First Book Printed in Africa!
Abudraham. Fez, Morocco 1517
Sefer Abudraham by Rabbenu Dovid Abudraham is the foundational work on the customs and sources of prayers; formula of prayers; and laws of prayers and blessings.
The author was born in Seville, Spain, and is thought to be a disciple of Rabbeinu Yaakov, author of the Tur. The Abudraham attests that he authored this sefer in the year 1340. Rabbi Yosef ben Naim, author of
Malchei Rabbanan, wrote in his sefer
Noheg Bechamah (p. 240) that the vast majority of customs practiced in Fez are according to the Avudraham. It is possible that this was the reason that the printers chose Sefer Abudraham as the first Jewish work to be published in Fez.
This Sefer Abudraham is exceptionally rare and was unknown for many years. In the introduction to his book
Masa Beirab, Rabbi Shmuel Romanelli (Berlin, 1792) wrote that there was never a Hebrew printing press in Morocco. Rabbi Moshe Yaakov Toledano, an expert on Moroccan history, was likewise unaware of the printing press in Fez for many years until a bookseller informed him of a copy of Abudraham that he had purchased that bore a printing date of 16th century Fez. (See Ner Hama’arav B’miluim page 327).
The present copy is missing the beginning and end pages; it features 140 leaves out of 170.
Exceptionally rare, There is no known complete copy in existence, and this is likely the most complete extant copy.
Fez, Morocco 1517. Printed page by page and line by line based on the 1490 Lisbon edition in the same style font. Printed without title page. The present copy is missing the beginning and end pages; it features 140 leaves out of 170. The 30 missing pages include the first 25 pages which were professionally restored on similar-colored paper, page 95, and the last 4 pages. The entire work has been professionally restored including margins, corners and moth holes. Majority of text is intact and clean. New green leather binding with gold embossment.
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Hebrew Printing in Morocco
Many Spanish and Portuguese exiles immigrated to Morocco at the end of the 15th century, bringing with them a wealth of knowledge and skills that helped build and expand the country’s economy.
Book printing was one of the most noteworthy skills imported to the African continent during this period of time, and the Portuguese exiles Shmuel (Nedivot) and his son Yitzchak were the first to establish a Hebrew printing press in Morocco.
Sefer Abudharam is undoubtedly the only known printed work with a colophon mentioning Fez and the printers’ names. The printing press in Morocco was short-lived and close to 400 years would pass before another printing press opened in Morocco. (The next sefer printed in Morocco was in Tangier, 1891.)
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