Autograph Folio (f. 7) from Rabbi Hayyim Vital’s Sefer ha-Refu’ot, ha-Segullot, ve-ha-Kame‘ot (The Book of Remedies, Charms, and Amulets)

1 folio (7 1/2 x 5 3/4 in.; 190 x 145 mm). Ink on paper, two columns, 40-45 lines.

Hayyim Vital, The Book of Manipulations: Remedies, Charms, Practical Kabbalah, Chemistry, 2nd ed. (Modi’in Illit, 2014) (in Hebrew); Meir Benayahu, “Medical Matters in an Unknown Manuscript by Rabbi Hayyim Vital,” Korot 9,3-4 (1986): 3-17 (in Hebrew); Meir Benayahu, “Excerpts from the Book of Remedies and Charms by Rabbi Hayyim Vital,” Korot 9,5-6 (1987): 91-112 (in Hebrew); Gerrit Bos, “Hayyim Vital’s ‘Practical Kabbalah and Alchemy’: A 17th Century Book of Secrets,” The Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy 4 (1994): 55-112; Yael Buchman and Zohar Amar, Practical Medicine of Rabbi Hayyim Vital (1543-1620): Healer in the Land of Israel and Vicinity (Ramat Gan, 2006) (in Hebrew).

Lots 147, 148, and 149 comprise individual leaves from the autograph manuscript of Sefer ha-Refu'ot, ha-Segullot, ve-ha-Kame'ot (The Book of Remedies, Charms, and Amulets), a major compendium of medicine, magic, alchemy, and practical Kabbalah by Hayyim Vital. The book is divided into four chapters: the first three chapters contain original material by Vital, while the last and largest chapter includes short treatises culled from various written and oral sources. . It would appear from the evolving nature of the handwriting that Vital compiled and added to this work over the course of many years. Following Vital's death, the volume came into the possession of his son Samuel, who edited it and appended a detailed table of contents.

The first chapter of Sefer ha-Refu'ot, ha-Segullot, ve-ha-Kame'ot  focuses largely on magical practices accomplished through divine names, adjurations, and amulets. The present lot (f.7) comprises part of paragraph 37, as well as paragraphs 38-44 in their entirety, of the first chapter of the book. These paragraphs discusses certain divination practices. These include, how to identify a thief; divine whom among a group of three people has gold, silver, or copper in his hands; predict whether a man or his wife will live longer, etc. There are also two methods for approximating the time. One, as expected is based on the position of the sun (during the day) and of the constellations (at night), while the other method is based on which of a person's nostrils is currently exhaling more forcefully.