Daniel Bomberg

Criticism

The first edition generated harsh criticism by Jewish audiences, possibly because of its numerous errors, albeit mostly minor issues in the cantillation and pronunciation marks, and possibly because of the involvement of the apostate Pratensis.^[11] In a second edition edited by Yaakov b. Hayim Adonijah hundreds of such errors were fixed, and though it still generated criticism, it nonetheless served as the standard upon which future printings of Mikraot Gdolot were based.^[3][11]

Innovations in use of Chapter and Verse Numbers

Bomberg was the first to print chapter and verse numbers in a Hebrew bible.^[12] Today this innovation has become so commonplace it is hard to believe how remarkable it was at the time. The division of the Vulgate into chapters was made in the 13th century, and Jews began adopting the numbers for use in concordances by the mid fourteen hundreds, yet until Bomberg, no Hebrew bible had ever included the chapter numbers as part of the book itself.^[12] Bomberg not only added the chapter numbers; he was the first to indicate verse numbers on the printed page. Though verse numbers were used by convention for centuries, no one had thought to include these numbers on the printed page of the bible. This seemingly trivial innovation immediately caught on and can be seen in many bibles of his era, and is still in use today.^[12]

Censorship

Though Bomberg opposed censorship in principle,^[9] he knew of the controversial potential of printing texts seen as threatening to Christianity.^[13] Thus, for example, the commentary of Rabbi David Kimchi (Radak) was significantly censored because it contained material that could possibly be seen as offensive by Christians. These were published later in a separate book, which Bomberg released in a limited edition.^[14]

Standardization

The Bomberg edition of the Talmud established the standard both in terms of page layout as well as pagination (with the exception of the tractate Berachot which follows Bomberg's second edition).^[15] Prior to the printing of the Talmud, manuscripts had no standard page division, and the Talmud text usually did not appear on the same page as the commentaries, which were contained in separate codices.^[19] The standard page layout in use in all conventional editions of Talmud today (also the accepted method of citing a Talmudic reference) follows the pagination of Bomberg's 1523 publication.

Originality

The earliest printed Talmuds were published by the Soncino family decades prior to Bomberg's Talmud. Though the Soncinos only printed about sixteen tractates,^[20] Bomberg clearly based his own publication after their model. Gershon Soncino claimed that in addition to emulating his layout, Bomberg also copied the texts of the Soncino Talmuds,^[18] a claim some modern scholars, such as Raphael Rabinovicz, have substantiated. Still, Bomberg printed many tractates that Soncino never released, which were obviously rendered directly from manuscripts, and even the editions which may have borrowed from Soncino's text show evidence of having been supplemented by additional manuscripts.^[18]

Staff

Bomberg employed some of Venice's leading scholars and Rabbis in his publishing house. Besides Rabbi Chiya Meir b. David, rosh yeshiva and dayan in Venice, there were notable figures such as Rabbi Avraham de Balmes, Rabbi Chaim b. Rabbi Moshe Alton, and the Maharam Padua.^[17][21] Bomberg's Talmud edition is generally considered highly accurate, and many bibliographers and historians have praised the precision of the text.^[22]

Publishing rights

In 1518, Bomberg requested and received from the Venetian Senate the exclusive printing rights to the Talmud, and received official endorsement from Pope Leo X.^[1] Nonetheless, Venetian politicians were suspicious of Hebrew printing.^[23] In 1525, when Bomberg attempted to renew his license for a fee of 100 ducats, the Venetian senate refused, accusing Bomberg's Hebrew publications of attacking the Catholic faith. Several months later, for a fee of 500 ducats, they approved his appeal and renewed his license.^[9]

Censorship and papal approval

Unlike the previously printed editions of the Talmud, Bomberg's work was largely uncensored.^[18] In the early stages of his career he cultivated a positive relationship with the Vatican, and he received approval from Pope Leo X for both the publication of Mikraot Gdolot as well as the Talmud.^[10][16] In later years Hebrew printing was viewed with mounting suspicion. By the end of his career, in the late 1540s, fears of censorship and church opposition caused Bomberg to release editions of the Talmud with backdated cover pages.^[24]

In 1548 Pope Paul III dispatched his ambassador to censure the venetian Hebrew publications, but Bomberg argued that ancient manuscripts were not to be altered, and successfully resisted papal pressure.^[9] Though the church did not successfully interfere with Bomberg's printing within his lifetime, by 1553 the Talmud was being burned in Italy and the church was actively seeking to restrict its publication and circulation.^[25]