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Early Printing Milestones of 1475

When
1475
Where
Reggio di Calabria, Italy; Augsburg
Episodes
2

In 1475, two significant early printed books were published: Rashi's commentary on the Torah in Reggio di Calabria and Conrad of Megenberg's 'Buch der Natur' in Augsburg. These works represent milestones in Hebrew and German printing history, respectively.

Episodes

  1. 1475 · AugsburgPrinting of Buch der Natur

    Hans Bämler issued the first dated printed edition of Conrad of Megenberg's 'Buch der Natur' in Augsburg.

  2. 18 February 1475 · Reggio di Calabria, ItalyPrinting of Rashi's Commentary

    Abraham ben Garton printed Rashi's commentary on the Chumash in Reggio di Calabria.

Background and detail

Hebrew Publication. Abraham ben Garton printed Rashi's commentary on the Chumash in Reggio di Calabria on 18 February 1475. This is recognized as the first dated Hebrew printed book. The edition contained only the commentary, excluding the text of the Chumash itself, and established a precedent for Hebrew typography.

German Publication. Conrad of Megenberg's 'Buch der Natur' was issued in Augsburg in 1475 by Hans Bämler. This work, a survey of natural history, is noted as the first natural history in the German language. The 1475 edition is the first printed edition with a date, marking a key development in German-language printing.

People involved

Sources

  1. Rashi Wikipedia
  2. Conrad of Megenberg Wikipedia, revision of 2026-03-22

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.