Todah Vekol Zimrah – Song and Poem for Weddings
Norrköping, Sweden
Circa 1780
A six-stanza song of friendship written for a wedding by Rabbi Elyakim ben Rabbi Isser’l Soldin of Copenhagen.
This song pamphlet is exceedingly rare—this is the only known copy in existence!
The pamphlet was printed by the author himself using his private printing press and includes several handwritten corrections.
The first page contains a title-like page, which indicates the printing location: "Nard Kipping", the city of Norrköping in Sweden.
To the best of our knowledge, this is the only Hebrew work ever printed there.
Rabbi Elyakim ben Rabbi Isser’l Soldin was a prolific author, poet and printer. Already in his youth, he either purchased or fashioned his own Hebrew type which he carried with him throughout his travels across Sweden, Denmark, and Norway, using these letters to print his works and songs, all of which are incredibly rare.
The Copenhagen University Library possesses several of his printed compositions, yet the present poem does not appear there.
Among Soldin’s printed works are ‘Shir Yedidos’ (1786); ‘Sifsei Renanos’ (Copenhagen, 1786), ‘Kiryat Arba’ (Copenhagen 1787); ‘Shomer Emunim’ (Copenhagen 1787); ‘Kol Anos Berachah’ (Stockholm, 1787); ‘Toldos HaAdam’ (1788); and ‘Shir V’Hoda’ah’ (Demark, 1791). Zoldin also printed the Ramban’s ‘Igeres Hakodesh’ (1789) in the Eckstorff Press in Altona.
Soldin’s printed works symbolize a rare and unprecedented phenomenon in the history of the Jewish press, as he was perhaps the first and only “mobile printing press” for Hebrew books.
Norrköping (Sweden), circa 1780. The title page bears the inscription “In the year of ‘Vehu k’chassan yotzei” with a blank space intended to fill in the word “מחופתו—mechupaso”, which has the numerical value of 1780. The names of the bride and groom were not completed and were apparently meant to be inserted.
Page Count: [2] leaves; 3 printed sides.
Page Size: 18×13.5 cm. Pages glued onto paper frame measuring 21.5×17 cm. (This frame is original, created already in the 1780s).
Condition: Good with minor stains. Old handwritten inscription. New binding with parchment spine. Miniscule moth holes in binding.
Jerusalem Judaica Auction. April 24, 1994. Lot #1.
William B. Gross Collection, Tel Aviv.
The Private Printing Press
This book belongs to a small and unique group of books written by authors who owned and operated a private printing press used primarily to print their books. The possession of such a valuable instrument, along with the expertise and effort required to arrange the type in order to produce books professionally, is a patent demonstration of the author’s love of the written word, as well as his financial capacity to fund the costs of printing.
Among the famous Rabbis who owned and operated private printing presses were sages as the Yaabetz (Altona, mid-17th century); Rabbi Nosson of Breslov (Breslov, early 19th century); and Rabbi Yosef Concio (Kyrie, Italy, early 17th century).
Unlike other private press owners who arranged and printed their works in their respective cities and towns, Rabbi Elyakim Soldin journeyed throughout Europe with his precious type, passing through many a city and town and printing his compositions wherever he lingered at the time, which is an unprecedented phenomenon in the history of the Hebrew press!
