Shtei Yadot - Constantinople, 1679 - Signature (Gathering) from an Incompletely Printed Book - Commentary on the ...

Shtei Yadot - Constantinople, 1679 - Signature (Gathering) from an Incompletely Printed Book - Commentary on the Zohar with Sabbatean Allusions
Printed signature (gathering of leaves) from the book Shtei Yadot, by Kabbalist Rabbi Avraham Chizkuni. [Constantinople, 1679].
Composition of two commentaries on the Zohar, Yad Rama and Yad Hashem, both titled Shtei Yadot. The two commentaries flank the text of the Zohar printed in the center the leaf (Parashat Bereshit, Ma'amar Aleph, and beginning of Ma'amar Bet).
The author began printing his composition in the city of Constantinople. He had only completed the first signature and the printing ceased because the printer fled with part of the money received to cover the printing expenses. The printing of the book was never completed.
The leaves that were printed have Sabbatean allusions originating from the writings of Nathan of Gaza (regarding the book and the author's Sabbatean connections, see: M. Benayahu, HaTenu'a HaShabta'it Be'Yavan, Jerusalem 1973, pp. 72-74).
For many years, this incomplete book remained unknown, until Prof. Gershom Scholem discovered a copy in the The Jewish Theological Seminary of America in NY. The signature was not listed in the Bibliography of the Hebrew Book and no other copy is known to exist besides for that copy and this one. The National Library of Israel holds only a photocopy of the item in the JTS.
Rabbi Avraham son of R' Yechizkiya Feivel, a Torah scholar and Kabbalist, born in Krakow in 1627 was the disciple of Rabbi Heshel of Krakow. He authored the book Zot Chukat HaTorah - a synopsis of Kavanot Ha'Ari which he printed in Venice in 1659. In 1680, he stayed in Salonika and relocated to Constantinople to print his book Shtei Yadot on the Zohar. Following the failed attempt to print his book, he moved to Tripoli, Libya and died there. In 1726, his son brought his composition on the Torah named Shtei Yadot to print. In the introduction to this book, the son recounts that after his father printed the first signature of his book on the Zohar in Constantinople, "the printer fled with some of the money and this distressed him almost to death".
1-4 leaves. 29 cm. Good condition. Stains, folding marks and wear.