Ḥeleḳ rishon mi-Sefer ha-ʻOlamot, o, Maʻaśeh Ṭoviyah
Ṭoviyah Kats, ca. 1652–1729
Ḥeleḳ rishon mi-Sefer ha-ʻOlamot, o, Maʻaśeh Ṭoviyah (First Part of Book of the Worlds, or Work of Tuviyah)
Venice: Bragadin, 1707
Toviyah Kats was a prominent rabbi and physician who hailed from a distinguished line of Polish rabbis and doctors. He was born in Metz, now in France, where his family moved after fleeing Bogdan Chmielnicki’s pogroms in Eastern Europe. Upon the family’s return to Poland, Kats studied in Krakow and continued his education in Frankfurt an der Oder and Padua. He traveled extensively, lived in Turkey, and died in Jerusalem. His fluency in 10 languages, extensive knowledge, and experiences as a traveler allowed him to write the book Maase Tuviyah (Work of Tuviyah). His magnum opus, the book covers multiple scientific and philosophical disciplines (including theology, astronomy, medicine, geography, and botany) and became a major scientific reference book of the early Haskalah, or Jewish Enlightenment.
Part Five of this book, Yesode Olam (Foundations of the World), contains the first ever image of an American continent in a Hebrew book. Displayed here, it shows the sailing ship exploring the New World while still connected via strings to the ship’s original point of departure in Europe.
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