Farissol, Abraham. Igereth Orchoth Olam [“The Ways of the World”].

A pioneering work on geography, the book is divided into two parts: The first dealing with a general description of the earth, its division into climactic zones, continents and individual countries. The second part focuses upon the new discoveries made by Portuguese and Spanish explorers. Farissol discusses the location of the Terrestrial Paradise and gives a detailed account of the discoveries of Vasco de Gama during his travels around the Cape of Good Hope on the way to India. In his chapter on the discovery of America, Farissol describes both the land and the people living there, based on contemporary accounts. It is the first Hebrew text to contain a description of America. The author was Cantor of the Synagogue in Ferrara and a contemporary of Christopher Columbus. See M. Waxman, History of Jewish Literature Vol. II pp. 485-7. See Also Lot 117.