Bidspirit auction | Raziel HaMalach – Medzhybizh, 1824

Raziel HaMalach – Medzhybizh, 1824 (!). The Rare Edition. Segulah Book. - The Celebrated Book of Segulot and Jewish Mysticism – Raziel HaMalach. Medzhybizh, 1824. An Exceptionally Rare Edition Raziel HaMalach, one of the most renowned and sought-after works in the literature of segulot, practical Kabbalah, and Jewish mysticism. Printed in Medzhybizh, 1824 – an exceptionally rare edition. According to the tradition cited at the beginning of the work, this is the “Book of Adam, given to him by the angel Raziel.” For generations, the volume has been revered throughout the Jewish world as one of the foremost books of spiritual protection and blessing. The title page prominently proclaims its celebrated virtues: “A supreme segulah to merit wise and understanding descendants, success and blessing, to extinguish destructive fires so that they shall not prevail in one’s home, and that no evil force or harmful occurrence shall dwell in his abode…” The book was printed in Medzhybizh with the approbation of the renowned Chassidic master Rabbi Avraham Yehoshua Heshel of Apta, author of Ohev Yisrael, who was then serving as Rabbi of Medzhybizh. His approbation is dated 3 Tammuz 1824 and includes a prohibition against reprinting the work for a period of twenty years. Several editions of Raziel HaMalach were printed in Medzhybizh with the approbation of the Ohev Yisrael, but the present 1824 edition is among the rarest. The running title at the top of each page reads “Sefer Raziel HaGadol”, and the title page was printed without a decorative border, a distinctive bibliographical feature of this edition. This rare edition is illustrated and discussed by Chaim Lieberman in Ohel Rachel, vol. III, p. 76, where the title page is reproduced. It is also recorded in Ginzei Yisrael – The Valmadonna Collection, no. 1112. 48, [1], 51–52 leaves. 21 cm. Condition: Good. Minor staining and a few old reinforcement repairs. Handsome modern leather binding with matching slipcase.