The bilingual book "Monuments of Paper and Parchment – Hebrew Printing in Portugal at the End of the 15th Century" has recently been released. Written in Portuguese and English by Rabbis Eli Rosenfeld and Shlomo Pereira, this work offers a rich and detailed visual and historical journey through the brief yet extraordinary history of the first Hebrew printing presses operating in Portugal between 1487 and 1496.
The book highlights the output of three important printing centers in Faro, Lisbon, and Leiria, responsible for about two-thirds of the printed works in Portugal during that period. Among the pioneering publications featured are the Faro Pentateuch (1487), the first book printed in Portugal in any language, and the Almanach Perpetuum by R. Abraham Zacuto (1496), considered the country’s first scientific book. With fifteen known Portuguese Hebrew incunabula carefully contextualized, the publication presents many high-resolution, full-color images (some never before published) of copies preserved in renowned libraries such as Cambridge, Oxford, the Vatican, and others.
Intended for both researchers and the general public interested in book history, Sephardic Jewish heritage, and Portuguese culture, the book combines scholarly rigor with an appealing graphic design. "Monuments of Paper and Parchment" pays tribute to the intellectual legacy of Portuguese Jews before their expulsion in 1496 and invites readers to rediscover these historical monuments made not of stone, but of paper and parchment.
The book is available for purchase on Amazon or directly via email at press@chabadportugal.com.
