Digital Collection

Printings of Masechets from the Talmud were a regular occurance since the beginning of Hebrew publications. This is one such edition from Shklow: Shevi'it, the fifth tractate of Seder Zeraim. The printer Mordechai b. Shmuel Horowitz was first active in Kopys, Belarus, where he partnered with Yisrael b. Yitzchak Yaffe (1809-1811). In 1812 Horowitz established his own press in Shklow. The mark used on this title page is one employed in many variations by Hebrew printers of this era: an architectural monument flanked by two urns and topped by a bird. In this variant, the central medallion encloses the crowned monogram of Alexander the First (Pavlovich), Emperor of Russia 1801-1825.
(text by Willam Gross)