Hakdamah VeDerech LeEtz HaChaim (Sur MeRa VaAseh Tov), on the method of studying kabbalah, by Rebbe Tzvi Hirsch of Zidichov. Lviv, [1832]. First edition.
Ownership inscription on p. 18a: "Belongs to the official R. Yosef Mordechai Kahana". Various inscriptions on back endpaper, torn and partly lacking (some inscriptions lacking as a result), including family inscriptions, and inscriptions mentioning Rebbe Moshe Tzvi of Savran and the date of his passing – Tuesday, 24th Tevet, 1838.
Rebbe Tzvi Hirsh Eichenstein, the Ateret Tzvi of Zidichov (1763-1831), was known as the Sar Beit HaZohar due to his exceptional knowledge of kabbalah. Close disciple of the Chozeh of Lublin, and highly praised by the Tzaddikim of his generation. Under his leadership, Zidichov became one of the largest and most prominent Chassidic centers in Galicia.
[1], 25 leaves. 23.5 cm. Fair condition. Stains. Light wear. Worming, affecting text. Marginal tears to several leaves. Margins of several leaves repaired with paper. Large open tears to back endpaper, affecting inscriptions. New binding.
False imprint on title page for Jihdas Rosanis, 1804. The true date of printing is hinted at the end of the introduction, which concludes with a chronogram for 1832. This type of falsification was common in Chassidic books printed in Galicia at that time, due to censorship restrictions and the persecution of Chassidim by the Haskalah movement (A. Yaari lists 16 books with similar false imprints; see: A. Yaari, The Printing Press of Rebbetzin Yehudit Rosanes in Lviv, Kiryat Sefer, XVII, 1940, p. 107, no. 43 [Hebrew]).
