Colophon: Tefilah le-Moshe (Prayer of Moses)

Elle bat Moses ben Abraham Ger

1696

I set the Yiddish letters with my own hands.
Elle, daughter of the respected rabbi Moses from Holland.
I am not more than nine years old.
Among six children I am the only daughter.
Therefore, if you find any mistakes,
Remember that a small child was the setter.

Translated by
Rebecca
Wolpe
.

Credits

Elle bat Moses ben Abraham Ger, “Colophon” in Tefilah le-Mosheh (Dessau: 1696).

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 5.

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Creator Bio

Elle bat Moses ben Abraham Ger

b. 1687

Elle was the daughter of the proselyte Moses ben Abraham, a printer from Nikolsburg (Mikulov, Moravia). She worked at her father’s workshop as a typesetter and typeset the Yiddish translation of the book Tefilah le-Moshe (Prayer of Moses) in 1696, at the age of nine. She added this versified colophon at the end of the book.

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