Premodern Jewish Books, Their Makers and Readers in an Era of Media Change

This volume brings together studies about books as artefacts within transitional zones. The history of the book from the handwritten to the printed medium is understood as a process marked by innovation and social change, but also by disorientation and bewilderment. The journey of a book from production to use was determined by a complex set of factors: communication among authors, makers of books, patrons, and readership; the emergence of publishers; and decisions to be made concerning production and publication. These factors underwent tremendous changes during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries owing to the spread of printing and the rise of Humanism in Europe. Particular focus is put on the physical evidence of books, both handwritten and printed, and what it can tell us about a book's production and its reception.