Andrea Jelínková (Library of the Czech Academy of Sciences)
In the second half of the 18th century, traditional Jewish society underwent a process of transformation, greatly influenced by the Jewish Enlightenment, Haskalah. This transformation is also reflected in the output of the only Hebrew printing house that operated in Moravia in1753-1803.
This printing house run by Christians has been studied only marginally, with a focus on its history rather than printing production. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to present this local workshop in a broader context and to offer new insights into the book culture of Moravian Jews in the pre-Emancipation era.
The analysis of the production showed that the press produced mostly legal and liturgical texts, and later also new genres, although on a smaller scale and marginally. The publishing production shows that although the workshop had ambitions to overcome its peripheral and local status (e.g. by reprinting Enlightenment editions or striving to expand to a wider market), these aims were fulfilled only partially.
The Moravian Hebrew Printing House serves as an example of a workshop on the periphery, deepening our understanding about the potential and limits of such peripheral enterprises.