Guillaume Postel (1510-1581) - photo 1
Guillaume Postel (1510-1581) - photo 2

Guillaume Postel (1510-1581)

Lot 147
09.12.2020 00:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Starting price
£ 8 000
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
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ID 470136
Lot 147 | Guillaume Postel (1510-1581)
Estimate value
£ 8 000 – 12 000
Guillaume Postel (1510-1581)

Abrahami Patriarchae liber Iezirah, sive Formationis mundi. 1552

[KABBALAH]. POSTEL, Guillaume (1510-1581), translator. Abrahami Patriarchae liber Iezirah, sive Formationis mundi. Paris: for Guillaume Postel, 1552.



The foundation stone of the Kabbalah: the Roxburghe copy of the first edition of Sefer Yetzirah, the oldest known text of the Kabbalah. One of the most renowned and influential mystical texts, 'The book of formation' (Sefer Yetzirah) conceives the Cosmos as constructed by '32 wondrous paths of wisdom' deriving from the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet and the ten divine numbers.



The present text is translated by the linguist-mystic Guillaume Postel, one of the most accomplished Christian Kabbalists of his generation. Postel had traveled to Istanbul in 1536 as an interpreter with the French embassy to Suleiman, sparking an interest in comparative religions and Semitic linguistics. His increasingly heterodox beliefs put him in the crosshairs of the Inquisition, resulting in his confinement on grounds of insanity (perhaps to protect him from execution as a heretic). Postel's Latin edition is the first printing of the Yetzirah in any language.



This handsome copy is from the celebrated library of John Ker, 3rd Duke of Roxburghe, the legendary auction of which in 1812 marked the height of bibliomania in England and inspired the formation of the Roxburghe Club. Wellcome 5227.



16mo (106 x 73mm). Roman, Greek, and Hebrew types. Woodcut initials (some inkstains and light toning). 18th-century red morocco gilt with crowned unicorn stamped at centre of both boards, gilt-patterned edges (light wear, a few ink stains). Provenance: John Ker, 3rd Duke of Roxburghe (1740-1804, prolific Scottish bibliophile).

Auction house category:Books
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