THE JEWISH THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY’S MUSEUM TODAY HAD ON DISPLAY A FIFTEENTH-CENTURY BOOK OF THE ASTRONOMICAL CHARTS USED BY CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS IN HIS LATER VOYAGES.
THE CHARTS, WHICH COLUMBUS MENTIONED IN HIS DIARY, WERE PREPARED FOR HIM BY ABRAHAM BEN SAMUEL ZACUT (OR ZACUTO), A JEWISH ASTRONOMER OF SALAMANCA. THE SEMINARY’S COPY OF THE BOOK, DISPLAYED IN CONNECTION WITH CELEBRATION OF COLUMBUS DAY, WAS OWNED BY COLUMBUS. PRINTED IN THE 1496 EDITION OF ZACUT’S “GREAT COMPOSITION,” THE COPY IS ONE OF ABOUT FIFTEEN EXTANT TODAY.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
