Gates of Righteousness (1561) - Page 9

⚠The page contains faded handwritten ink and various modern additions; some text is overlapping or faint.

1580 CHIQUITILLA, JOSEPH

The Gates of Justice, containing an explanation of the ten Sefiroth? original Hebrew: Sha'are Zedek bo be'ur eser sefirot

A circular seal for the Library of Hermetic Philosophy. The central image depicts a white pelican feeding its chicks with its own blood—a traditional symbol known as the "pelican in her piety," representing sacrifice and devotion—against a blue background with golden rays of light. Below the pelican is a heraldic shield with a black and white checkerboard pattern. The words "HERMETIC PHILOSOPHY" original Latin: PHILOSOPHIA HERMETICA are printed in an arc around the bottom of the seal.

Joseph ben Abraham Gikatilla. The Gates of Justice (Sha'are Zedek). Riva di Trento, Jacob Macaria, 1561

One of Gikatilla's disquisitions on the ten Sefiroth|The ten creative attributes or emanations through which the Divine interacts with the universe under the title The Gates of Justice. Gikatilla was the first to equate the En Sof|The Infinite; God as He exists prior to any manifestation with the first Sefira, Keter|The Crown; the highest of the ten emanations. The book was printed by the physician Jacob Macaria, who in 1558 established a renowned Hebrew press in Riva di Trento.

Gikatilla. [Hebrew: The Gates of Justice (Sha'are Zedek)].
Riva di Trento, J. Macaria, 1561

Jacob ben Abraham Gikatilla: The Book of the Name (Sefer ha-Shem) original Hebrew: Sefer ha-Shem. Although the slip names him "Jacob," this author is historically known as Joseph ben Abraham Gikatilla.

Kabbalistic work on the Tetragrammaton|The sacred four-letter name of God (YHWH) in Hebrew tradition and the names of God.
Riva di Trento, Jacob Marcaria, 1561. First three leaves (original).
Title page in Hebrew characters. The first word of the text has a woodcut border. [36] leaves, small quarto|A book size where each sheet of paper is folded twice to create four leaves. Quarter leather binding on boards. [36] leaves. Last leaf blank.
Well-preserved (though slightly rubbed, with worn corners).

Steinschneider, Catalog of Hebrew Books original Latin: Catalogus Librorum Hebraeorum 5522, 11. First edition, I, 11 (under Gikatilla).
Zedner 330; Roest 254. Amram, The Makers of Hebrew Books in Italy, page 305. The first edition of this fundamental work was printed in—

(Gikatilla), 1248–1305. A pupil of Abraham Abulafia, from whom he learned the origin of the Kabbalah|The Jewish mystical tradition with which he was no doubt familiar. He was a leading Spanish Kabbalist at the end of the 13th century, who wrote several influential books on the symbolism of the Sefiroth|The ten creative attributes or emanations through which the Divine interacts with the universe. The present work was produced by the famous physician Jacob Marcaria, who established the press at his house in Riva di Trento in 1558. "He was acting as director?." During the five years this press produced upwards of 30 books of ...