Torah, Nevi’im, Ketubim. Jerusalem: Koren, 1963. First Edition. Three volumes.
Three-volume edition of the Koren Bible, printed in a large format on high-quality paper.
Eliyahu Koren (1907-2001), a typographer and graphic designer, was born in Nuremberg and studied in the art academy there. He immigrated to Palestine in 1933. He started his involvement with the design of the font "Koren" and with the printing of the bible when J. L. Magnes, then president of the Hebrew University, approached him about publishing a bible that was to be all "Jewish" – as far as the typography and design, editing, printing and binding were concerned. The font designed by Eliyahu Koren, based on the Aleppo Codex, won a competition for the project, and in 1946 the Hebrew University published the book of Jonah with this font. When Magnes passed away in 1951, the Bible re- printing project was abandoned; Koren then set himself to the task of establishing a publishing house where he would publish the Hebrew Bible on his own. Koren worked diligently on designing a special, clear and legible font, on correcting typesetting errors and on proofreading the bible meticulously, an assignment accomplished by the scholars Avraham Meir Habermann, Daniel Goldshmidt and Meir Madan. The text was arranged according to the Masoretic sedarim and the regular chapters were noted on the side.
When the bible was published David Ben-Gurion announced: "…this is the first, most exceptional, of all [Jewish] bibles published in the last 400 years".
Torah: [3] leaves, 327 pp. Nevi'im: [2] leaves, 589 pp, [1] leaf. Ketubim: [2] leaves, 374 pp, [1] leaf. 34 cm. Very good condition. A few stains.