Bohak, A Fifteenth-Century Manuscript of Jewish Magic

NEW BOOK FROM CHERUB PRESS:

A Fifteenth-Century Manuscript of Jewish Magic: MS New York Public Library, Heb. 190 (Formerly Sassoon 56), Introduction, Annotated Edition and Facsimile, by Gideon Bohak. (Sources and Studies in the Literature of Jewish Mysticism 44), in HEBREW: Volume 1 328 pages, Study and Edition, Black and White Printing; Volume 2, 272 pages. ISBN 1-933379-49-9. SOLD AS A TWO VOLUME SET. The Jewish magical tradition was transmitted from generation to generation both orally and via manuscripts, which are well attested at least from the tenth to the twentieth centuries. Many hundreds, and perhaps even thousands, of manuscripts of Jewish magic have survived, and are available in public and private collections all over the world. And yet, no attempt has ever been made to penetrate this world in a systematic manner, or to edit any single manuscript of Jewish magic in its entirety. Hence the importance of the present edition, of a fifteenth-century manuscript, copied somewhere in the Arabic-speaking world by a Jewish scribe, Moses son of Jacob and Marhaba, and containing both Kabbalistic texts and an endless stream of magical recipes for every imaginable purpose. The edition of the manuscript is annotated with copious footnotes, is preceded by a detailed introduction and followed by detailed indices, and is accompanied by a color facsimile of the entire manuscript.