Joseph Athias

Joseph Athias (c. 1635 – 12 May 1700) was a merchant, bookprinter and the publisher of a famous Hebrew Bible which was approved by States-General of the Dutch Republic and both Jewish and Christian theologians.

It seems Joseph was a member of the Jewish community in Recife between 1648 and 1653,[1] but he and his cousin Jacob (1631-1690) settled in Amsterdam after the Portuguese reconquered Dutch Brazil in 1654.

The copious marginal notes in Latin added by Jean de Leusden, professor at Utrecht, were of little value.

[citation needed] The 1667 edition was strongly opposed by the Protestant Samuel Desmarets; Athias answered the charges in a work whose title begins: Caecus de coloribus.

[10] Athias’ pamphlet was a full-blown attack on a senior Christian theologian in the United Provinces of the Netherlands.

In 1672 when the Dutch were in war with three countries, Athias had an enormous debt and 11,000 unsold English Bibles and 10,000 Hebrew children en prayerbooks stored in a warehouse, behind the Zuiderkerk.

In 1686 he moved to Nieuwe Herengracht and rented his accommodation, the printing house and type foundry from his business partner Susanne Veselaer.

[10][8] The Mishneh Torah by Maimonides, and a commentary by Abraham de Boton was printed by Manuel,[26] like the Order of the Book of the Law.