[“The Ways of the Righteous” ethics, according to the creed of the medieval Chasidei Aschkenaz]. Anonymous
AUCTION 29 |
Monday, June 20th,
2005 at 1:00
Superior Hebrew Printed Books: Singular Selections from Two Distingushed Private Collections with American-Judaica.
Lot 54
ORCHOTH TZADIKIM
[“The Ways of the Righteous” ethics, according to the creed of the medieval Chasidei Aschkenaz]. Anonymous
Prague: Mordecai b. Gershon Katz and Children 1580-81
Est: $3,000 - $4,000
Cherished ethical work renowned for its clarity and comprehensive gathering of primary sources on each topic discussed. The book is divided into She’arim (portals or sections) elaborating on various specific moral qualities e.g. anger, envy, truth and falsehood, modesty, repentance, etc. The Orchoth Tzadikim has been issued through contemporary times in more than one hundred editions.
An abridged edition in Yiddish was published in Isny, 1542, under the name “Sepher Ha-Midoth”(“Book of Ethical Qualities”); the present Prague edition is the first edition in full, and in Hebrew. For an insight into the origin of this work and its link with the Yiddish Sepher Hamidoth see I. Zinberg, A History of Jewish Literature (1975) Vol. VII, p. 148-53.
According to Zinberg, since the anonymous author makes mention of the expulsion of the Jews from France in 1395 (chap. 27), it is possible he was a descendent of these exiles