Reishith Chochmah ["Beginning of Wisdom": ethics].

Auction 95 | Thursday, November 11th, 2021 at 11:00am

Fine Judaica: Printed Books, Manuscripts, Rabbinic Letters, Ceremonial & Graphic Art

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Lot 138

DE VIDAS, ELIYAHU.

Reishith Chochmah ["Beginning of Wisdom": ethics].

Second edition. On title, printer's device of three crowns (Yaari, no. 18). Section headings within engraved vignettes. Title worn, with markings. ff. 391, (31). Worn and stained, opening two leaves crudely taped, title with loss of a few letters supplied by hand, leaves supplied from more than one copy. Modern calf. Thick 8vo. Vinograd, Venice 788.

Venice: Giovanni di Gara 1593

Est: $1,200 - $1,800

Eliyahu de Vidas (1518–87) was a disciple of R. Moshe Cordovero, doyen of the Kabbalists in Safed. Despite its mystical overtones, Reishith Chochmah has become an important classic of ethical/pietistic literature. The work focuses upon the moral aspects of Jewish life, linking the motifs of Aggadic and Mussar literature with that of Kabbalah, thus broadly disseminating mystical ideas.