William Wynn Westcott

Sepher Yetzirah William Wynn Westcott

The Sepher Yetzirah is a Hebrew mystical and metaphysical text of unknown authorship. Often ascribed to the patriarch Abraham or Rabbi Akiva, it is the foundational text in the canon of the Kabbalah. This edition was translated from Hebrew sources by the English coroner, ceremonial magician, theosophist and Freemason William Wynn Westcott, and published in 1893. The Sepher Yetzirah or "Book of Formation", is the oldest Rabbinical treatise of kabbalistic philosophy and metaphysics known to be extant, which Westcott sought to translate after a new interest in the subject in the West during the late-Victorian period. During the same period he sought to write an introduction work to the kabbalh in order to help students. During the translation Westcott sought to consult as many extant Hebrew editions as possible, along with mediaeval latin authorities on the kabbalah (Postellus, Pistorius, & Rittangelius). Furthermore he attached the additional texts "The Thirty-Two Paths" and "The Fifty Gates of Intelligence" to the work.