The Rambam, Rabbi Moses ben Maimon (also known as Maimonides), was a Talmudist, halakhist (Jewish legal scholar), doctor of medicine, philosopher and communal leader. He lived in 12th-century-Egypt and his writings (in Arabic and Hebrew) spread across the Jewish world and beyond, enriching the study of Judaism, philosophy, medicine, and more.
His great work was the Mishneh Torah (repetition of the Torah), also called Sefer Yad Hachazakah (the book of the Strong Hand), consisting of fourteen books which provide a complete code of Jewish law. My copy – in four hefty volumes – was printed in Dyhrenfurth from 1809 at the Press of Yosef Mai.
Dyhrenfurth (in Polish Brzeg Dolny) is a town in lower Silesia, whose Jewish community was established with the first Hebrew printing house there in 1688 and declined with the closure of the printing houses there in the late nineteenth century. It was known for fine and popular editions.
Two editions of the Talmud were printed in Dyhernfurth, the first from 1800 to 1804 and the second from 1816 to 1824. This edition of the Mishneh Torah was printed between the two. This Dyhernfurth press was operated by the May family. Jehiel Michael May, the founder of this family press, died on 14 Tevet, 5555 (January 5, 1795) in Breslau. After his death, the press first was run by his widow Rachel and afterward by his sons Michael Simon, Aron, and Joseph, and later by Joseph alone.
Printing a complete edition of the Mishneh Torah, with all the relevant commentaries of the day, setting the type by hand (as it was done in those days) and checking the text for errors was a huge task and accomplishment. On the last page of the last volume the typesetters and printers employees signed their names in print. They probably had a siyum – a festive celebration with a meal – to commemorate the event.
Jewish Miscellanies 