Liber de verbo mirifico.
AUCTION 80 |
Thursday, March 28th,
2019 at 1:00 PM
The Valmadonna Trust Library: Further Selections from the Historic Collection. * Hebrew Printing in America. * Graphic & Ceremonial Art
Lot 79
REUCHLIN, JOHANNES
Liber de verbo mirifico.
Basel: Johannes Amerbach 1494
Est: $20,000 - $25,000
PRICE REALIZED $30,000
<<The first work in Latin devoted to the Kabbalah. >>
Reuchlin’s first major publication was this tract on Jewish Kabbalah, an interest inspired by the Florentine humanist Giovanni Pico della Mirandola.
De verbo mirifico (“Miracle Making Word”) is written in the form of a dialogue: There are three participants - the Greek philosopher Sidonius, the Jew Baruchias, and Reuchlin himself, appearing under the pseudonym Capnio. These three meet accidentally at Pforzheim where they discuss the occult meaning of the Hebrew pentagrammaton “YHSVH,” the letters of the Hebrew form of the name Jesus.
This early work is notable for claiming the prime importance of the Hebrew language but also explicit in its rejections of Judaism. Indeed, it sought to "Christianize" Jewish mysticism.