Reishith Chochmah ["Beginning of Wisdom": ethics].

Estimate: $1,200–$1,800
Hammer price: Not recorded

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

author

DE VIDAS, ELIYAHU.

printer

Giovanni di Gara

Place

Venice

Publication

1593

Description

Second edition. On title, printer's device of three crowns (Yaari, no. 18). Section headings within engraved vignettes. Title worn, with markings.

references

Vinograd, Venice 788.

summary

Eliyahu de Vidas (1518–87) was a disciple of R. Moshe Cordovero, doyen of the Kabbalists in Safed. Despite its mystical overtones, Reishith Chochmah has become an important classic of ethical/pietistic literature. The work focuses upon the moral aspects of Jewish life, linking the motifs of Aggadic and Mussar literature with that of Kabbalah, thus broadly disseminating mystical ideas.

ff. 391, (31). Worn and stained, opening two leaves crudely taped, title with loss of a few letters supplied by hand, leaves supplied from more than one copy. Modern calf. Thick 8vo.

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