Saeculum Cabalisticum ab anno MDCC. usque ad annum MDCCC : sub CCCCXLIX. inscriptionibus octingentas octoginta quatuor cabalas chronographicas, et in his varia, potiori autem ex parte moralia effata, exhibens (The Qabalistic world from the year 1700 to the year 1800. With 449 Cabal chronographica of great moral statements).

Benedictis, Antonio Fernado.

Published by Augusta Vindelicorum, S. Pingitzer, 1755

Scarce Christian Cabalist work containing no less than 449 "moral statements" from a movement influenced by a desire to interpret aspects of Christianity even more mystically than current Christian Mystics. Christian Kabbalah fully arose during the Renaissance as a result of continuing studies of Greek texts and translations by Christian Hebraists. The invention of the printing press also played its part in the wider dissemination of texts. Christian Kabbalah reinterpreted Kabbalistic doctrine to a distinctly Christian perspective, linking Jesus Christ, His atonement, and His resurrection to the Ten Sefirot, linking the upper three Sephirot to the hypostases of the Trinity and the last seven to the lower or earthly world, or would make Kether the Creator (or the Spirit), Hokhmah the Father, and Binah - the supernal mother - Mary, which places Mary on a divine level with God, something the orthodox churches have always refused to do. Christian Cabalists sought to transform Kabbalah into a dogmatic weapon to turn back against the Jews to compel their conversion. Those who promoted the knowledge of Kabbalah beyond exclusively Jewish circles were: Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (1463-1494); Johann Reuchlin (1455-1522) who was Pico's most important follower; Francesco Giorgi (1467-1540), a Venetian Franciscan friar who has been considered a central figure in 16th-century Christian Kabbalah both by his contemporaries and by modern scholars; Paolo Riccio (1506-1541) who unified the scattered dogmas of the Christian Cabala into an internally consistent system based on Pico and Reuchlin, and adding to them through an original synthesis of kabbalistic and Christian sources; Balthasar Walther (1558 - before 1630), a Silesian physician; Athanasius Kircher, a 17th-century German Jesuit priest, scholar and polymath; The physician-philosopher Sir Thomas Browne (1605-82), recognized as one of the few 17th-century English scholars of the Kabbalah; Christian Knorr von Rosenroth, (1636-1689), who became well known as a translator, annotator, and editor of Kabbalistic texts: he published the two-volume "Kabbala denudata" ('Kabbalah Unveiled' 1677-78), which virtually alone represented authentic (Jewish) kabbalah to Christian Europe until the mid-19th century. The "Kabbala denudata" contains Latin translations of, among others, sections of the Zohar, Pardes Rimmonim by Moses Cordovero, Sha'ar ha-Shamayim and Beit Elohim by Abraham Cohen de Herrera, Sefer ha-Gilgulim (a Lurianic tract attributed to Hayyim Vital), with commentaries by Knorr von Rosenroth and Henry More; Johan Kemper (1670-1716) a Hebrew teacher, whose tenure at Uppsala University lasted from 1697 to 1716; and Adorján Czipleá. After the 18th century, Kabbalah became blended with European occultism, some of which had a religious basis; but the main thrust of Christian Kabbalah was by then dead.This book features a splendid 18th century example of Dada-style typography and design on page 18. Printed on cotton paper. Minor to moderate rubbing and abrasion to spine. Corners rubbed. Text in Latin. Binding in overall good, interior in very good condition. g. Hardcover. About the author: Very little is known about Anton Ferdinand de Benedictis, except that he was a nobleman and diplomat, and the author to a pamphlet titled "Corona Honoris" (1727 and later editions). Some unconfirmed sources state that he was counselor to the Holy Roman Empire emperor, Charles VI. la Gewicht in Gramm: 750 45 Bll. 88 S. Gr.-8°, Pappband der Zeit mit Buntpapierbezug. Seller Inventory # 10058

Bibliographic Details

Title: Saeculum Cabalisticum ab anno MDCC. usque ad...
Publisher: Augusta Vindelicorum, S. Pingitzer
Publication Date: 1755
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Gut