View Auction Listing - Iggeret Orhot Olam

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Bidding Information
Lot #		9249
Auction End Date		2/15/2005 11:14:33 AM (mm/dd/yyyy)

Title Information

Title (English)

Iggeret Orhot Olam

Title (Hebrew)

אגרת ארחות עולם

Author

[Period Colored Woodcuts] R. Abraham Farissol

City

Prague

Publisher

Elsenwanger

Publication Date

1793

Collection Information

Independent Item

This listing is an independent item not part of any collection

Description Information

Physical
Description

[8], 96, [2] ff., 176:105 mm., wide margins, gild edges, light age staining, all four woodcuts colored by a contemporary hand in bright colors. A very good copy bound in contemporary leather boards, rubbed.

Detailed
Description

R. Abraham b. Mordecai Farissol (c. 1451–c. 1525), Bible commentator, geographer, and polemicist. Born in Avignon, Abraham spent most of his life in Ferrara, Italy, where he did most of his work, and in Mantua. He served as a cantor, and for many years as a copyist, a task he performed with great devotion and care. It seems that he was highly regarded by the Jews of Ferrara, for they chose him to represent Judaism before the duke of Ferrara in a religious dispute with two Dominican monks. Farissol's main works are: 1) Pirhei Shoshannim, a short commentary on the Torah, which was never printed but is extant in manuscript; a commentary on Ecclesiastes, also in manuscript; and a commentary on the Book of Job, printed in the Bomberg Bible (Venice 1516–17). 2) Magen Avraham, a work dedicated to the defense of Judaism in religious disputes, and containing in two separate chapters, polemical attacks against Christianity and Islam. Most of the work is based upon the writings of earlier medieval Hebrew polemicists, but parts were influenced by the author's own experience in the dispute in Ferrara. The work is still extant in manuscript. 3) Iggeret Orhot Olam, his most famous and most important work, is the first modern Hebrew work on geography (Ferrara 1524; Venice 1586; and many subsequent printings). Each of its 30 chapters deals with a certain geographical area or subject. In addition, many cosmological and historical matters are also treated. The author collected all the evidence he could regarding Jewish settlements in each country. The inclusion of a description of the New World makes Farissol the first Hebrew writer to deal in detail with the newly-discovered America. The 14th chapter of Iggeret Orhot Olam, which deals mainly with the settlements of the Ten Lost Tribes, is of special interest. According to Farissol's introduction to this chapter, it is clear that what moved him to undertake this investigation was the appearance in Italy in 1523 of David Reuveni, many of whose descriptions are included in this work.

Paragraph 2

ארחות עולם אגרת תימן יסוד מורא (עם מגיד חדשות... מספר דברי הימים אשר ליהודים היושבים בעיר קושין... ארץ הודו... שהעתקתי... ללשון עברי... אני נה"ו [נפתלי הירץ ווייזל, על-פי דפוס Berlin תק"ן]), אגרת תימן פתח תקוה (אשר כתב... הרמב"ם זצ"ל), יסוד מורה וסוד תורה (מהחכם... אברהם בעל אבן עזרא זצ"ל [עם הקדמת המוציאים לאור. על-פי דפוס ויניציאה שכ"ו]). הובא אל בית הדפוס ע"י... מו"ה י(שראל בן... מו"ה יחזקאל סגל) ל(נדא) איש מבית לוי...

דף א-טו,א; כט-נו: אגרת ארחות עולם. על-פי דפוס "בלשון הקדש ובלשון לטיין", היא הוצאת Thomas Hyde, Oxonii 1691. מהערותיו בלאטינית של תומאס הייד העתיק ישראל לנדא דברים אחדים בתוך הערותיו, שנדפסו בשולי הפנים. לנדא הוסיף גם כמה תמונות מצויירות. דף טו-כח: מגיד חדשות. כולל גם הגהותיהם של מארצעלוס בלעס, לעאפאלד עמנואל יעקב פון דארט ונפתלי הירץ ווייזל. דף נז-עו: אגרת תימן. בשולי דף ס-סא,א: "אמר ישראל בן... מו"ה יחזקאל סג"ל לנדא נ...בראותי דברי הנשר... אמרתי [להביא]... מה שאמר אדוני אבי הגאון נרו בחבורו דורש לציון [פראג תקפ"ז] וזה לשונו...". דף עז-צו: יסוד מורה. הסכמת "בית דין" פראג: ר' מיכאל ב"ר זנוויל בכרך, ר' יעקב גינצבורג ור' אלעזר פלעקלש, יא טבת תקנ"ג.

Reference
Description

CD-EPI 0156696; EJ

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