Talmud Bavli, Bomberg First Edition
Maseches Niddah
Venice, 1520
Maseches Niddah with Rashi’s commentary and Tosafos – a complete volume from the first full edition of the Talmud, printed by the renowned printer Daniel Bomberg at his famed press in Venice.
At the end of the maseches, for the first time, the Piskei Tosafos and Piskei HaRosh were printed, along with a summary of Hilchos Niddah ("What Jewish women need to observe in these days").
Additionally, for the first time, Rambam’s commentary on the Mishnah was included in the Shas volumes.
This edition is beautifully printed on thick paper with dark ink.
Venice, 1520. Printed by Daniel Bomberg.
Page count: 91 leaves.
Size: 36.5 cm.
On page 91a, there is a list of the beginnings of the quires (registro).
Condition: Minor stains, restoration work on holes in the last page.
Bound in a luxurious new half-leather binding.
Stefansky Sifrei Yesod, No. 41
The Bomberg Shas – Prototype for All Future Gemaras
The first complete set of Talmud Bavli was printed by Daniel Bomberg in his famed printing house in Venice between the years 1520-1523. The complete set was a masterpiece, with attractive, clear type and practically free of censorship. It likewise contained new additions that were printed for the first time ever based on handwritten manuscripts.
Commonly regarded as the prototype for all future editions, the Venice Shas established the famous tzuras hadaf which fixed the number of pages in each tractate and served as the basis for all future printings of the Gemara. Until this very day, anyone who cites a source in Shas references the daf as established in Bomberg’s Venice Shas.
Rabbi Refael Nosson Notta Rabinowitz, world-acclaimed expert on the various editions of Talmud, writes, “In its format and appearance, this Talmud is the epitome of beauty and glory. The paper is fine, and the letters are dark and clear… No subsequent editions have approached its beauty” (Essay on the Printing of the Talmud p. 41).
Bibliography: Stefansky, Sifrei Yesod p. 18; Appendix p. 254
