Large, varied collection of books, booklets and various printed matter, printed in Calcutta, India, encompassing an entire century, from the beginning of Hebrew printing in Calcutta in 1840, until the mid-20th century.
A collection rare in its scope, including more than 100 items: books, booklets, leaves and calendars. The collection documents the history of Hebrew printing in Calcutta beginning in 1840. It includes most of the first books printed in the city during the 1840s (22 of the first 26 books printed in Calcutta by R. Elazar Iraki. Nos. 1, 3-7, 9-10, 12-17, 19-26 in Ya'ari's list) and about half of all books ever printed in Calcutta. Some are lithographed.
The collection comes from the library of the renowned collector R. David Sassoon, and was the basis of the bibliographic list of works printed in Calcutta published by the researcher and bibliographer Avraham Ya'ari in the book Hebrew Printing in the East (Vol. 2, Jerusalem 1940, Calcutta). This collection also contains many items which do not appear in Ya'ari's list.
Items include: • Shir HaShirim, with Targum Yonatan ben Uziel and Judeo-Arabic translation. Calcutta, [1840]. Ya'ari, no. 1. The first lithographed book printed in Calcutta. That same year, Elazar Iraki printed Sha'arei Kedusha (in letterpress). According to Ya'ari, Shir HaShirim was printed before the Iraki printing press was established. No other lithographed books were printed in Culcutta until 1871. • Tractate Avot, with Judeo-Arabic translation. Calcutta, [1844]. Ya'ari, no. 15. Printed on bluish paper. • Raziel HaMalach. Calcutta, [1845]. Ya'ari, no. 17. Printed on bluish paper. • Imrei Shabbat, "to clarify the prohibition of riding the steam engines of the railway on Shabbat…", by R. Chaim Ya'akov HaKohen [Feinstein] "emissary of the city of Safed". Calcutta, [1874]. Ya'ari, no. 29. • Regulations of the Magen David synagogue, in Judeo-Arabic. Calcutta, [1894]. Ya'ari, no. 82. • Sefer HaAchlama, interpretation of dreams. Calcutta, 1844. Lithographed manuscript. Ya'ari, no. 117. • Lithograph – the piyyut "Melech HaMefo'ar B'Rom Hodo…", by the Magen David synagogue, 1924. Printed in honor of R. Eliyahu Moshe Dweck HaKohen on his fiftieth anniversary serving as rabbi of the Magen David synagogue in Calcutta. Ya'ari, no. 119. • Lithograph printed in gold – the piyyut "E-l Rachum Shemecha…". Ya'ari, no. 120. [Calcutta, year not indicated]. • Lithographed booklet, Haftarah of Tisha B'Av, with Judeo-Arabic translation, by "Shalom Yehoshua Iraki HaKohen teacher in Calcutta". [Year unknown]. Ya'ari, no. 123. • Chart for teaching the Hebrew Alphabet to children, with the verses of Shema Yisrael. Lithographed. [Calcutta, 1890]. Ya'ari, no. 124. • "Tachel Shana U'Virchoteha", two lithographs, with the simanim of Rosh Hashana eve. [Calcutta, year not indicated]. Ya'ari, no. 132-133. • "…prayer to recite before and after kindling Shabbat and festival candles". [Calcutta, year not indicated]. Lithograph. Ya'ari, no. 134. • Prayer booklets for various occasions (in honor of Queen Victoria, upon the coronation of King George, etc.). • Cards with timetables for prayers in the synagogue. • Large-format wall calendars. • And more.
The first Hebrew press in Calcutta was established by R. Elazar Iraki HaKohen, a Jew of Yemenite origin, in 1840. R. Iraki's press operated until 1856, producing high-quality books which compare favourably with contemporary Hebrew printing in Europe. It seems that R. Iraki himself cast the type, and indeed the type used in his press differs from European type. Iraki printed many books by Yemenite sages, including halachic books by the Maharitz (which he was the first to print) and Sefer HaPizmonim – poems by Yemenite poets. R. Iraqi was not only a craftsman, but also a Torah scholar who edited, proofread and corrected the works he printed. Among other works, he translated the Passover Haggadah which was printed in his press and added 22 of his piyyutim to Sefer HaPizmonim. His printer's device depicts hands raised for the priestly benediction and the name "Iraki" or "Iraki Katz" (Kohen Tzedek). Iraki ceased printing in 1856, lacking sufficient demand for his books. Most of the books printed by Iraki are present in this collection.
