Bidspirit auction | Iggeres Orchos Olam with Illustrations

Iggeres Orchos Olam with Illustrations The First Hebrew Work Describing the Continent of America! Prague, 1793 * A cosmographic description of the world by the Italian sage and scholar Rabbi Avraham Farissol with emphasis on the latest geographical discoveries, including the discovery of the “New World” ‎–‎ the American continent, Africa south of the Sahara Desert, Ethiopian Jewry and the discovery of the Ten Lost Tribes. The name of the publisher is partly hidden, and at the end of his introduction only the following words appear: “Y**** L*** of Prague, a man of the tribe of Levi” – referring to Rabbi Yisrael Landau, son of the Noda B'Yehuda, Av Beis Din of Prague. The Noda B'Yehuda gave his consent to the printing of this sefer, as attested by the dayanim of Prague in their approbation. Iggeres Orchos Olam is the very first Hebrew sefer to discuss the discovery of America! Chapter 29 of this work is devoted entirely to the description of ”a new world that has been found, and this is America which was discovered by Columbus” (leaf 53a). It paints a fascinating description of the Portuguese and Spanish explorers, their journeys around the world to America and India, and the residents of these previously-unknown lands. First printed in Venice in 1587, this edition includes the additional treatise Maggid Chadashos, containing the accounts of a traveler through many lands, with comments by the scholar R. N. H. Weisel. At the end of the sefer, the publisher also included the Rambam's famous Iggeres Teiman and Ibn Ezra’s Yesod Moreh. This edition is also complemented by three magnificent copperplate illustrations by the master artist Anton Balzer. One is of animals entering Noah's Ark, depicted in the form of a globe; another is of a ship at sea beside a giant whale; and another is of a diver descending to retrieve pearls from the ocean depths. Rabbi Avraham Farissol (c. 1451-c.1530) was born in Avignon in south France, but settled in Ferrara, Italy. Rabbi Avraham was a sage, scholar and prolific author, with the most famous among his writings being the present work, authored in 1525. Prague, 1793. Page Count: [8], 96, [2] leaves. Page Size: 17.4 cm. Condition: Good, with small repairs to the title page and two additional leaves. New binding. An original handwritten correction appears on the second page of the pages of subscribers, adding the title “Morenu HaRav” to Rabbi Moshe Fishelis. This correction is present in some of the copies we examined. A signature and a signed marginal note appears on the title page in the handwriting of Rabbi Peretz Perles, Av Beis Din of Munich (1836–1894), son of Rabbi Baruch Asher Perles, disciple of the Chasam Sofer. Provenance: William Gross Collection, Tel Aviv. - - - - - Approbation of the Rabbanim of Prague In their interesting approbation to the sefer, the rabbanim of Prague write that it is intended even for those devoted to Torah study: “When they are resting from their labor — the labor of Torah — they will find calm in these fine teachings.” They conclude by noting that their approbation is given with the support of the Noda B’Yehuda, the father of the publisher. At the end of the sefer appears a large list of subscribers from Prague, among them Rabbi Shmuel Landau (son of the Noda B’Yehuda and later Av Beis Din of the city), Rabbi Elazar Falkeles and Rabbi Michael Bechrach (both signatories to the approbation), Rabbi Betzalel Ranschburg, and others.