Bidspirit auction | FARISSOL, ABRAHAM. Igereth Orchoth Olam

FARISSOL, ABRAHAM. Igereth Orchoth Olam - Itinera Mundi. Oxford, Sheldon Theatre, 1691. Hebrew with Latin translation by Thomas Hyde. FIRST LATIN EDITION.  pp. (16), 196. Fore-edges of few leaves neatly taped. Later vellum, recased. Sm. 4to. Vinograd, Oxford 4; Wing F-438. A pioneering work on geography. It is THE FIRST HEBREW BOOK TO CONTAIN A DESCRIPTION OF AMERICA. (chap. 29). Besides its rudimentary description of the “Erets Hadasha” (The New World), the book also contains a valuable reference to the enigmatic personality David Reubeni (chap. 14). Abraham ben Mordecai Farissol (c. 1451-c. 1525) was born in Avignon, France, but spent most of his life in Ferrara and Mantua. For a thorough account of his life and achievements, see David B. Ruderman, The World of a Renaissance Jew: The Life and Thought of Abraham ben Mordecai Farissol (Cincinnati, 1981); see also André Neher, Jewish Thought and the Scientific Revolution of the Sixteenth Century (Oxford, 1986), pp. 122-135.