Schneur Zalman of Liadi. Sepher Likutei Amarim [“Tanya”]

THE EDITIO PRINCEPS OF THE TANYA, AN EXTRAORDINARILY FINE COPY. THE FUNDAMENTAL EXPOSITION OF CHABAD CHASSIDIC PHILOSOPHY. AN EXCEEDINGLY RARE VARIANT, NOT SEEN BY MONDSCHEIN. Composed by R. Schneur Zalman of Liadi (1745-1813) - or the "Alter Rebbe" as he is affectionately referred to - the Tanya is universally acknowledged as a seminal work of Jewish thought. This first edition includes Part One, “Sepher shel Beinonim” (Book of the Middle Class), and Part Two, “Chinuch Katan / Shaar HaYichud Veha’Emunah” (Gate of Unity and Faith). In the course of subsequent printings, three additional parts would be added, for a total of five parts. Although originally entitled Sepher shel Beinonim, the celebrated works has become known as The Tanya, after the initial word of the text. Chassidim relate that it was the author’s intention by beginning with this word to thereby neutralize a certain “kelipah” or demon, by that name. Rabbi Schneur Zalman provides in this classic work, spiritual guidance for the Jew who is neither wicked, nor wholly righteous, but sets one’s goal to reach that of the “beinoni” - a middle ground, defined as a struggle between one's two souls, the Animal and the Divine: the soul that draws downward toward the Earth and the soul that aspires upward towards Godliness. This ongoing tense, dynamic encounter, can be so grueling, that in Lubavitch circles, the highest compliment that may be paid a chassid is that he is the “Beinoni of the Tanya.” According to Mondschein’s bibliographic study of the Tanya (p. 33), the present copy is especially rare as, unlike others, it bears the full name of the typesetter "Abraham Tzvi b. Eliezer Katz" on the final page. Also, this copy has the first four corrections of the Luach HaTa’os already corrected in the text. Among the copies Mondschein surveyed, none had this combination of issue points. Hence, this copy is a variant, as yet unrecorded. A Paradigmatic Work in the Development of Jewish Thought Provenance: From the exceptional collection of Chassidic books of the renowned Biegeleisen family of book-dealers.