Auction 100 – Important Hebrew Manuscripts and Books from the Victor (Avigdor) Klagsbald Collection

Netzach Yisrael – Prague, 1599 – First Edition, Printed in the Lifetime of the Author, the Maharal of Prague

Opening: $2,000
Estimate: $2,500 - $3,500
Sold for: $8,750
Including buyer's premium

Netzach Yisrael, regarding Mashiach and the redemption of the Jewish people, by R. Yehuda Loew – the Maharal of Prague. Prague: Moshe son of R. Yosef Bezalel Katz, [1599]. First edition, printed in the author's lifetime.
Signatures and ownership inscriptions on title page: "Belongs to Wolf son of Meir Segal", "Belongs to… Meir Segal Epstein of Binswangen", "I bought this book… from tithe money, Binyamin Wolf Segal", and more; additional trimmed inscription at top of title page: "…Chaim Levi Binswangen…".

45, [1], 46-63 leaves. Misfoliation. Approx. 29 cm. Some browned leaves. Good condition. Stains, including several inkstains. Small marginal tears and open tears to several leaves. Light worming. Stamps. New binding.


The Maharal – R. Yehudah Loew son of Betzalel (ca. 1512-1609), illustrious Torah scholar. He served as rabbi and yeshiva dean in Nikolsburg, Posen and Prague. His prominent disciples include R. Yom Tov Lipman, author of Tosefot Yom Tov, and his sons-in-law R. Yitzchak Katz and R. Eliyahu Loanz, the Baal Shem of Worms. A leading rabbi in his days and celebrated Jewish thinker of all times, his books contain his distinctive system of thought and profound explanations of aggadot. A leader of Moravian Jewry, he was known for his ties with non-Jewish kings and for his untiring battle against blood libels. The Maharal is fixed in the popular imagination as a wonder-worker. Famous stories tell of the Golem which he created by yichudim and kavanot according to Sefer Yetzirah and which was sent by its maker on mysterious missions to thwart the libels against Jews (see Nifleot Maharal and many folk tales published about the Golem of Prague).

His original system of thought is known to posterity from his famous works, which illuminated the deeper meaning of aggadot. He printed most of his philosophical works during his lifetime, thereby preserving them for future generations (his other writings, including halachic works and novellae on the Talmud, have for the most part been lost). For a long period of about two hundred years the books were not reprinted, and it was only after a revival of interest by Chassidic leaders, especially with the encouragement of the Maggid of Kozhnitz, that the works of the Maharal were first reprinted in the late 18th century.


CB, no. 6153,11; Zedner, p. 404; Roest, p. 623; Cowley, p. 399.

Early Printed Books – Poland, Prague and Western Europe
Early Printed Books – Poland, Prague and Western Europe