(Ra”N). Shailoth Uteshuvoth [responsa]

Unlike Venice, only occasional and short lived Hebrew presses arose in Rome, in short, sporadic bursts of activity, marred by assults of ecclesiastical intolerance. The Eternal City of Rome produced only 18 Hebrew books throughout the entire 16th century. Antonio Baldo was granted leave to print Hebrew books in Rome by the Papal Vicar in 1546 and the Responsa of R. Nissim Gerondi was his first endeavor. His Jewish partner, Solomon ben Isaac of Lisbon assisted by Samuel Zarfati did the work of editing, proofing and marketing the books. The press only issued five books in the two years it was opperative. For a chronicle of Hebrew printing in Rome see: D. Amram, the Makers of Hebrew Books in Italy (1909) pp. 235-251. The publisher / editor R. Yitzchak Deltash was a great scholar in his own right publishing his own responsa to a question for which their was no response from the author in the MS. (See pp. 10 - 16)