Hebrew printing in Calcutta was renewed only in 1871 by the printer Yechezkel ben Suliman Hanin, who printed a total of 10 books (including two books by the Safed emissary Rabbi Chaim Ya'akov HaKohen Feinstein). This collection contains six of the books printed by Hanin.
In 1881, the rabbi of the Magen David synagogue in Calcutta, R. Eliyahu son of Moshe Dweck HaKohen, established his own printing press. Since he was a Kohen and considered himself a successor of the first printer Iraki, he designed a printer's device similar to Iraki's, also depicting hands raised for the priestly benediction. He printed a total of six books, four of which are present in this collection.
In 1888, Rabbi Shlomo (Solomon) Tawina of Baghdad established his printing press in Calcutta. R. Shlomo Tawina was an outstanding Torah scholar and before moving to India, printed books in Baghdad. He printed many books, including many of his own works. His printing press, active until ca. 1902, was the last large press in India. This collection contains 27 books printed by Tawina.
Alongside books printed by these established presses, a number of works were printed by lithography. As early as 1840, the year of the establishment of the first Hebrew press, Isaac ben Jacob of Baghdad printed a lithographic book – Shir HaShirim with Targum Yonatan and a Judeo-Arabic translation. The establishment of Iraki's press rendered lithography unnecessary and lithographic printing was taken up anew only in 1871. This collection contains 11 lithographs.
73 books, booklets and pamphlets, 20 calendars (cards, booklets and wall calendars), 8 single leaves (some lithographs, one torn and mostly lacking), 7 cards with timetables for prayers. Total of 108 items. Size and condition vary. Some have damage or lacking leaves. Some bear signatures and ownership inscriptions.
A detailed list is available upon request.
Provenance: The Sassoon Family Collection.

Manuscript on parchment, commentary of the Ibn Ezra on the Torah, written by the scribe "Shevet Gad son of Yaakov". Kastoria (Macedonia, today Greece), 1381.
Thick volume. Impressive manuscript comprising 257 parchment leaves, in Oriental (Byzantine) script. The volume contains the commentary of the Ibn Ezra to the Five Books of the Torah (includes most of the commentary, save for several leaves). A detailed scribe's colophon appears at the end of the Book of Devarim, noting the year, place of writing and person for whom the manuscript was produced.
The colophon states (for full text of the colophon, see Hebrew description): "The Torah commentary by the great sage R. Avraham Ibn Ezra was completed… / Praise to the Creator of the World / By me, Shevet Gad son of Yaakov from the community of Kastoria, on Wednesday, 25th Tammuz 1381… as we are accustomed to counting the years, here in the community of Kastoria". Further in the colophon, the scribe indicates the name of the person who commissioned this book: "And the owner of the book is R. Moshko son of the late R. Chananya…".
The scribe "Shevet Gad son of Yaakov" is not known to have written any other manuscripts apart from this one ("Shevet Gad" seem to be his initials, or an allusion to his name), and the present manuscript is the earliest known manuscript scribed in Kastoria, Greece. Just one other manuscript from Kastoria is extant (BnF Paris, ms. 237), dated 1437, fifty-six years after the present manuscript.
A unique phenomenon occurring in this manuscript is the merging between the short and long commentary which the Ibn Ezra composed to the Book of Shemot. The long commentary is the one published in the printed editions (beginning from the first edition, Naples 1488), while the short commentary was only published for the first time in the 19th century (see below). Manuscripts of Ibn Ezra's commentary usually offer one of the two versions. Some manuscripts contain the short commentary, while others comprise the longer commentary. In this manuscript, both commentaries are combined. Paragraphs of the short and long commentaries appear one after the other, linked by conjunctions (the merging may have been executed by the scribe, who had manuscripts of both versions of the commentary before him). This phenomenon is not known from other manuscripts.
The present manuscript features textual variations compared to the printed commentary. These variances were not studied by us in-depth.
The present volume comprises the majority of the commentary to the Five Books of the Torah. The commentary is lacking at the beginning (starts with Bereshit chapter 3, verse 7), and several leaves are lacking in the middle. 26 leaves were erroneously bound at the beginning and end (after the colophon): the volume opens with 10 leaves comprising part of the commentary to Lech Lecha, and the commentary to Vayeira, Chayei Sarah and Toldot. 16 leaves containing the end of the commentary to Masei and the commentary to Devarim, Vaetchanan, Ekev, Re'eh, Shoftim and part of Ki Tetze were bound at the end of the manuscript.
