KNORR VON ROSENROTH, CHRISTIAN. Kabbala Denudata [“Kabbalah Uncovered”]

(KABBALAH).

Abraham Lichtenthaler - Johann David Zunner

Sulzbach - Frankfurt a/Main

1677-1684

Two volumes, three (of five) parts. Latin and Hebrew text. Each part with separate title and pagination. Title of Vol. II in red and black. Engraved frontispiece, many diagrams in text. Foldout plate between pp. 242-3 demonstrating how the five levels of the soul correspond to the four mystic worlds

Scholem, Bibliographia Kabbalistica (1927), 668

Kabbala Denudata is an extremely ambitious presentation of the esoteric science by perhaps the greatest Christian kabbalist of all time. It exerted a profound influence on several generations of Christian savants, impressing no less a mind than the philosopher G.W. Leibniz. Knorr von Rosenroth (1636-1689) traveled in theosophic circles, he was deeply influenced by the mystical writings of Jacob Boehme, and from 1688 until his death served as senior adviser to the mystically inclined Prince Christian August. It was while in Amsterdam that Knorr focused on the study of Kabbalah. There, he studied under the tutelage of Rabbi Meir Stern and others, and acquired several important manuscripts of Kabbalah, most notably those of R. Isaac Luria. Moreover, Knorr communicated with the Cambridge philosopher Henry More, who provided Kabbala Denudata with several lengthy anonymous disquisitions. In Kabbala Denudata, the author provides a kaleidoscopic view of the materials available in Kabbalah, utilizing them to great avail. These include selections from Zoharic and Lurianic Kabbalah, as well as the earlier works by Gikatilla and Cordovero, the Kabbalistic “tree” attributed to Israel Sarug, and passages from Abraham Kohen de Herrera’s works. According to Scholem, the Hebrew original of Esh ha-Metzareph, an Italian work on alchemy and Kabbalah, no longer exists, and is known to us only through the extracts Knorr translated in Kabbala Denudata. Vol. I is a lexicon of key terms and their symbolism, reminiscent of Cordovero’s Sha’ar Erkei ha-Kinuyim in his Pardes Rimonim. Vol. II is devoted primarily to the Zohar: Introduction to Zohar; Siphra de-Zeniutha (The Book of Concealment); Idra Rabba (The Great Assembly); Idra Zuta (The Lesser Assembly); Rabbi Isaac Luria’s Commentary to Siphra di-Zeniutha; Commentaries of Zoharei Chammah (by R. Abraham Azulai) and R. Chaim Vital to Zohar; and finally readings from Herrera’s Beith Elo-him