Bomberg Talmud

Daniel Bomberg, a Christian printer from Antwerp working in Venice, printed the first complete edition of the Babylonian Talmud between 1519 and 1523, under a privilege from Pope Leo X, with Jewish scholars as editors and typesetters. He followed the layout of the earlier Soncino tractates: the Mishnah and Gemara in the centre of the page, Rashi's commentary on the inner margin and the Tosafot on the outer. His pagination, by folio and side (2a, 2b), became the standard, and every complete edition since, including the Vilna Talmud of the Romm press (1880–1886), keeps it, so that a reference like "Berakhot 2a" points to the same text everywhere in the world. Bomberg also printed the first Jerusalem Talmud (1522–1523) and the first Rabbinic Bibles (Mikraot Gedolot) in 1517 and 1524–1525.

The Bomberg Talmud made the whole Talmud available in identical copies across the Jewish world. Its standard page is the one Jews still study today, in the yeshiva and in the daily Daf Yomi cycle. In 1553 the Talmud was burned in Rome and Venice, and later Italian editions were censored.