Colophon: Tefilah le-Moshe (Prayer of Moses)

Elle bat Moses ben Abraham Ger

1696

I set the Yiddish letters with my own hands.
Elle, daughter of the respected rabbi Moses from Holland.
I am not more than nine years old.
Among six children I am the only daughter.
Therefore, if you find any mistakes,
Remember that a small child was the setter.

Translated by
Rebecca
Wolpe
.

Credits

Elle bat Moses ben Abraham Ger, “Colophon” in Tefilah le-Mosheh (Dessau: 1696).

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 5.

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Creator Bio

Elle bat Moses ben Abraham Ger

b. 1687

Elle was the daughter of the proselyte Moses ben Abraham, a printer from Nikolsburg (Mikulov, Moravia). She worked at her father’s workshop as a typesetter and typeset the Yiddish translation of the book Tefilah le-Moshe (Prayer of Moses) in 1696, at the age of nine. She added this versified colophon at the end of the book.

Related Guide

Jewish Printing and Book Culture, 1500–1750

Jewish printing unified far-flung communities by standardizing religious texts, created textual uniformity, and enabled vernacular translations, and facilitated the spread of Jewish texts and knowledge. 

Related Guide

Early Modern Jewish Languages (1500–1750)

As Ashkenazi and Sephardi Jews migrated eastward, Yiddish and Ladino emerged as distinct languages. Both languages developed literary traditions, as print became more widespread.

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