(Attributed to). Ma’arecheth Ha’Elo-huth [Kabbalah]. With commentary by the Italian mystic Judah Chayat and another (see below).

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 390
PERETZ BEN ISAAC HAKOHEN

(Attributed to). Ma’arecheth Ha’Elo-huth [Kabbalah]. With commentary by the Italian mystic Judah Chayat and another (see below).

<<FIRST EDITION.>> Printer’s mark on title: An astrolabe and verse from Isaiah 40:31 (Yaari, no. 22). <<A wide-margined copy.>> With stamps of <<R. Aharon Shlomo Maharil>> (see below). ff. (6), 286. Touch stained, previous owner’s inscriptions, occasional neat paper repairs, closing leaves remargined. Modern calf. 4to. Vinograd, Ferrara 49 (mispaginated).

Ferrara: Abraham ibn Usque 1558

Est: $4,000 - $5,000
One of the most significant works on the Kabbalah due to its systematic treatment of all relevant themes found in earlier literature. Its contribution to speculative mystic theory in pre-Zoharite Kabbalistic literature is the increased symbolism of the Sephiroth. The author quotes a multitude of names by which each Sephirah is known, each signifying a differing function. He also develops the “Adam Kadmon” theory, whereby the likeness of the order of the Divine Powers of the Sephiroth to the human body is explored. In the same year of 1558, two editions of Ma’arecheth Ha’Elo-huth appeared, one in Ferrara, the other in Mantua. In the present Ferrara edition, the anonymous commentary is designated simply “Peirush,” whereas in the Mantua edition it bears the initials Pa”Z, for “Peirush Zulath” (Another Commentary). According to Scholem, the Ferrara version of the commentary has several important passages lacking in the Mantua edition; see Studies in Kabbalah I (Tel Aviv, 1998) p. 176. Rosh Yeshivah of Shaar HaShamayim, Rabbi Aharon Shlomo Maharil was a prominent Kabbalist in Lithuania. Following his death after decades in Jerusalem, he was buried right alongside his master, the extraordinary Kabbalist, R. Shlomo Elyashiv (The Leshem).