Historic: Rare Collection of Galley Proofs from Various Sefarim, Some with Handwritten Revisions

Historic: Rare Collection of Galley Proofs from Various Sefarim, Some with Handwritten Revisions

Rare large collection with close to thirty (!) galley proofs from responsa literature, commentaries, prayer, halachah, etc., by various authors. The leaves were printed in the following cities: Salonika, Livorno, Constantinople, Mantua, Venice, Furth, Berlin and others, during the 17th-19th centuries. Historic remnant revealing a glimpse into the work of Hebrew printers in previous centuries.

These leaves enabled close examination by proofreaders of sefarim to remove errors and determine the final draft to be printed. Because these leaves were printed solely for the use of the proofreaders and not for the purpose of study, etc., they were printed on one side only. Some of them feature proofreaders' handwritten corrections. The proofreaders were ideally expert scholars and grammarians so that the resulting work would be as perfect as possible.

The corrections were usually inserted into the standard edition, which would be printed with these revisions. However, sometimes these leaves would reveal the original version of the composition, which was unfortunately and astonishingly not corrected despite the proofreader's clear markings. Occasionally, to the proofreader's disgrace, his negligent work was sometimes exposed.

Detailed list of the leaves:

• Page 36a from Sefer Me'archei Lev by Rabbi Raphael Yosef Chazan, author of Chikrei Lev. Salonika, 1821. Handwritten revisions.
• Passage from page 189a from Sefer Sefat HaYam by Rabbi Raphael Yitzchak Mayo, author of Shorashei HaYam. Salonika, 1815. Handwritten revisions. A small passage is printed on the other side from another sefer, an excerpt from page 190b from Zechor L'Avraham Part II by Rabbi Avraham Alkelai [Salonika, 1815]. (Identical to the printed text; without revisions.)
• Passage from page 190b from Sefer Sefat HaYam by Rabbi Raphael Yitzchak Mayo, author of Shorashei HaYam. [Salonika, 1815.] Handwritten revisions. A small passage is printed on the other side from another sefer, an excerpt from page 356a of Zechor L'Avraham Part II by Rabbi Avraham Alkelai [Salonika, 1815]. (Identical to the printed text; without revisions.)
• Passage from page 171b from Sefer Chikrei Lev Part III (that is, Part II of Yoreh Deah) by Rabbi Raphael Yosef Chazzan, known by the name of this series of sefarim. [Salonika, 1806.] Handwritten revisions.
• Leaf from Sefer Me'am Loez Chumash Shemot, Part II, by Rabbi Ya'akov Kuli. [Probably Salonika, 1803]. Handwritten revisions. Mif'al HaBibliographiah notes that they did not see this part. Notation on the back on the leaf handwritten and signed by Rabbi Moshe Becher Yosef, who wrote that he purchased the sefer (- this leaf was bound and pasted at the time into some sefer) from one of the prominent personalities of Silivria. Signature by Rabbi Raphael Shmuel Cordovero.
• Page 49a from Sefer Magen Gibborim Part I by Rabbi Eliezer de Abeleh. [Livorno, 1781.]
• Page 50a from Sefer Magen Gibborim Part I by Rabbi Eliezer de Abeleh. [Livorno, 1781.]
• Kuntress with pages 55a, 56b and excerpts from pages 55b, 56a, from Sefer Kuntress HaShemot - Ruach Ne'eman by Rabbi Avraham Chaim Miranda. [Salonika, 1803.] Handwritten revisions.
• Leaf 123a [should be: 124a] from the Mahari"t's sefer of Talmudic novellae. [Venice, 1645.]
• Page 7a from Sefer Kochva D'Shavit by Rabbi Eliyahu Ventura. [Salonika, 1799.] Handwritten revisions.
• Page 8b from Sefer Kochva D'Shavit by Rabbi Eliyahu Ventura. [Salonika, 1799.] Handwritten revisions.
• Page 17a from Sefer Hamon Chogeg on the Passover Haggadah (with the haggadah text) by Rabbi Elisha Chavilio. [Livorno, 1794.]
• Page 18b from Sefer Hamon Chogeg on the Passover Haggadah (with the haggadah text) by Rabbi Elisha Chavilio. [Livorno, 1794.]
• Page 4a from Sefer Zimrat HaAretz by Rabbi Ya'akov Beirav. [Mantua, 1745]. With the beginning of a poem in Ladino.
• Page 61a from Sefer Aderet Eliyahu by Rabbi Raphael Emmanuel Chai Ricci. [Livorno, 1742.] Two copies, one of which is glued to one of the leaves in the following list:
• Page 63b from Sefer Aderet Eliyahu by Rabbi Raphael Emmanuel Chai Ricci. [Livorno, 1742.] Two copies, one of which is glued to one of the leaves in the previous list:
• Page 41b from Sefer Chasdei David Part II by Rabbi David Pardo. [Livorno, 1790.]
• Passage from page 52a from Sefer Be'er Ya'akov by Rabbi Ya'akov Berlin. [Furth, 1767.]
• Page 80b from Tze'eneh U'Re'enah by Rabbi Ya'akov of Yanov. [Furth, 1766.]
• Page 147a from Sefer Misgeret HaShulchan by Rabbi Binyamin Wolf of Pintshov. [Berlin, 1713.] Handwritten revisions.
• Page 189b from Sefer Misgeret HaShulchan by Rabbi Binyamin Wolf of Pintshov. [Berlin, 1713.] Handwritten revisions.
• Page 10a  from Sefer Me'il Shmuel  by Rabbi Shmuel Florentin. [Salonika, 1725.] Handwritten revisions.
• Page 11b from Sefer Me'il Shmuel by Rabbi Shmuel Florentin. [Salonika, 1725.] Handwritten revisions.
• Page 2b from Sefer HaPardes by Rabbeinu Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rash"i). [Constantinople, 1802].
• Additional leaves from unidentified editions of the sefarim: Chok L'Yisrael; Tefillat Shacharit K'Minhag Sepharad (with handwritten revisions); Sifra im Peirush; Me'ir Einei Chachamim by Mahara"m of Lublin (with handwritten revisions), and more.

Once these leaves were handed over from the proofreader to the printer, and the latter would handle the necessary changes, they became redundant and were put into genizah. They could not be inserted into a standard copy, both because they were printed on one side only, and often because they contained faulty text. Some galley proofs like these were repurposed for bookbinding. The bookbinder would take several leaves and glue them together and put them in a press to create a thick board for use as a binding. These leaves and others like them survived to this day in the merit of their use in bindings, hence the expression genizat krichot.

Total of approximately [30] leaves, some with several passages. Various sizes.

Various sizes and conditions.