Abraham ben Solomon Conat (flourished at
Mantua in the second half of the 15th century) was an Italian Jewish printer,
Talmudist, and physician.
He obtained the title of ''
ḥaber
''Chaber'', ''chaver'' or ''ḥaber'' ( he, ''ḥÄḇēr'', ) is a Hebrew term meaning "associate"; "colleague"; "fellow"; "companion"; or "friend". It appears twice in the Hebrew Bible, and is used in various ways in rabbinic sources.
Hebrew ...
'' (associate of a
rabbi
A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as '' semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form o ...
) for his learning, but displayed it chiefly in the choice of works selected by him for printing, which art he and his wife
Estellina expressly learned. He embarked upon the business of printing at Mantua in 1476, and became celebrated as one of the earliest printers of Hebrew books in Europe, producing the third to the tenth of Hebrew ''
incunabula
In the history of printing, an incunable or incunabulum (plural incunables or incunabula, respectively), is a book, pamphlet, or broadside that was printed in the earliest stages of printing in Europe, up to the year 1500. Incunabula were pro ...
'' as recorded by
Giovanni Bernardo De Rossi.
In 1475 he established a printing-office at Mantua, from which he issued:
* ''
Tur Orah Hayyim'', by R.
Jacob ben Asher (1476)
* ''
Tur Yoreh De'ah'', by the same author, only one-third of which, however, was printed by him, the rest being executed at
Ferrara
Ferrara (, ; egl, Frà ra ) is a city and ''comune'' in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital of the Province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream ...
* ''Behinat Olam'', by
Jedaiah Bedersi, in which Conat was assisted by his wife Estellina and
Jacob Levi of Tarascon
* The commentary on the
Pentateuch by
Levi ben Gershon (Ralbag)
* ''Luhot'', astronomical tables giving the length of day at different times of the year, by
Mordecai Finzi
* ''
Sefer Yosippon
''Josippon'' ( ''Sefer Yosipon'') is a chronicle of Jewish history from Adam to the age of Titus. It is named after its supposed author, Josephus Flavius, though it was actually composed in the 10th century in Southern Italy. The Ethiopic ...
'', the pseudo-Josephus or
Gorionides
* ''
Eldad ha-Dani''
* ''Nofet Ẓufim'', the rhetoric of
Messer Leon (Judah). This was the first book published featuring the work of a living Jewish author.
All these books were printed between 1476 and 1480, when the business was suspended on account of the rivalry of
Abraham ben Ḥayyim
Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Jews ...
at Ferrara.
Abraham Conat was proud of his work; he used to accompany his name in the
colophons by the words "Who writes with many pens without the help of miracles, for the spread of the Torah in Israel." He was especially delighted that four pages could be printed at one time on a large sheet, and that he could produce two thousand pages every day. His type was of such a shape that his editions are often taken for manuscripts.
References
*
Giovanni Bernardo De Rossi, Annals, pp. 8–11, 110–114, 177;
*
Zunz, Z. G. pp. 249, 250;
*
Moritz Steinschneider
Moritz Steinschneider (30 March 1816, Prostějov, Moravia, Austrian Empire – 24 January 1907, Berlin) was a Moravian bibliographer and Orientalist. He received his early instruction in Hebrew from his father, Jacob Steinschneider ( 1782; ...
, Cat. Bodl. col. 2866, No. 7957;
*Steinschneider and Cassel, Jüdische Typographie, in Ersch and Gruber, Encyc. section ii., part 28, p. 34;
*Wolf, Bibl. Hebr. i. 67, No. 102;
*
Julius Fürst, Bibl. Jud. i. 185;
*
D. Chwolson, in Sbornik, St. Petersburg, 1896, pp. 3, 6, 7;
*Chwolson Jubilee Volume, p. 68.
External links
Source
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conat, Abraham
15th-century Italian Jews
15th-century Italian businesspeople
Italian printers
Printers of incunabula
Year of birth unknown
Year of death unknown