Two Yiddish Bibles, Amsterdam: Uri Feivush ha-Levi, 1678; Joseph Athias, 1679

Joseph Athias edition: 234 leaves (12½ x 8¼ in.; 318 x 210 mm). Pagination: [5], 79, 150=234 leaves. collation: ()^{5, 1-194, 203, 1-374, 382=234 leaves. Two title pages; engraved title with two vignettes and arms, letter-press title with woodcut device, woodcut tail-pieces; bibliographic note on engraved title verso in ink, another on final text leaf,  circular library stamp struck through on letter-press title. Contemporary calf over beveled oak boards, blind-tooled in a panel design with floral and rope-work roll-tools; worn, board in lower cover broken, clasps and catches gone.}



Uri Feivush ha-Levi edition: 282 leaves (12¼ x 7 ¾ in; 311 x 196 mm). Pagination: (7), 1-54 (1), 56-256 [247], 18=282 leaves. collation: ()^{7, 1-644, 651, 30-334, 342=282 leaves; Two title pages; engraved title and woodcut title the latter of which is repeated twice in sectional titles, woodcut initial word panels; woodcut tailpiece f.257[249]; engraved title and first few quires browned with mends in gutter margins, dampstain in upper portion of a few quires, occasional spotting. Old marbled boards; joints and edges torn.}

Vinograd, Amsterdam 449, 451; Lajb Fuks, R. G. Fuks-Mansfeld, Hebrew Typography in the Northern Netherlands, 1585–1815, passim, but esp. pp. 269, 319. (#336, 398); Marion Aptroot, Bible Translation as Cultural Reform: The Amsterdam Yiddish Bibles (1678–1679) (Oxford 1989); Erika Timm, 'Blitz and Witzenhausen' in: Israel Bartal, Ezra Mendelsohn & Chava Turniansky, eds., Studies in Jewish Culture in Honour of Chone Shmeruk (Jerusalem 1993) p. 39* – 66*; Shlomo Berger, "An Invitation to Buy and Read: Paratexts of Yiddish Books in Amsterdam, 1650–1800" Book History, Volume 7, 2004. pp. 31–61.

Uri Feivush ha-Levi edition: 234 leaves (12½ x 8¼ in.; 318 x 210 mm). Pagination: [5], 79, 150=234 leaves. Collation: ()5, 1-194, 203, 1-374, 382=234 leaves. Two title pages; engraved title with two vignettes and arms, letter-press title with woodcut device, woodcut tail-pieces; bibliographic note on engraved title verso in ink, another on final text leaf, circular library stamp struck through on letter-press title. Contemporary calf over beveled oak boards, blind-tooled in a panel design with floral and rope-work roll-tools; worn, board in lower cover broken, clasps and catches gone. Joseph Athias edition: 282 leaves (12¼ x 7 ¾ in; 311 x 196 mm). Pagination: (7), 1-54 (1), 56-256 [247], 18=282 leaves. Collation: ()7, 1-644, 651, 30-334, 342=282 leaves; Two title pages; engraved title and woodcut title the latter of which is repeated twice in sectional titles, woodcut initial word panels; woodcut tailpiece f.257[249]; engraved title and first few quires browned with mends in gutter margins, dampstain in upper portion of a few quires, occasional spotting. Old marbled boards; joints and edges torn.
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Two Yiddish Bibles, Amsterdam: 1678-1679

The first two Yiddish translations of the complete Old Testament appeared almost simultaneously in Amsterdam in 1678–1679. Yiddish translations and glossaries of parts of the Hebrew Bible had occupied an important place in Yiddish publishing from its beginnings in the first half of the sixteenth century but earlier texts only covered those parts of the bible which are part of the liturgy: Torah, haftarot, the Five Scrolls (megillot), and Psalms.

The printer Uri Feivush ha-Levi, was first to embark on the production of a complete Yiddish Old Testament. Active in Amsterdam, where contacts between Ashkenazi Jews, Sephardim and Christians were more extensive than elsewhere, he was cognizant of the fact that Sephardi Jews and Christians, were better versed in the Holy Scriptures than Yiddish speaking Ashkenazic Jews because they possessed good translations of the biblical text. Believing that he saw a demand that was not being met in the marketplace, Uri Feivush commissioned Jekuthiel ben Isaac Blitz to produce a translation. Since Blitz was not an accomplished Hebraist, he relied heavily on other translations into Germanic languages including Matin Luther's German translation and the Dutch Statenvertaling. (official Dutch Bible translation.) As a way of compensating for his heavy reliance on non-Jewish material, Blitz, who had a penchant for polemics, also inserted attacks on Christianity in his translation. The resulting Bible was a stark divergence from the homiletical style of existing Yiddish translations.

