Obj. ID: 20974
Hebrew Illuminated Manuscripts  Fugger's Second Miscellany on Kabbalah, Venice, 1548-1549

Fugger's Second Venetian Miscellany on Kabbalah | Unknown

*Manuscripts and Printed Books | Mystical and Kabbalistic literature

Unknown

1548-1549

Meir (scribe)
David ben Moshe (scribe)

Italy | Veneto | Venice
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Unknown

Unknown |

Unknown

Unknown |

Unknown

Germany | Munich | Bayerische Staatsbibliothek (BSB)
| Cod.hebr. 54 (Steinschneider 1895, No. 54)

Unknown

1. Ginnat Egoz (גינת אגוז; Nut Orchard) by Joseph ben Abraham Gikatilla (fols. 1-256v): entitledספר גינת אגוז: begins אמר יוסף הקטן בר אברהם נקטילה זצק"ל הדר בקצה הגבול קשתילה במדינת אשר בקצה הגבול. Another copy in Munich: BSB Cod.hebr. 215 (fols. 1-181v), belonged to Egidio da Viterbo and later to Johann Albrecht Widmanstetter. 1st ed. Hanau 1615. 2. Sefer ha-Nikkud (ספר הניקוד; The Book of Vocalization) by Yosef ben Abraham Gikatilla (fols. 257-280v): entitled שער היחוד: beginsדע לך אחי כי הנקוד הוא יסוד האותיות כמו שאתה רואה התנועה שהוא יסוד הפעולה וקיומה. Other copies in Munich: BSB Cod.hebr. 11 (fols. 288-305) from Fugger's Venetian group; BSB Cod.hebr. 215 (fols. 181v-197v), belonged to Egidio da Viterbo and later to Johann Albrecht Widmanstetter. 1st ed. Venice 1601. On the similarity of this work to the third part of Ginnat Egoz see Gottlieb 1976:99-105. 3. Commentary on the ten Sefirot of Omer by Moses ben Solomon of Burgos (fols. 280v-281): entitledסוד עשר ספירות העומר שקבלתי מהרב ר' משה פיינפה נר"ו: beginsדע כי הספירה של העומר היא הי' והיא סוד יין המשומר בענביו. Another copy in Munich: BSB Cod.hebr. 215 (fols. 197v-198), belonged to Egidio da Viterbo and later to Johann Albrecht Widmanstetter. Scholem 1934:318-319. 4. Commentary on the ten Sefirot (fols. 281-284); entitled פירוש עשר ספירות: begins ספירה ראשונה כתר עליון זו רום מעלה בספר יצירה . Scholem 1933/4:508 no. 91. Another copy in Munich: BSB Cod.hebr. 215 (fols. 198-200), belonged to Egidio da Viterbo and later to Johann Albrecht Widmanstetter. 5. Secrets of the ten Sefirot (fols. 284-291v): entitled סוד עשר ספירות: beginsנתתי אל לבי לפרש סוד ויסוד הקדמוני. Scholem 1933/4:507 no. 79. Another copy in Munich: BSB Cod.hebr. 215 (fols. 200v-205), belonged to Egidio da Viterbo and later to Johann Albrecht Widmanstetter. 6. Commentary on the Divine Name according to the Midrash of R. Simeon the Righteous (fols. 291v-300): entitledפירש השם המפורש כמו שפרשו אותו במדרש ר' שמעון הצדיק אשר היה מתנהג בקדיש השם ומסתפח בנחלת השם תמיד : begins אמר ר' שמעון הצדיק לתלמידיו דעו כי השם המפורש נחלק לה' חלקים. Other copies in Munich: BSB Cod.hebr. 47 (fols. 386v-389) from Fugger's Venetian group; BSB Cod.hebr. 215 (fols. 205-207), belonged to Egidio da Viterbo and later to Johann Albrecht Widmanstetter. Scholem 1948:256.

None.

Fol. 205v: A coronet above the name David.

