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In Hebrew and Aramaic. Volume 1 1558 C.E.: Bereshit (=Genesis) (8), 251 leaves. Leaves' size: 193 x 141 mm. Restored old blind stamped leather boards with new spine. Very neat, small, old marginalia. Bottom of last leaf has censor's signature. Volume 3 1560 C.E.: Bamidar & Dvarim (= Numbers and Deuteronomy) leaves: (2), 118 to 300 = 184 leaves. The page numbering is a continuation of the previous book, Vayikra (Leviticus) which is not here. Leaves' size: 205 x 150 mm. New leather binding. 3 pages (173, 221 verso, 222 recto) have a total of few lines the censor inked out, but after c. 5 centuries, the lines are partly visible through the faded ink. Censor's inscriptions on last page. Repair to top corner of last leaf with loss of c. seven words. Steinschneider 3477, Column 539. STC. PAGE 890. Amram, pages 325-327. Gerhard Scholem - Bibliographia Kabbalistica. Die Judische Mystick. Berlin 1933. #A1. Zedner 704. Cowley 725.Hill-Lowy 84. Wiener number 3384, page 407. The Mantua Zohar was printed in three volumes (v. 1 in 1558, v.2 in 1559, v.3 in 1560) at the press of Tommaso Ruffinelli. V. 1 was completed Friday, 20th day of Av, [5]318 = August 4, 1558, see last page. V. 3 was completed in 1560 C.E., see last page: "Zohar Nishlam" . . . 'biShnat Shin Kaf'. . . (= The Zohar was completed. . . in the year [5]320). Offered here are only 3 of the 5 covering the Khumash (aka Five Books of Moses aka The Pentateuch). Bereshit (Genesis), BaMidbar (Numbers), Devarim (Deuteronomy). The three books here are bound in two volumes. The title pages are framed by an arch with Solomonic columns, the type believed to have been used in Solomon's Temple. The Mantua edition set the standard for Zohar pagination. Many words on the title page are stressed with double strokes (gershayim). Some of these strokes represent abbreviated words (e.g. Reish or R' for Rabbi); some are there just for emphasis (e.g. over the name Guglielmo Gonzaga, the Duke of Mantua). All of Jacob of Gazzuolo's work was in collaboration with Christian printers, most likely because Jews did not have the means or authorization to publish themselves. Translation of the title page of volume 1:] "This is the gate of the Lord [Psalm 118:20] THE BOOK OF THE ZOHAR on the Torah, by the holy, Godly, Rabbi Simon ben Yohai of blessed memory, with Sitrei Torah [= Secrets of the Bible], The Hidden Midrash [= commentary] and Tosefta [= Addenda] on some of the chapters. [These are subsections of the Zohar.] [Also included are] notes, indicating the chapter and verse of the Biblical quotations and a glossary at the end of the book. Printed and proofread, with great care, by the young men, Emmanuel, the son of the honorable Gabriel, May God Protect Him, from Corropoli, a member of the Gallucci family and Abraham, Y.Tz.V.[= Yishmerehu Tzuru veYekhayehu = may God protect and preserve him], son of the honorable Rabbi Meshulam, May the memory of the righteous be a blessing, from Modena. HERE [in the city of] MANTUA the dominion of His Highness, our Lord, The Duke Guglielmo Gonzaga, may his glory and majesty be exalted. [Published] by the partners, the scribe Meyer Y.Tz.V., son of the honorable Rabbi Ephraim, of blessed memory, from Padua, and Jacob, Y.Tz.V., son of the honorable Rabbi Naphtali, the Cohen, of blessed memory, from Gazzola." The Zohar is a foundational work in the literature of Jewish mystical thought known as Kabbalah. It includes commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah (the five books of Moses) and scriptural interpretations as well as material on mysticism, mythical cosmogony, and mystical psychology. The Zohar contains discussions of the nature of God, the origin and structure of the universe, the nature of souls, redemption, the relationship of Ego to Darkness and "true self" to "The Light of God". Its scriptural interpretation is a form of the rabbinic literature known as Midrash, which elaborates on the Torah.
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