RaMBa”N). Chidushei HaTorah [commentary to the Pentateuch]

<<THE FIRST BOOK PRINTED IN LISBON.>> Nachmanides (the Ramban, 1194-1270) was a renowned philosopher, Kabbalist, Biblical exegete, poet and physician as well as one of the leading authors of Talmudic literature in the Middle Ages. Following his participation in the Barcelona Disputation in 1263, Nachmanides fled Spain and immigrated to the Land of Israel where he later died. Though he began work on this commentary to the Torah while still in his native Spain, it was completed, or at least emended, during the sage`s later years in the Land of Israel, as attested to by his first hand knowledge of the geography of the Holy Land. His critical analysis of the aggadic and halachic interpretations of both Talmudic and Midrashic texts is lucidly written. The first edition, printed in Rome sometime between 1469 and 1473, is most likely the first Hebrew book ever printed, and its popularity remained undiminished in subsequent centuries. The second edition, offered here, is the first book printed in any language in Portugal`s capital city of Lisbon. Published by Eliezer Toledano in 1489, it is one of only a dozen Hebrew works known to have been printed in Portugal before the expulsion of the Jews by King Manuel, a mere eight years later, in 1497. See Treasures of the Valmadonna Trust Library - Otzroth Ya’akov, Incunables no. 59.