4to. 254 pp., Arabic text within ruled borders, typographical ornaments, contemporary hard boards, worn, occasional yellowing, otherwise copy in good condition, Franciscan Press, Jerusalem, 1852.

Synopsis

The Franciscan Printing Press (FPP) started publishing in Jerusalem in 1847 as the “Stamperia Francescana”, later taking the name of Franciscan Printing Press. The work of the FPP has enabled the invaluable work by the researchers of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum of Jerusalem, today the Faculty of Biblical Studies and Archaeology of the Antonianum University of Rome, to be circulated in several languages.
This book was first printed by St. John’s Printing Press at Shuwayr; it was translated into Arabic by the founder and operator of the Shuwayr Press ‘Abdallah al-Zakhir.
Early Palestinian Printing
The establishment of printers and their ability to flourish in Palestine and other parts of Syria was accompanied by the growth of the missionary movement, and the involvement of various European churches in the missionary activity of the different Christian denominations.
In order to further its teachings among Christians in Palestine and the neighbouring Arab countries, the Franciscan Order agreed to import books from abroad and eventually to establish a printing press in Jerusalem dedicated to serving their missionary goals. The Austrian monk Sebastian Frotechner, through the support of Emperor Joseph I, imported the necessary equipment, machinery and ink-printing letters from Austria and established a printing press in Jerusalem in 1846. The very first material published by this printing press was the book Christian Instruction released in both Arabic and Italian.
The printing press published books in Arabic, Turkish, Armenian, Hebrew, Greek, French, and Italian. By 1883 this particular printing press had published approximately 103 books, some of them series volumes that covered a variety of subject matter. The majority of the books dealt with religious issues pertaining to proselytizing, education, linguistics, and literary subject matter. (Early Printing Presses in Palestine, Jerusalem Quarterly, 36, p. 79).