The book, titled "Anti-Jewish Essay" and printed in 1518, was written by the Rev. Pietro Galatino, who became well-known for his anti-Semitic views, as indicated by the book. Soncino may very well have wanted to print the book during one of his trips. This book, which was the first of three he printed in the city of Ortona, is the only one with a distinctly anti-Semitic character. However, the book also contains the hallmark characteristics typical of books printed by Soncino, such as the addition of an illustration with a woodcut border at the beginning of each chapter.
The Soncino family was a famous family in the world of Jewish literature and beyond. Gershom's grandfather set up the first Hebrew printing house in the city of Soncino, located in northern Italy. The family was the first to print the Bible in Hebrew. They also printed tractates from the Mishnah and the Gemara, Passover Haggadah, prayer books and eventually books of Jewish law, mysticism and philosophy as well. Over the years, Gershom became the central worker of the family printing house. He traveled all over Europe in search of manuscripts that can be printed. He later enhanced his means and began to carry a mobile printing machine with him on his travels. Among other things, Gershom visited all over the Savoy region in Switzerland, Italy and France. It is also known that he spoke Greek and Latin in addition to Hebrew and the local language, all of which helped him in his strenuous work.
A study of the history of the Jewish people in Italy during Galatino’s time indicates the presence of a significant polemic that was enacted by the Holy Roman Empire against Jewish books and the Jewish people as well. Jewish books and in particular the Talmud, were blamed as being the "source of all evil," and Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I eventually ordered the confiscation of Jewish books. Several German scholars protested the policy due to their insistence that Jewish texts contain Christian truths, and as a result, the order was rescinded. Against this backdrop, the book, "Anti-Jewish Composition" was written to demonstrate Christian “truths” from Jewish literature. Despite the writer’s identity, the Soncino family printed the book in its own language perhaps to depict the legitimacy attributed to Jewish books by Christian scholars at the time.
“Soncino, to our understanding, did all that he could to empower Jewish literature without letting anything stand in his way," said Meron Eren, co-founder of the Kedem Auction House. "I am certain that the order during Galatino’s time to confiscate Jewish books served to be a primary factor convincing Soncino to print a book written by a well-known anti-Semite. This story also helps to inform the public of a historic phenomenon in which passionate anti-Semites attributed importance and legitimacy to various Jewish works and writings.”
Included among the book’s pages are many verses from Jewish texts in a most apparent attempt to prove that Jewish writings serve as the bases of the Christian faith, thus establishing a connection between the writer's glorification of Christianity and the rationale for printing a work containing Jewish writings.
The book is part of a collection that will be up for sale by Jerusalem’s Kedem Auction House in the next few days.