One of Uri Feivush's financial backers, Joseph Athias, unhappy with Blitz's radical translation, withdrew his support for the project and commisioned Joseph ben Alexander Witzenhausen, to produce another translation. Witzenhausen was a more scrupulous translator than Blitz and his efforts produced a work closer in style to the traditional Yiddish translations. Still it was deemed a vast improvement over both the earlier translations as well as that of Blitz.

Evidence of the strife between the rival  publishers and translators can be found within the Bibles themselves. In his preface, Uri Feivush complains about his betrayal at the hands of Athias and Witzenhausen. In turn, Witzenhausen pokes fun of errors in the Blitz translation. In a mutual effort to preclude the other from proceeding, both Athias and Feivush obtained conflicting copyrights, one in the Netherlands and the other in Poland. In order to obtain his "privilegie" from the civil authorities in Holland, Athias presented copies of 18 leaves from Feivush's edition with which, as an early financier, he had been entrusted, and presented them as his own. He actually used these 18 folios of Blitz's translation and inserted them into the Witzenhausen text to avoid re-setting the type, resulting in a considerable reduction of his own expenses. In fact, one may compare these leaves (fols. 21-36) in both editions and it is clear that they are identical. Uri Feivush ha-Levi finished printing Blitz's translation in late 1678, not long before Witzenhausen's version published by Athias came off the press in early 1679.

In an age when books were offered to buyers without a hard-cover jacket, the title page functioned as both a physical and metaphorical entrance into the book.  These title pages did not only address the book's potential readers, but also the diverse variety of agents who could impact the success of a particular book. In the two title pages added to the Athias edition, several distinct publics were targeted. The first title page contains images but no text. The upper scene depicts the revelation at Sinai, and the lower vignette illustrates the reunion of Jacob and his son Joseph in Egypt, in an allusion to Athias's given name, Joseph. Between these scenes, on either side of the page are the two biblical heroes, Moses and King David. These images are clearly targeted at the Jewish reader.

Another visual reference on the page targets a different audience. In the middle of the page is the emblem of the Dutch Republic showing a lion with seven double edged spears, representing the seven provinces of the Republic. The emblem is accompanied by the legend: concordia res parvae crescent (in harmony small states grow mightier.) The inclusion of the emblem is aimed at the local provincial authorities who provided the publisher with a privilege guaranteeing his monopoly for selling the book. On the second, typographic title page as well, two distinct groups are targeted. The text appears in Hebrew for scholarly readers, those rabbis and intellectual leaders who would support reading (and buying) this Yiddish Bible; and then repeated in Yiddish for the actual intended reader of the work.

Not to be outdone, the Feivush edition also has two title pages. Here too there is an engraved page which speaks directly to the Jewish audience, depicting Moses and Aaron and the emblems of the Priestly and Levitical groups they represent. Feivush, it should be remembered, was himself a Levite and often incorporated these same symbols in the books he printed. At the top of the page is a small roundel depicting the Revelation at Sinai, the same theme treated in the Athias edition.

Athias edition:

This copy is from the first issue, with the original title pages and without the dedication to the Elector of Brandenburg which was added in 1687. As recorded in Hebrew Typography in the Northern Netherlands, 1585–1815, by Lajb Fuks and R. G. Fuks-Mansfeld (p. 319): "The Bible with the original title pages (engraved as well as printed) do not occur in the bibliographies and catalogues of booksales we have consulted and we have not seen a copy. In 1687, apparently the Bibles [were] brought again on the market, now with a new title page bearing Immanuel Athias' name and a new engraved title-page [and a] new dedication to the Elector of Brandenburg."

Feivush edition:

The Feivush edition includes the Royal privilege granted by the King of Poland as well as a privilege from the Council of the Four Lands, the central institution of Jewish self-government in Poland. After the text of the bible, Feivush added the to'aliyoth of Levi ben Gershom, the 14^th century biblical exegete and philosopher. These are a series of ethical, philosophical and religious teachings which may be gleaned from the various books of the Bible. Another significant feature in this copy is the additional title page depicting Moses and Aaron. This second title page is not present in many copies of this work and may have been created in order not to seem inferior to the Athias edition.

As further evidence of the bad blood between the two printers and their camps, f. 4r of the Feivush edition includes the text of a herem (rabbinic ban) against Witzenhausen, the printer of the Athias edition.