December 19 1483 – 20 Tevet 5644
The Hebrew press opened by the Soncino family published its first volume – the Babylonian Talmudic tractate of Brakhot. It was noted that the Hebrew term for Talmudic study, Gemara, has the numerical value 244, making this an auspicious year to begin the printing of the Talmud. The family, which had originally arrived from Germany, took its name from the Italian city where its members settled, also bequeathing the name to its printing house and type-set, though it printed books in other locations too. All the family’s workshops used the same emblem – a tower, with the Hebrew biblical verse “The name of the Lord is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.” (Proverbs ch. 18, verse 10)
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