Bidspirit auction | Kabbalah. First and Only Edition

Kabbalah. First and Only Edition – Derech Emet – Venice, 1658 - Derech Emet, glosses, textual corrections and variant readings to the holy Zohar and Tikkunei Zohar, based on the glosses of the Arizal. The work was compiled primarily by the Kabbalist Rabbi Yosef Hamitz, and edited and brought to print by the divine Kabbalist Rabbi Moshe Zacuto – the Ramaz. Venice, 1658. First and only edition. One of the fundamental works in establishing the accurate text of the Zohar. The glosses were prepared according to the Mantua edition of the Zohar, 1558–1560, and the Mantua edition of Tikkunei Zohar, 1560. The importance of this work is particularly significant, as its glosses and textual corrections were accepted by later generations and incorporated into the text of the Zohar as we know it today. The book was originally printed without a title page and without the printer's name. The intention was practical: owners of copies of the Zohar could insert the leaves of Derech Emet into their volumes and, while studying, use them to correct the text in the margins of their own copies. “Let him hasten to purchase this precious book, even if he must acquire it at a high price” The final leaf contains an important statement by the Ramaz, in which he discusses the numerous errors that had entered the printed editions of the Zohar and the crucial importance of the Arizal's glosses in establishing its authentic text. The Ramaz writes that the errors found in the Zohar – including variant words and passages, additions and omissions – are too numerous to count and can only be properly resolved through the glosses of the Arizal. He further testifies that throughout the Book of Bereishit, and from Vayikra onward, all the corrections are unquestionably from the glosses of the Arizal, while regarding part of the Book of Shemot he remained uncertain whether all were derived directly from the Arizal or whether some originated with earlier scholars. At the conclusion of his remarks, the Ramaz strongly emphasizes the importance of the work and advises students of the Zohar to acquire it even at considerable expense: “This is my counsel to every discerning person: let him hasten to purchase this precious book, even if he must acquire it at a high price; and as he proceeds with his reading of the Zohar, he should correct the errors in his own handwriting in the margins.” An exceptional testimony to the importance that one of the foremost Kabbalists of Italy attributed to the present work and to its role in establishing the accurate text of the holy Zohar. The work was compiled primarily by Rabbi Yosef Hamitz, a disciple and colleague of Rabbi Yehuda Aryeh of Modena, and was subsequently edited and completed by the Ramaz. The final leaf contains the Ramaz's important remarks regarding the sources of the glosses, the method by which the work was edited, and its significance. Stefansky, Sifrei Yesod, p. 133, Addenda. Venice, 1658. First and only edition. Originally printed without a title page. 36 [should read: 32], 30, 79 leaves; pagination irregular. 20 cm. Attractive new half-leather binding. Good–very good condition.