Avodath HaKodesh [Kabbalah].

Estimate

$2,000–$2,500

Hammer price

Not recorded

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

author

MEIR IBN GABBAI.

printer

Yitzchak ben Aaron of Prostitz

Place

Cracow

Publication

1577

Description

Second edition. Title letters within decorative woodcut vignettes. Printer’s device on title. (cf. Yaari’s Printer’s Marks nos. 39 and note on p. 138).

references

Vinograd, Cracow 45.

summary

Meir ibn Gabbai (c. 1480-1540) was a Spanish-born Kabbalist. This work, his magnum opus, provides a comprehensive presentation of the Kabbalistic system and is divided into four sections. The first deals with the unity of God, the second addresses man’s obligation in worshipping God and the third section discusses the purpose behind man’s existence. The final part of the book is the most consequential, in which the author delves into the secrets of the Torah. “Avodath Hakodesh was perhaps the finest account of kabbalistic speculation before the resurgence of the kabbalah in Safed." G. Scholem, Kabbalah in EJ, Vol. X, col. 542.

ff. 139. Dampwrinkled, marginal staining, Title repaired. Recent boards rubbed. Folio.

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