Serach Ruth Belashon Aravi.
Bombay, 1859. At the press of David Chaim David.
The first Sefer printed in a regular printing press (using movable type) in Bombay.
Judeo-Arabic.
Extremely Rare! Not in Vinograd, has only appeared once at public auction (the copy from the famous Sassoon collection, the same copy Ya’ari recorded). For many years the JNUL didn’t own a copy, in recent years they acquired the Valmadonna Trust copy.
The Hebrew printing press in Bombay was established following the development of two Jewish communities in the city: The religious revival of the Jewish Bene Israel community, and the development of the community of Baghdadis led by R. David Sassoon. The Seforim printed in the city can be divided into those printed for Bene Israel and those printed for the Baghdad community. The first four Seforim printed in Bombay during 1841-1853, were printed by Cochin Jews who settled in the city and all were intended for the Bene Israel community. In 1855, the Beit David Society of Baghdad Jews also began to print Seforim.
For many years, only the lithograph technique was used in Bombay. However, in 1859, an attempt was made to establish a letterpress printing press by Binyamin Yitzchak Ashkenazi, who used locally-cut or poured movable type to print the present Sefer Serach Ruth in the Arabic language, but this is the only letterpress printed Sefer and Bombay remained without a printing press for another 22 years until 1882. From 1882, several printing presses were founded in Bombay, primarily The Bombay Education Society’s Press in which both the Bene Israel Seforim and the Baghdadi Seforim were printed (established in 1882), The Anglo-Jewish and Vernacular Press (founded in 1884), the Hebrew and English Press founded by Yechezkel Shem Tov David (founded in 1887) and the printing press of Yehuda David Ashkenazi and his son (founded in 1900).
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Lot #400