Rare: Mishnayot Seder Moed, first edition of Tosafot Rabbi Akiva Eiger. Altona 1830.

Rare: Mishnayot Seder Moed, first edition of Tosafot Rabbi Akiva Eiger. Altona 1830.

Mishnayot Seder Moed “with commentary of Rabbeinu Ovadiya Bartenura, Tosafot Yom Tov and Tosafot Chaddashim…the book Shnot Eliyahu [the Vilna Gaon—second edition featuring this work]…Tosafot Rabbi Akiva Eiger—see this, new exegeses and chiddushim…Maor HaGola Rabbi Akiva Eiger…brought to the press by Rabbi Binyamin Wolff, son of the author of the above Tosafot…printed here in Altona, 1830.” [3], 32, [2], 33-169 (original: 172, [2]) leaves. Missing the five last pages according to the 1841 edition but in this copy there is an additional page at the beginning of the book not listed in the 1841 edition. We have been unable to find a similar copy in various libraries and bibliographic lists apart from Section 4 in the Mifal, which is also listed based on a copy held in a private collection. Moth holes, stains, tape on the last pages, a few tears. Some of the pages have damage to text. Old binding with leather spine, worn. Overall fair to good condition.

The uniqueness of this copy: this book is the first edition of the foundational work by Rabbi Akiva Eiger on the mishnayot, as far as researchers can tell it was printed in 1841 but this copy lists 1830, during the author’s lifetime(!), as the date of printing and even mentions him as living on the title page, but in the approbations which were printed at the beginning of the 1841 book he had already passed away and it appears were really printed in 1841. It may be that some of the printing began during his lifetime and was only completed after his death, while approbations were written later and added subsequently. The Bibliographic Mifal writes: “We saw only a facsimile of the title page [of Section 4, Nezikin, in a private collection], this was the Altona 1841-53 edition. We saw there a detailed description of the contents. For some reason the date was changed to 1830.”