Shalsheleth Hakabalah “Sepher Yachya”

AUCTION 1 | Thursday, November 14th, 1996 at 1:00

Fine Judaica: Books, Manuscripts and Works of Art

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Lot 176

IBN YACHYA, GEDALIAH

Shalsheleth Hakabalah “Sepher Yachya”

FIRST EDITION Institutional stamps on opening and closing pages, last few ff. lightly wormed with gutters and margins repaired, loss to few letters on final leaf, trimmed, 17th century censor’s signatures at end, occasional marginalia, later half-vellum, rubbed, sm. 4to Vinograd, Venice 718; Habermann, di Gara 98; not in Adams

Venice: Giovanni di Gara 1587

Est: $600 - $900

PRICE REALIZED $700

One of the main sources for Renaissance Jewish history (EJ). The first book printed in the lifetime of the author (Roest, Anhang 2142). An encyclopedic melange of Jewish traditional history from Biblical days to the author’s time, together with a chronicle of the history of the Jews’ host societies. Includes a series of short essays on subjects ranging from numimatics, embryology, magic, ghosts, heavenly spheres and the after-life. The author’s curious mix of myth and legend contributed to the popularity of the work