Commentary on Sefer Yetzirah by Rabbeinu Ya'akov bar Nissim Gaon. France, 1849. Manuscript Rare in its Beauty

Commentary on Sefer Yetzirah by Rabbeinu Ya'akov bar Nissim Gaon. France, 1849. Manuscript Rare in its Beauty
Manuscript, 'Peirush Sefer Yetzirah,' by Rabbeinu Ya'akov bar Nissim, accompanied by kabbalistic tables, by Rabbi Yosef Guggenheimer. France, 1849.
Title page in Hebrew, preceded by a copyright page in French with details of the transcriber and the year of transcription. The leaf preceding this one contains a list in French, also by the transcriber. The manuscript before us is a transcript from Munich manuscript 20/92 (refer to Areshet 5, pp. 189-198).
Sefer Yetzirah is one of the most ancient books on kabbalah; it is attributed to Avraham Avinu. According to kabbalistic tradition, the secrets of Creation are concealed in Sefer Yetzirah, and they can be used to produce a golem. This is the source of the book's name, Sefer Yetzirah. The same tradition relates that rabbinic leaders who created living beings, from the Amora'im, who created 'egla tilta' for a Shabbat meal, through the Mahara"l of Prague, who created a golem, were all done according to the Sefer Yetzirah. Although the book is closed to us, many commentaries have been written on it. One of these is the commentary before us, attributed to Rabbeinu Ya'akov bar Nissim. (The Munich manuscript, the Parma manuscript and this manuscript before us attribute this commentary to Rabbeinu Ya'akov.) There are those who attribute it to R' Yitzchak ben Shlomo HaYisraeli or to Rabbi Donash ben Tamim (Poznansky and others).
The author Rabbi Ya'akov bar Rabbi Nissim ibn Shahinֲ [d. 1007] was a rosh yeshivah and a leader of the Jewish community in Kairouan, Tunisia. He was the father of Rabbi Nissim Gaon. He corresponded with Rabbi Sherirah Gaon and his son Rabbi Hai Gaon, who referred to him with many expressions of Torah honor, such as "Champion," "Torah hero," "Mighty among the mighty, great among the great," and others.
The transcriber Rabbi Yosef Guggenheimerֲ [b. 1820s] was a rabbi in a city in Alsace, France.
Although another rabbinic leader from the same period with the same name is well known, Rabbi Yosef Guggenheimer of Bohemia (1833-1896), who was the son-in-law of Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch of Frankfurt, it is more likely that this writer is Rabbi Yosef Guggenheimer of France.
[3] leaves, 5-110 pp. 14x22 cm. Ashkenazic script, beautiful calligraphy. Biographic and bibliographic material included with this lot. Fine condition. Light wear in the corners of the initial leaves. New binding.