Monuments of Paper and Parchment

The appearance of printing technology in the Jewish world was far more than a technical revolution—it was a spiritual and cultural upheaval that reshaped the foundations of Jewish life. For a people whose existence was bound to the word, the book, and the unbroken chain of learning, the printing press became not merely an instrument of replication but a vessel of survival. It multiplied Torah where exile had scattered it, preserved voices that might have vanished amid the turbulence of history, and gave permanence to the fragile beauty of written tradition.

Monuments of Paper and Parchment is a visual and historical journey into this creative moment, centered on the brief yet extraordinary story of Hebrew printing in Portugal. Between 1487 and 1496—spanning Faro, Lisbon, and Leiria—three Hebrew printing houses flourished, producing a body of work that accounted for nearly two-thirds of all printing in Portugal during that decade. The story…