Watermarks: A cross between '3' and 'C' in the outer corner of the folio (26 mm; e.g. fols. 3, 5): similar to Harlfinger 1974-80, Ancre 55 (1545-6); a trefoil flower between 'P' and '3' in the outer corner of the folio (32 mm; e.g. fols. 27, 57, 125, 170, 194): similar to Harlfinger 1974-80, Lettres 75 (Venice, 1548, 1550). '3' and '0' with a short line attached to the right of the top of the '0', in the outer corner of the folio (e.g. fols. 93, 121, 222, 228, 230): similar to Harlfinger 1974-80, Cercle 52 (Venice, 1548).

Green leather partly turned brown on wooden boards (342 x230 mm); gold-tooled similarly on front and back with a central roundel within an undulating lozenge in a large rectangle, decorated with floral motifs at the centre of each side and at the corners. The front roundel is inscribed CABALA, and the letter B below. The back roundel is inscribed קבלה and the letter ב below. The spine, blind-tooled with hatching, has four hidden cords and head and tail bands. On the edges of the front cover are vestiges of four groups of three plaited leather bands, two on the side and one each on the upper and lower edges, with corresponding holes for four nails on the edges of the back cover (for preserved bands see Cod.hebr. 301). Each group of three bands terminated in a ring intended to hook over the nails in the opposite cover. The leaves are gilt-edged.

 

This binding was executed for Fugger by Andrea di Lorenzo inVenice(Hobson 1999:111-112). Similar bindings in BSB: Cod.hebr. 11, 17, 22, 24, 40, 52 and BSB Cod.gr. 21, 39.

 

Watermarks on flyleaves: A trefoil flower between 'P' and '3' in the outer corner of the folio (32 mm; front cover third flyleaf): similar to Harlfinger 1974-80, Lettres 75 (Venice, 1548, 1550).

 

The decoration is by David ben Moshe and Meir:

1. Meir: decorative initial panels and words opening some sections of the first treatise (fols. 2, 6v and 220).
2. Meir: decoration flanking the text (fols. 51, 110, 242, 243).
3. David ben Moshe and Meir: crown above the Tetragrammaton (e.g. fols. 74, 147).
4. Meir: decoration of the first letter in the first line of the page (e.g. fol. 165).
5. David ben Moshe: catchwords decorated with depictions of their literal meaning (fols. 169v and 200v).

Owners' inscriptions: None. Inscriptions of librarians and researchers: The numbering of texts by Fugger’s librarians does not correspond to their actual number in this manuscript: N0 1: fols. 1-280v; N0 2: fols. 280v-300. Front third flyleaf, verso: contents in Hebrew in brown ink by Librarian 1a: ספר גינת אגוז. Contents in Latin characters in brown ink by Librarian 3: Sepher ginath egoz. Contents in Latin in brown ink by Librarian 2: i. Liber qui dicitur Hortus nutis*. Cabbalisticus R. Iosephi Bar (i. filij) Abraham. Fol. 1: contents in Hebrew in brown ink by Librarian 1a: ספר גינת אגוז/ על ספר הקבלה רבי יוסף בר'/ אברהם. Below, the same written by the scribe Meir. Inside front cover, on the exlibris in plummet: Contents and current signature of BSB. * Hortus nucis according to Egidio da Viterbo's translation. Exlibris and stamps: Inside front cover: an exlibris of the Bavarian Court and State Library (230 x 155 mm) with the arms of Elector Maximilian I of 1638 (Dressler 1972:B3ab), stuck over his earlier exlibris (175 x 135 mm) of 1618, before he became Elector in 1623 (Dressler 1972:A3a-f). Old signatures: Back cover in black ink: St.(?) 49 (partly erased; according to Hartig: 9. 4) (second signature of Fugger's library). Front cover in black ink: 2. n0. 27 (Duke's library, Prommer's signature). Front pastedown in red ink: 2. 27 (Duke's library, Prommer's revision of 1583). Front pastedown in black ink: MS. Hebr. 49. Spine, on the sticker in brown ink: 93. Spine, on the sticker and on the inside of the back board, in black ink and plummet: Cod.hebr. 54 (current signature).