Pentateuch, Haftarot, Megillot
With the commentary of Solomon ben Isaac (Rashi)
Naples, 1491
Printed by Bnei Soncino
Heb-21
Printers sometimes produced deluxe copies of their books. This volume of the
Pentateuch was printed on vellum — fine parchment made from calf, lamb,
or kid skin. The special works were generally restricted to a small number of
copies, because parchment was more expensive than paper and more difficult to
print with. The ink does not penetrate the parchment easily, and printers were
also required to pay special attention to how they handled the vellum and positioned
it in the press as they composed the pages. The outer, or hair, side of parchment
is rougher in texture and more yellow in color, while the inner, or flesh, side
is smoother and usually milky white. These differences are noticeable to the
eye. Therefore, printers usually positioned facing pages to match, outer to outer
and inner to inner.
){kind=link}