Physical Description:

[1], 3-50; 42 ff., quarto, 225:175 mm., wide margins, usual age staining. A good copy bound in contemporary boards, rubbed.

Detailed Description:   

Two works in one volume:

Tola'at Ya'akov - R. Meir b. Ezekiel ibn Gabbai (1480–after 1540), kabbalist of the generation of Spanish exiles. The details of his life are not known. Apparently he lived in Turkey and possibly died in Erez Israel. He wrote three books dealing with the principal problems of Kabbalah. They are: Tola'at Ya'akov (written in 1507 and first printed in Constantinople, 1560), on the prayers; Derekh Emunah (written in 1539 and first printed Constantinople, 1560), an explanation of the doctrine of the sefirot in the form of questions and answers, based on Sha'ar ha-Sho'el by Azriel of Gerona and incorporating views of the Zohar; and Avodat ha-Kodesh, on the entire doctrine of the Kabbalah, in four parts - on the unity of G-d, the worship of G-d, the purpose of man in the universe, and an explanation of esoteric aspects of the Torah - an important work which he wrote from 1523 to 1531. The last is the most comprehensive and organized summary of the doctrine of the Kabbalah prior to the Safed period and was one of the most popular books on Kabbalah even with recent generations. It was first printed 1566–68 under the name Marot Elokim. Ibn Gabbai was one of the leading proponents of the view that the Sefirot are the essence of divinity.

Mevasser Zedek - Classic work of Hassidut on the weekly Torah readings by R. Issacher Dov Baer ben Aryeh Leib of Zloczow. Mevasser Ẓedek was first published with R. Issacher Dov Baer’s Bat Eyni (Dubno, 1798). This is the first edition of Mevasser Ẓedek as an independent standalone work. There is an introduction from R. Gershon Margolious, son-in-law of R. Issacher Dov Baer. The text is written in the ḥasidic manner and contains the teachings of major Hasidic leaders such as R. Levi Isaac of Berdichev, R. Jehiel Michael of Zloczow, and others.

R. Issachar Dov Baer ben Aryeh Leib of Zloczow (d. c. 1810) was a rabbi and hasidic zaddik, a grandson of R. Naphtali ben Isaac ha-Kohen of Frankfurt, author of Semi-khat Ḥakhamim (Frankfurt, 1704). Rabbi in Zloczow, he was a noted rabbinical scholar who wrote novellae on the Torah and responsa, Bat Eyni (Dubno, 1798), in which he discussed halakhic questions with the great scholars of his generation, including R. Hayyim ha-Kohen Rapoport of Lvov and R. Zevi Hirsch of Zamosc. R. Issachar was also one of the outstanding disciples of the ḥasidic leader R. Dov Baer the Maggid of Mezhirech. Toward the end of his life Issachar settled in Ereẓ Israel and died in Safed. His son-in-law Abraham Ḥayyim of Zloczow succeeded him.

Hebrew Description:   

תולעת יעקב - בשער הפרט: מ’ב’ש’ר’ ט’ו’ב’ [תקנ"ט]. השער הועתק מהוצאת זאלקווא תקנ"ט, עם שמותיהם של "השותפים" המביאים לבית הדפוס.

נדפס דף-על-דף על-פי הוצאת זאלקווא הנ"ל, עם ההסכמה.

מבשר צדק -  ... ועתה יצא לאור על ידי... מהו’ משה צבי בן מוה’ גדלי’ שרייבר ...

עם הקדמת ר’ גרשון מרגליות מן ההוצאה הראשונה.

References:   

Bibliography of the Hebrew Book 1470-1960 #000180898; EJ

Bibliography of the Hebrew Book 1470-1960 #000140158; BE mem 403; EJ