First Edition of the Most Important and Influential Publication on Cabala in the Renaissance
Artis Cabalisticae: Hoc Est, Recondite Theologiae Et Philosophiae, Scriptorum. Tomus I. In quo Pauli Ricii Theologicos & Philosopicos libros sunt Latini pene omnes & Hebraei nonnulli praestantissimi Scriptores, qui artem commentarijs suis illustrarunt. Opus Omnibus Theologis Et Occultae Abstrusaeq'ue Philosophiae Studiosis pernecessarium: & hactenus a claissimis multis uiris mango defiderio exspectatum.
Basileae: Sebastianum Henricpetri, 1587.
editor]. REUCHLIN, Johannes, [contributor]. Artis Cabalisticae: Hoc Est, Recondite Theologiae Et Philosophiae, Scriptorum. Tomus I. In quo Pauli Ricii Theologicos & Philosopicos libros sunt Latini pene omnes & Hebraei nonnulli praestantissimi Scriptores, qui artem commentarijs suis illustrarunt. Opus Omnibus Theologis Et Occultae Abstrusaeq'ue Philosophiae Studiosis pernecessarium: & hactenus a claissimis multis uiris mango defiderio exspectatum. Basileae: Sebastianum Henricpetri, 1587.
Full Description:
PISTORIUS, Johannes, [editor]. [Johannes Reuchlin, Paolo Riccio, Leo Hebraeus, Archangelus de Burgo Novo Gikatila and the Sepher Yetzirah, contributors]. Artis Cabalisticae: Hoc Est, Recondite Theologiae Et Philosophiae, Scriptorum. Tomus I. In quo Pauli Ricii Theologicos & Philosopicos libros sunt Latini pene omnes & Hebraei nonnulli praestantissimi Scriptores, qui artem commentarijs suis illustrarunt. Opus Omnibus Theologis Et Occultae Abstrusaeq'ue Philosophiae Studiosis pernecessarium: & hactenus a claissimis multis uiris mango defiderio exspectatum. Basileae: Sebastianum Henricpetri, 1587.
First edition. Volume I and only volume published. Folio (12 3/8 x 7 7/8 inches; 314 x 200 mm). [52], 979, [1, printer's woodcut device] pp. Engraved printer's device and numerous historiated initials. Text in Latin.
Full eighteenth-century calf, rebacked to style. Boards ruled in gilt, tooled in blind. Gilt floral center device on both boards. Red calf spine label, lettered in gilt. All edges red. Newer endpapers. Boards a bit scuffed. Title-page with small repair to bottom outer corner, not affecting text. Final leaf with a repaired closed tear, no loss of text. A bit of light toning. Overall a very good tall copy with wide margins.
Within this volume is Johannes Reuchlin's De Verbo Mirifico and De Arte Cabalistica; Paulus Riccio's De Coelesti Agricultura and various tracts; Leo the Hebrew's De Amore; Archangelus de Burgo Novo's Apologia; Gikatila's Sha'are orah; and the Sepher Yetzirah.
"This very popular, varied, and lengthy tome of Latin translations, Writers of the Cabalistic Arts, was surely, if there was one, the Norton reader of cabala of the Renaissance. It was an anthology of what must have seemed to Pistorius, as the most important or most accessible (and appealing) cabalistic texts. More volumes were planned, but this is the only one definitely known to have appeared. Nonetheless, there is probably no more important or influential publication on Cabala in the Renaissance, especially from a Christian (however, Lutheran-Protestant) point of view, than this book, which Blau even claims flatly was one of the most popular and widely read religious documents of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries as well as a major conduit for the diffusion of Christian Cabala in English literature." (Philip Beitchman, Alchemy of the Word: Cabala of the Renaissance,1998).
Adams P1315. Caillet 8702. STC 698.
HBS 67453.
$9,500.
Price: $9,500.00
Item #67453