Auction 1 · Lot 176

Shalsheleth Hakabalah “Sepher Yachya”

Estimate: $600–$900
Hammer price: $700

Historical auction record. Hammer prices exclude buyer’s premium and taxes.

author

IBN YACHYA, GEDALIAH

printer

Giovanni di Gara

Place

Venice

Publication

1587

Description

FIRST EDITION

references

Vinograd, Venice 718; Habermann, di Gara 98; not in Adams

summary

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

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

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