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Derekh Etz Haim (Path of the Tree of Life), Haim Vital [Central or Eastern Europe: ca. 1700–1720]
Estimate
60,000 - 80,000 USD
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Description
- paper, ink, gouache, calfskin binding; central or eastern European
220 leaves (12 1/2 x 7 1/4 in.; 320 x 185 mm). Manuscript on paper; written in brown ink on paper in an elegant and meticulous Ashkenazic scribal semi-cursive script, headings and running titles in square Ashkenazic script; blind ruled in hardpoint; mostly in 2 columns with 44 lines. Decorated in brown ink and gouache; forty-five decorated initial word panels, twelve in colors, some with architectural motifs alluding to the “gates” or chapter divisions, others with a wide variety of figural illustrations and some geometric decorations; eight kabbalistic diagrams and one kabbalistic chart; extensive marginalia. Browned, due to ink bleeding, more noticeable in certain sections; wear to corners and edges, most noticeable in initial and final leaves; some dampstaining at upper and lower margins; f.7 torn, touching diagram; a few other marginal tears, not affecting text; crude tape repair to f.115. Twentieth century beige blind tooled calfskin, spine paneled gilt; matching cloth and calfskin slipcase.
Catalogue Note
an exceedingly rare, profusely illustrated kabbalistic masterwork
Derekh Etz Haim is the first part of Haim Vital’s authoritative summary of the kabbalistic teachings of his master, the preeminent kabbalist of 16th century Safed, Isaac Luria, also known as the Arizal. Because Luria himself wrote almost nothing during his lifetime, the corpus of Lurianic literature is highly complex and disorganized. Most of what exists from the Safed circle is the product of various students, the most prolific and prominent being Haim Vital and Derekh Etz Haim is his magnum opus and one of the foundational texts in the Lurianic corpus. First edited by Vital’s son Samuel, the final redaction of Vital's writing was arranged by Meir Poppers (1624-1662) a disciple of Jacob Zemach. The first printed edition appeared in Korets in 1782, more than half a century after the present manuscript was written.
Outside of certain traditional mystical diagrams, charts and figures, most Kabbalistic manuscripts are typically, by their nature, devoid of decoration and illustration. This manuscript however,penned by a professional scribe in an elegant and meticulous Ashkenazic semi-cursive script, features a decorated or illustrated initial word panel for nearly every one of its 50 chapters. While these are mostly executed in ink, a dozen feature the addition of colors. Some of these panels depict architectural motifs alluding to the “gates” or chapter divisions, into which the book is divided; others provide a wide variety of figural illustrations and some geometric decorations; eight kabbalistic diagrams and one kabbalistic chart are also present. The extensive marginalia bear witness to the fact that in addition to its physical beauty, the manuscript has been studied assiduously.
The elaborate decorative program of this early eighteenth century manuscript, is unparalled. Rabbi Yosef Avivi, one of the world’s foremost authorities on the writings of the Luria and his students, writes of this manuscript: “ More than 150 manuscripts of Derekh Etz Haim have passed before my eyes, and I have not seen a single copy as beautifully illustrated and decorated.”
Sotheby's is grateful to Rabbi Yosef Avivi for providing information which aided in the cataloging of this lot.
LITERATURE:
Yosef Avivi, Kabbalat ha-Ari, Jerusalem:2008.
Derekh Etz Haim is the first part of Haim Vital’s authoritative summary of the kabbalistic teachings of his master, the preeminent kabbalist of 16th century Safed, Isaac Luria, also known as the Arizal. Because Luria himself wrote almost nothing during his lifetime, the corpus of Lurianic literature is highly complex and disorganized. Most of what exists from the Safed circle is the product of various students, the most prolific and prominent being Haim Vital and Derekh Etz Haim is his magnum opus and one of the foundational texts in the Lurianic corpus. First edited by Vital’s son Samuel, the final redaction of Vital's writing was arranged by Meir Poppers (1624-1662) a disciple of Jacob Zemach. The first printed edition appeared in Korets in 1782, more than half a century after the present manuscript was written.
Outside of certain traditional mystical diagrams, charts and figures, most Kabbalistic manuscripts are typically, by their nature, devoid of decoration and illustration. This manuscript however,penned by a professional scribe in an elegant and meticulous Ashkenazic semi-cursive script, features a decorated or illustrated initial word panel for nearly every one of its 50 chapters. While these are mostly executed in ink, a dozen feature the addition of colors. Some of these panels depict architectural motifs alluding to the “gates” or chapter divisions, into which the book is divided; others provide a wide variety of figural illustrations and some geometric decorations; eight kabbalistic diagrams and one kabbalistic chart are also present. The extensive marginalia bear witness to the fact that in addition to its physical beauty, the manuscript has been studied assiduously.
The elaborate decorative program of this early eighteenth century manuscript, is unparalled. Rabbi Yosef Avivi, one of the world’s foremost authorities on the writings of the Luria and his students, writes of this manuscript: “ More than 150 manuscripts of Derekh Etz Haim have passed before my eyes, and I have not seen a single copy as beautifully illustrated and decorated.”
Sotheby's is grateful to Rabbi Yosef Avivi for providing information which aided in the cataloging of this lot.
LITERATURE:
Yosef Avivi, Kabbalat ha-Ari, Jerusalem:2008.