Bidspirit auction | Unique: Private Printing – Prayer

Unique: Private Printing – Prayer for the Welfare of the King of Holland – Amsterdam, 1834 * Minchas Todah, a song composed in honor of Willem I, King of Holland, on the occasion of his birthday, written by the scholar David Lissauer of Amsterdam, the capital of Holland. The poem was printed across eight pages, in Hebrew and Dutch, on facing pages. It is written in a poetic style, and includes reference to the killing of rebels by the king’s sons. At the beginning of the pamphlet, there is a large folded leaf containing a prayer for the success of the king. Its heading says: “Pray for the welfare of the monarchy.” The pamphlet was printed in the private home of the author, who maintained his own printing press! As noted on the title page: “Printed and sold in the home of the author.” This is an exceedingly rare phenomenon, with only a handful of parallels throughout the early centuries of printing. Festive pamphlets of this kind were typically produced in limited local circulation. David Lissauer was a Jewish scholar and poet from Amsterdam. In 1825, he printed his work Na’im Limud Sefas Ever, in Hebrew and Dutch, in collaboration with the well-known To’eles society of Amsterdam. He also authored and printed Divrei Nechamah on the passing of Rabbi Yaakov Marco Vita, one of the Sephardic rabbanim of Amsterdam (1835), and Kinah LeDavid on the passing of Rabbi Chaim Levenstam, Av Beis Din of Leeuwarden (1836). Amsterdam, 1834. Page Count: [1] folded leaf, [4] leaves. Two title pages: Hebrew and Dutch. Size: Pamphlet: 19.5 cm. Folded leaf: 21 × 26.5 cm. Condition: Good. Minor tear to the folded leaf. Stains. New binding. On the Hebrew title page, there is a handwritten correction: the letter פ in the year “תקפ” ה” (1831) was erased and replaced with the letter צ [correcting it to תקצ” א → 1834]. This correction was likely made in the printer’s house. ___________________ The Phenomenon of Private Printing Presses This work belongs to a small and unique group of sefarim whose authors maintained their own private printing presses, in which they printed little besides their own works. Naturally, this required an exceptional love of sefarim, a working knowledge of the mechanics of the printing press and type, as well as the independent financial means to fund and distribute the works. Among the notable figures who maintained private presses were the Yaabetz (Altona, early 18th century), Rabbi Nosson of Breslov (Breslov, late 18th century), and Rabbi Yosef Concio (Chieri, Italy, late 16th century), among others.