Tractate Avot, Avot D'Rabbi Natan and Minor Tractates, with the Commentary and Textual Corrections of the Gaon of ...

Tractate Avot, Avot D'Rabbi Natan and Minor Tractates, with the Commentary and Textual Corrections of the Gaon of Vilna - Shklow, 1804 - First Edition
Tractate Avot, with commentaries by Rashi and the Gaon of Vilna, Avot D'Rabbi Natan, and the minor tractates: Sofrim, Semachot, Kalla, Derech Eretz Raba, Derech Eretz Zuta and Perek HaShalom, corrected according to the text of R. Eliyahu, the Gaon of Vilna. Shklow, [1804]. First edition. Brought to print by the sons of the Vilna Gaon, R. Yehuda Leib and R. Avraham, and compiled by his disciple, the Kabbalist R. Menachem Mendel of Shklow. The book begins with an important foreword by R. Menachem Mendel, in which he relays several extraordinary points that he heard from his teacher, the Gaon of Vilna. Leaves 3-24: Tractate Avot, the Mishna occupying the center of the pages, flanked on one side by the Rashi commentary, and on the other by "the commentary of the Gaon, where one who studies earnestly will find many wonders, demonstrating how each teaching of the Mishna is derived from explicit verses". Leaves 25-50: Tractate Avot D'Rabbi Natan, based on the text and corrections of the Gaon of Vilna. The center of the page contains the text corrected by the Gaon of Vilna, and on the side, the old, unedited version appears, "so that one will be able so appreciate the difference between the two, like the distance from the East to the West, and the advantage of one over the other like light over darkness". Leaves 51-82: Minor Tractates in the same setup; the corrected text occupying the center of the page, with the previous version on the side. 82 leaves. 21.5 cm. Varying condition, good to good-fair. Stains and signs of past dampness. Minor worming to title page and last leaves. Inner margins of first two leaves reinforced with paper. Without binding.