Description
Title: Sefer Emunat Chachamim (ספר אמונת חכמים / Faith in the Sages).
Author: The renowned Italian halachic authority, philosopher, and kabbalist, Rabbi Aviad Sar-Shalom Basila (רבי אביעד שר שלום באזילה; c. 1680–1743). He served as the prominent Chief Rabbi of Mantua and is celebrated for this masterful defense of traditional rabbinic authority and the authenticity of the Kabbalah.
Content: A landmark philosophical-kabbalistic treatise written to counter early modern skepticism and philosophic rationalism. Rabbi Basila systematically reinforces the absolute integrity of the Oral Torah, the teachings of the Talmudic Sages (Chazal), and the spiritual transmission of hidden Torah secrets.
Print Origin & Date: Published in the historic European printing capital of Lemberg (לעמבערג / Lviv) in the year תרי"ט (1858) by the press of D. H. Schrenzel. The title page displays a classic ornate woodcut border, alongside a Latinized subtitle reading "Emunat Chachamim / Druck von D. H. Schrenzel, Lemberg – 1858".
Notable Typographical Feature: This specific printing features a highly intriguing production variation. On page 57 (נז), mid-text, the font size abruptly downscales to a significantly smaller, dense rabbinic typeface, which continues for the remainder of the volume. This shift captures a historic window into the raw operational challenges, paper-saving techniques, and mechanical adjustments of 19th-century Galician printing presses.
Historical Provenance: The front flyleaves preserve multiple layers of early handwritten ownership notations, signatures, and calculation ledgers in old European scripts, including the signature "P. Rys… Rabynowycz", anchoring this copy’s journey to the intellectual landscape of 19th-century Europe.
Condition report:
Status: Good Antique Condition with Vintage Binding Wear.
Binding: Housed in its original 19th-century half-leather binding over heavily scuffed, marbled paper boards. The spine features classic hand-tooled gilt dividers. There is a vertical split and structural lifting along the top outer joint of the spine, requiring careful handling, though the overall binding matrix remains holding.
Interior: Fully complete. The internal text block is solid. The paper displays a warm, rich natural cream browning and light uniform age-toning typical of Galician rag-paper. Margins are wide and stable. The text, including both the standard typeface and the specialized small-print sections, remains entirely intact, clear, and perfectly legible.