A parchment leaf (damaged) was bound at the beginning of the manuscript – a fragment of a halachic composition following the order of the Torah portions (with a section of She'iltot of Rav Achai on Parashat Korach). At the end of the manuscript, two parchment leaves in a different hand were bound, from a manuscript on the Book of Iyov (chapters 6-9).
The names of the Parashiot were written in the upper margins, in a later script. Early ownership inscription at the foot of the colophon leaf: "A person should always write his name on his book…". The signature is faded and difficult to decipher.
[257] parchment leaves. 25 cm. Good condition. Stains, including dark stains and dampstains (affecting text in several places). Creases. Tears to several leaves (with loss and damage to text on first two leaves and a few other leaves). Margins of several leaves trimmed. Ink faded in several places. Original binding, front board detached, without spine.

The Jewish Community of Kastoria
The presence of Jews in Kastoria is documented as early as during the reign of Emperor Justinian. In the 11th century, the Jewish community of Kastoria was led by R. Toviah son of Eliezer, author of Lekach Tov, a collection of midrashim on the Torah (also known as Pesikta Zutrata). One of his disciples was R. Meir of Kastoria, author of Meor Einayim, midrash on the Torah (not extant. Both compositions are mentioned in the preface to the Ibn Ezra's commentary to the Torah. See Buber's introduction to Midrash Lekach Tov, Vilna 1880). During that time, Jewish refugees escaping the Crusaders settled there. Kastoria boasted several Jewish poets, including: R. Mordechai son of Shabtai HaAroch and R. Menachem son of Eliyah (active in the 12th and 13th centuries), R. Eliyah son of Avraham HeAluv, R. Avraham son of Yaakov and R. David son of Eliezer (active in the 14th century). Some of their piyyutim were preserved in Romaniote-rite machzorim, and in the special machzor following the rite of community of Kastoria – Machzor Kastoria (see: Yehuda Leib Weinberger, Malki MiKedem – Prayer by R. Menachem son of Eliyah of Kastoria, in: Yad LeHeiman, Studies in Hebrew Culture in Memory of A.M. Haberman, 1984, pp. 27-28). In the 14th century, the city was home to R. Yehuda Leon son of Moshe Mosconi, who composed Even HaEzer, supercommentary to Ibn Ezra's commentary on the Torah (extant in a single manuscript). In 1385 (some four years after this manuscript was scribed), Kastoria was conquered by the Ottoman empire, remaining under its rule until the First Balkan War in 1912, when it was seized by Greece. During WWII, Kastoria was occupied by the Germans, and in March 1944, the Kastorian Jewish community came to an end when the Jews were deported to Auschwitz.

The Ibn Ezra's Short and Long Commentary to the Book of Shemot
R. Avraham Ibn Ezra completed his famous commentary on the Torah in the city of Lucca, Italy, in 1142-1145. However, the Ibn Ezra later began composing an additional commentary to the Torah, in a different, longer format. It is known that he wrote an additional commentary to the Book of Bereshit, of which only fragments from the Torah portions of Bereshit, Noach and Lech Lecha are extant. In 1155-1157, in Rodom (presumably Rouen, northern France), the Ibn Ezra completed his second commentary to the book of Shemot. This commentary was much longer than his first commentary to the book of Shemot. The Ibn Ezra expands in it on points he did not explain in his first commentary, and occasionally retracts his opinion and offers a different explanation to what he wrote in the first commentary (see Uriel Simon, R. Avraham Ibn Ezra – The Short Commentary to the Torah, the Long Commentary to Bereshit and Shemot, and Fragments of the Oral Commentary to Bereshit, introduction to the Keter Mikraot Gedolot, Shemot Vol. I, Bar-Ilan University Press, 2012). The first manuscripts of Ibn Ezra's commentary to the Torah, include either the short or long commentary to the book of Shemot. The first printed edition of the commentary, published in Naples 1488, contains the long commentary to the book of Shemot, as do the following printed editions. For a few centuries, the short commentary was not known at all. Only in 1840 did R. Yitzchak Shmuel Reggio (Yashar) print the short commentary to the book of Shemot for the first time, yet most editions of the Chumash until this day still only offer the long commentary. As mentioned, this manuscript features a unique merging of both commentaries.