Reishith Chochmah [Kabbalistic ethics]

AUCTION 46 | Thursday, September 10th, 2009 at 1:00

Fine Judaica: Hebrew Printed Books, Manuscripts, & Graphic Art

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Lot 91

DE VIDAS, ELIJAH

Reishith Chochmah [Kabbalistic ethics]

Inscriptions of former owners including: Shmuel Bak, who recounts his diligence in studying this work in order to overcome his evil inclination; also an inscription dated 1776 by the son of HaGaon HaGadol Tzvi Hirsch of Worms. ff. 10, 418, 32. Variously stained, margins of few leaves trace wormed, title-page frayed. Contemporary vellum, heavily rubbed and worn. Thick 4to Vinograd, Cracow 162; Mehlman 1002

Cracow: Y. Prostitz 1593-94

Est: $1,500 - $2,000

PRICE REALIZED $2,750

Elijah de Vidas was a disciple of R. Moses Cordovero, doyen of Safed kabbalists. Despite its mystical overtones, Reshith Chochmah has become a popular classic within ethical literature. It discusses all ethical aspects of Jewish life linking the motifs of aggadic and mussar literature with that of Kabbalah, thus broadly disseminating mystical ideas.