Elli Fischer and HaMapa

Today I learned a new word: Prenumeranten. This is the Yiddish term for a pre-publication subscription list; a list of names of people who preordered a book before its publication. The 4th edition of the Alexander Haggadah (Yudlov #498) from 1908 has such a list. This exquisite Haggadah with many illustrations, fold out Maps and English historical explanations is special in many ways so I can understand why prenumeranten signed up to get it (3 of them even signed up for 2 copies!)

I learned the term prenumeranten from the HaMapa website with does fascinating work analyzing prenumeranten lists. The site was founded by Elli Fischer, an independent writer, translator, editor, and rabbi and graduate student in Jewish History at Tel Aviv University whose research focuses on the construction of rabbinic authority as reflected in the writing of responsa together with Computer Science student at the Technion, Research Assistant at University of Haifa, and graduate of Yeshivat Har Etzion, Moshe Schorr. They also have a facebook page.