| Abstrakt: |
Eliezer ben Isaac Ashkenazi, an itinerant printer, plied his trade for several decades in the second half of the sixteenth century in eastern Europe and the Middle East. Active in Lublin, Constantinople, and Safed, Eliezer was the first to print books in Erez Israel.His ability to move between and function in these disparate locations is an example of the fluidity of contemporary Jewish society. Eliezer's motivation in relocating reflects both the political and economic reality of sixteenth-century Jewish life as well as Eliezer's personal circumstances. The wide spectrum of the books printed by Eliezer reflects the diverse interests and needs of these Jewish communities, encompassing Talmudic treatises, Kabbalistic commentaries, and poetry. |
