Or Hashem [“Light of the Lord” - philosophy].

Auction 94 | Thursday, June 17th, 2021 at 11:00am

Rare & Excellent Hebrew Printed Books: From the Library of Arthur A. Marx

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Lot 102

CRESCAS, HASDAI.

Or Hashem [“Light of the Lord” - philosophy].

<<FIRST EDITION.>> Printer’s mark of Abraham Usque (aka Duarte Pinel): An armillary sphere, anchor and verse from Psalms - both on title and final page. Previous owner's signature on title in a Sephardic hand, <<important scholarly marginal notes throughout>> in a late Aschkenazic hand, comparing the printed edition to the text of an early manuscript. ff. 132. Stained and censored in places, few leaves remargined, marginal worming neatly repaired. Modern calf. 4to. Vinograd, Ferrara 31.

Ferrara: Abraham ibn Usque 1555

Est: $2,500 - $3,500

PRICE REALIZED $2,600

An outstandingly original Jewish philosopher, Hasdai Crescas (c. 1340-1410) was the disciple of the preeminent Iberian rabbinic personality of the day, R. Nissim ben Reuben of Gerona (Ra”N). The Or Ado-Nai is an important work of Jewish philosophy as it subjected Maimonides’ Aristotelian conceptions to rigorous critique. It has long been contended that Crescas produced a form of religious determinism, however, a careful reading will show that his thoughts on this perennial philosophical problem are much more nuanced and complex. In the realm of astrophysics, Crescas’ conception of infinite space is strikingly modern. His physics anticipated that of Newton; while parallels have been drawn as well between Crescas on the one hand and Galileo Galilei and Giordano Bruno on the other. See J. Guttman, Philosophies of Judaism (1973) p. 259; p. 511, n. 250; and H.A. Wolfson Crescas’ Critique of Aristotle (1929) pp.269-73.