonald and Michael E icana: A Bibliography of Publications to 1900; Suarez. Amherst: University of Massachusetts sponsored by the Center for the Study of the Press, 2002. American Jewish Experience, Hebrew Union Milano, Attilio (1938). "Un Secolo di Stampa Peri­ College-Jewish Institute of Religion; foreword odica Ebraica in Italia," Scritti in Onore di by Jonathan D. Sarna. New York: Greenwood Dante Lattes/La Rassegna Mensile di Israel, vol. Press, 1990. 2 vols. 16 (1938), pp. 96-133. Stein, Sarah Abrevaya (2004). Making Jews Modern: Penslar, Derek (2000). "Introduction: The Press and The Yiddish and Ladino Press in the Russian the Jewish Public Sphere," Jewish History, vol. and Ottoman Empires. Bloomington: Indiana 14, no. 1 (2000) pp. 3-8. [Special issue, includ- University Press, 2004. Reviews 87

*Vinograd, Yeshayahu (1993). Otsar ha-sefer ha­ Zafren, Herbert C. (1983a). "The 1678 Siddur and 'Ivri: reshimat ha-sefarim she-nidpesu be-ot the Siftei Yeshenim: A Methodological Exer­ 'Ivrit me-reshit ha-defus ha-'Ivri bi-shenat cise," in The A. M. Habermann Memorial Vol­ 229(1469) 'ad shenat 623 [1863} [Thesaurus of ume, ed. by Zvi Malachi (Lod: Habermann the Hebrew Book]. Jerusalem: ha-Makhon le­ Institute for Literary Research, 1983), pp. bibliyografyah memul)shevet, 1993. 2 vols. 273-287. [Now available as a fully-searchable CD-ROM Zafren, Herbert C. (1983b). "Variety in the Typogra­ through the year 1948. See vol. 2, pp. 378-406, phy of Yiddish, 1535-1635," Hebrew Union for the output of books printed in Hebrew let­ College Annual, vol. 53 (1983), pp. 137-163. ters in Livorno.] Zafren, Herbert C. (1986). "Early Yiddish Typogra­ Walfish, Barry Dov (2003). "Karaite Press and Print­ phy," Jewish Book Annual, vol. 44 (1986-1987), ing," Karaite Judaism: A Guide to Its History pp. 106-119. and Literary Sources, ed. by Meira Polliack (Leiden: Brill, 2003), pp. 925-962. [Includes a Zafren, Herbert C. (1997). "Hebrew Printing by and bibliography of printed Karaite works on pp. for Frankfurt Jews-to 1800," inJildische Kultur 933-958.] in Frankfurt am Main von den Anfiingen his zur Gegenwart; ein internationales Symposium [Yaari, Abraham (1934)]. Bet ha-sefarim ha-le'umi . . . hrsg. von Karl E. Grozinger (Wiesbaden: veha-universi!a'i bi-Yerushalayim. ~ryat sefer HarrassowitzVerlag, 1997, pp. 231-271). (Jerusalem) [Supplement]. Reshimat sifre Ladino ha-nimtsa'im be-Vet ha-sefarim ha-le'umi veha­ universita'i bi-Yerushalayim [Catalogue of Ladi­ no Books Held in the Jewish National and Uni­ Langerman, Shoshana. Miftua/;1: 'iyun u-ma'aseh versity Library in Jerusalem]. Compiled and (Indexing: Theory and Practice). Azor: Tcherikover, introduced by Abraham Yaari ... [Jerusalem]: 2007. v, 272 p. ISBN: 3-0121-16-965. Price: 78 New ha-f,Ievrah le-hotsa'at sefarim 'al yad ha-Univer­ si!ahha-'Ivrit,694 [1934]. Israeli Shekel. Yaari, Abraham (1936-1940). ha-Defus ha-'Ivri be­ Reviewed by Bella Hass Weinberg, St. John's Univer­ artsot ha-mizrah [The Hebrew Book in the sity, Queens, NY [Lands of the} East]. [Jerusalem]: ~ryat Sefer; ha-f,Ievrah le-hotsa'at sefarim 'al yad ha-Uni­ versitah ha-'Ivrit,[l936--40]. 2 vols. [Discusses SCOPE OF THE BOOK Hebrew printing in Safed, Damascus, Aleppo, Cairo, Alexandria, Aden, Calcutta, Bombay, The work under review is intended to convey con­ Poonah, Cochin, Madras, and Baghdad.] cepts of indexing to native speakers of Hebrew. The Yaari, Abraham (1947). [Supplement to Hebrew book includes a Preface in English, but no table of Printing in the East], ~iryat Sefer! Kirjath Sefer, contents in that language. The scope and organiza­ vol. 24, no. 1 (July 1947), pp. 65-72. tion of the book can most efficiently be conveyed Zafren, Herbert C. (197la). "Dyhernfurth and through a translation of the Hebrew table of con­ Shabtai Bass: a Typographic Profile," in Studies tents: in Jewish Bibliography, History and Literature, in Honor of I. Edward Kiev, ed. by Charles Chapter 1: Indexing: What is it? Berlin (New York: Ktav, 1971), pp. 543-580. A. Indexing as part of information organi­ Zafren, Herbert C. (197lb). "More on Dyhern­ zation furth," Studies in Bibliography and Booklore, B. Purposes of indexing vol. 10 (1971-1972), pp. 62-68. C. The place of indexing in the information Zafren, Herbert C. (1977). "Amsterdam, Center of system Hebrew Printing in the Seventeenth Century," Jewish Book Annual, vol. 35 (1977/1978), pp. Chapter 2: The history of indexing 47-55. in Hebrew books Zafren, Herbert C. (1982). "A Probe into Hebrew Printing in Hanau in the 17th Century or, How Chapter 3: Basic concepts of indexing Quantifiable is Hebrew Typography?" in Stud­ ies in Judaica, Karaitica and Islamica, Present­ A. Indexing versus classification ed to Leon Nemoy on His Eightieth Birthday, B. Coordination at the indexing stage ver­ ed. by Sheldon Brunswick (Ramat-Gan: Bar­ sus coordination at the searching stage Han University Press, 1982), pp. 273-285. C. Search techniques in databases