Reuchlin, Johannes.

folio (282 x 203mm.), large woodcut coat-of-arms of the author on title-page, some Hebrew and Greek text, woodcut initials, modern vellum, first few leaves partly detached, slightly chipped and with a few small wormholes in margins

Robert Lenkiewicz (1941-2002), artist

Wellcome 5436; Caillet 9333

first edition. This second work on the Kabbalah by Reuchlin, written after he had acquired some knowledge of Hebrew and begun to collect kabbalistic texts, was significantly more substantial than his first (see previous lot). Also written in the form of a dialogue, this time between a Pythagorean (Philolaus), a Muslim (Marranus) and a Kabbalist (Simon ben Eliezer), the work is dedicated to Leo X. It was defended by Luther against the antisemitism of Johann Pfefferkorn and others, and was later listed on the Index librorum prohibitorum issued by Paul IV in 1559.