Sha’arei Tzedek [on the Sephiroth]. ff. 52. * With: Sha’arei Orah [an exposition of Kabbalistic symbolism and the designations of the Sephiroth]. ff. 84

Gikatilla, Joseph

Jacob Marcaria the Physician

Riva di Trento

1561

Together, two works bound in one volume. BOTH FIRST EDITIONS. Initial letters of titles historiated; initial word of text within elaborate frame. Printed in double columns. Extensive Latin marginalia, cropped

Vinograd, Riva di Trento 35; Adams G-611; and Vinograd, Riva di Trento 34; Mehlman 1057; Adams G-609

The early Spanish kabbalist Joseph ben Abraham Gikatilla (Chiquatilla) (1248-c.1325) was a disciple of the founder of the school of “Prophetic Kabbalah,” Abraham Abulafia. Later, he entered into scholarly relationship with Moses de Leon of Guadalajara, a relationship which resulted in a sort of intellectual cross-pollination. Throughout the centuries, Sha’arei Orah, has been a first-rate guide to the systematic presentation of the “sephiroth” “Divine emanations” and their code names. Because of its extreme importance as an introduction to the arcane wisdom of Kabbalah, Sha’arei Orah has been translated into European languages. In Augsburg in 1516, the Jewish apostate Paulus Ricius issued a Latin translation under the title Porta Lucis. An English translation was prepared in 1994 ("Gates of Light") by Avi Weinstein, with a scholarly introduction by Prof. Moshe Idel