Bidspirit auction | Sefer Karnayim. Amsterdam, 1765

Sefer Karnayim. Amsterdam, 1765 - Sefer Karnayim – an early, esoteric Kabbalistic work attributed to Rabbeinu Aharon the Elder of Kardinia, with the commentary Dan Yadin by Rabbi Shimshon of Ostropolya. Amsterdam, 1765. Second and important edition, corrected and expanded, including textual emendations, additions, and new elucidations not found in the first printing. At the beginning of the volume appears the endorsement of Rabbi Shaul of Amsterdam, one of the city’s leading rabbis, who praises the publication and highlights its value for the study of the Kabbalistic tradition. Sefer Karnayim is regarded as one of the earliest and most enigmatic works in the corpus of ancient Kabbalah. Its attribution to Rabbi Aharon the Elder of Kardinia appears in early sources, and tradition ascribes to it profound mystical teachings concerning the structure of the divine worlds, the Sefirot, and the mysteries of the Divine Name. The commentary Dan Yadin by Rabbi Shimshon of Ostropolya—one of the saintly Kabbalists martyred in the 1648–1649 massacres—infuses the text with new spiritual depth, interpreting its hidden meanings through allusions to redemption, cosmic struggle, and the mystical battle against Amalek. Appended to the work is an additional treatise entitled “Likkutei Shoshanim”, containing “letters of the divine Kabbalist Rabbi Shimshon Maggid of Ostropolia, of blessed memory, ” which include profound Kabbalistic teachings concerning the mystical significance of the ten plagues and the secret of the signs Detsach, Adash, Be’achav. This supplement enriches the presentation of Rabbi Shimshon’s mystical doctrines and connects them with the broader tradition of practical Kabbalah and the school of the Ari. In the colophon are named the craftsmen who participated in the printing: Shimon ben Gedaliah, Yaakov ben Gedaliah, and Yosef ben Yitzchak, all of Amsterdam, who proudly identify themselves as “of the family of Abraham our Father, ” indicating that they were righteous converts. On this remarkable family of printers, see A. Yaari, Meḥkarei Sefer (Jerusalem, 1958), p. 252, where they are described as a devout and learned group whose efforts made Amsterdam a major center for the dissemination of Kabbalistic works in the eighteenth century. [3], 25 leaves. 20 cm. Very good condition. Fine white paper, clean and well-printed text. Half-vellum binding with old marbled paper, well preserved. A handsome and scarce copy of one of the most significant Kabbalistic editions printed in Amsterdam in the second half of the eighteenth century.