It was not until the mid-eighteenth century that Jewish printers in France began to produce books for a Jewish audience. Two Hebrew printing presses were opened almost simultaneously in the French cities of Metz and Avignon in 1764 and 1765 respectively. Coincidentally, the presses in both cities produced Haggadot in the year 1765. The title page of this compendium of prayers and Haggadah proudly states that it was printed according to the rite of “The Holy Communities that dwell in the Venaissin District.” This is the first Hebrew book to be printed in Avignon and one of only four Hebrew books to be published in that city

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