Multilingual Exemplar Leaf

Iehudah Machabeu

1655

This sheet by the calligrapher and scribe Iehudah Machabeu presents samples of different “lettering,” including Hebrew (at the top), Arabic, Greek, Castilian, English, French, Italian, and Latin. It was produced in La Rochelle, France.

Credits

Collection Ets Haim - Livraria Montezinos, Amsterdam, EH Pl A 20. Photo by Ardon Bar-Hama.

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

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Page of printed Hebrew text with word set in decorated border on top.
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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. 

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