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LOT 94:
Precious Find: 'Beit Aharon' of Karlin. Preliminary Edition of the First Edition
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Precious Find: 'Beit Aharon' of Karlin. Preliminary Edition of the First Edition
One of the only copies in the world
The sacred sefer, Beit Aharon - one of the most renowned Chassidic works of all time, fundamental work of Karlin Chassidut, and one of the fundamental works of Chassidut in general, by the most sacred Admo"r Rabbi Aharon of Karlin - the 'Beit Aharon of Karlin' - leading Admo"r in the Lithuanian realm, whose influence reached Vohlin. Brody, 1875. This is the initial printing of the first edition, of which there are only a few surviving copies around the world.
The famous Shabbat zemer "Y-h Echsof" by Rabbi Aharon HaGadol of Karlin is printed on leaf 6. This piyut is one of the few canonical Chassidic works to have entered zemirot Shabbat. The zemer was received with great enthusiasm among Jewish communities, midnagdim as well as Chassidim, who traditionally sing it at the Shabbat night meal.
This copy, as stated, is not only the first edition, but one remnant of the surviving very few of the preliminary printings of the first edition. This preliminary edition has significant and essential differences from copies of the first edition, including changes in the title page itself. The changes include omissions of passages, inter alia, so as not to give the Mitnagdim material to oppose Chassidut (refer to the discussion in the biography in the Hebrew catalog text). We would never know about these differences were it not for the few surviving copies of this preliminary edition, untouched by the editor. It is only due to this that the erroneous leaves that were changed can be pointed out. [Refer to the article by Rabbi Avraham Abish Schorr, 'Al Darkei Ketivat V'Hadpassat Sfh"k Beit Aharon"; Kovetz Beit Aharon V'Yisrael' Year VI, issue I (31), pp 139-147].
This preliminary edition is extraordinarily rare. Out of twenty forms of the first volumes we examined, only two were of the preliminary edition!
Some of the changes from this preliminary edition include:
- Line missing from the title page of this sefer: "Wondrous and lofty words from his son as well, precious pearls ..."
- Printed on the back of this title page: "To admit and reveal that there are approbations from gedolei hador and the most sacred, as well as from Sephardic rabbis, may they be well, about printing this sacred work, but we have not presented them here out of respect for proper chronology." The rest of the copies omit the reason the approbations were not printed (apparently so as not to insult most sifrei Chassidut that were printed with approbations).
- Comments by the publisher inside the sefer marked with asterisks and listed in the above ma'amar are found in this copy.
- This preliminary copy features a sharp passage on leaf 147 omitted in the rest of the copies. The publishers were apparently concerned it would be used as a weapon in the dispute between the Chassidim and the Mitnagdim.
Refer to the Hebrew catalog text for a brief biography of the Rebbe Rabbi Aharon Perlow of Karlin.
[4], 316 pp. Lacking the frontispiece at the beginning of the sefer, and the leaves of omissions and revisions at the end (apparently added later, to the standard first editions). 24.5 cm. Owners' signatures and stamps by Rabbi Menachem Meir Landau of Lodz and Rabbi Yaakov Feivel Horowitz of Lodz.
Most of the leaves are in fine-very fine condition. Several leaves are in moderate-fine condition. Detached title page and several additional leaves. Aging stains, adhesions, and wear in the margins of several leaves. Individual worming perforations. Some of the leaves are on somewhat fine paper. Detached and blemished front binding; lacking the back binding.
