Sipurei Maasiot, "That which we have merited hearing from our holy rabbi, the hidden light, R. Nachman", tales related by R. Nachman of Breslov, recorded by his disciple R. Natan of Breslov. [Lviv, ca. 1850]. Yiddish. Early, rare edition.
Bound with four books of homiletics and ethics in Yiddish (see details below).
The first edition of Sipurei Maasiot was printed by R. Natan of Breslov in 1815 or 1816, in Ostroh or Mohyliv. In that edition, the tales were printed in two languages: Hebrew and Yiddish, following the explicit directives of R. Nachman of Breslov. The second known edition was apparently also prepared for print by R. Natan (who added a second foreword), yet it was only printed after his death by one of his disciples in Lviv, ca. 1850 (the "Sipam" edition, which was also a bilingual edition). The present edition, printed in Yiddish, is the first monolingual edition of the book.
This edition is not listed in the Bibliography of Hebrew Book, nor is it listed by Gershom Scholem in his bibliography of Breslov books – Eleh Shemot (Jerusalem 1928). The place and date of printing do not appear on the title page.
Rare copy. To the best of our knowledge, one copy lacking two leaves (11-12) is held in the NLI, and another copy is held in the Schocken Institute library. No other copies are known to us.
This edition has several variations and omissions in comparison to the first edition.
R. Nachman himself is cited as describing the importance of printing these tales in Yiddish and that this is a segulah for fertility: "His will was that these stories be printed in our spoken language, Yiddish, and he said then that it is likely that a barren woman will read a story and hence merit bearing children" (Chayei Moharan, 25).
18, 21-22, 21-42, 45-48 leaves (complete copy, misfoliated). 24.5 cm. Wide margins. Fair-good condition. Stains and wear.
Bound with four Yiddish books:
• Nachlat Tzvi, compilation of ethical sayings from the Zohar translated into Yiddish, according to the order of the weekly Torah portions, by R. Tzvi Hirsch Chotsh of Krakow. Unidentified edition. 12, [130] leaves. Without title page.
• Kav HaYashar, kabbalistic ethics, by R. Tzvi Hirsch Kaidanover, translated into Yiddish. Iaşi, 1858. 58, 60-79 leaves (lacking leaf 59).
• Kehal Chassidim, stories about tzaddikim, by R. Aharon Walden, translation into Yiddish. Unidentified edition. [3], 59 leaves. Lacking last leaf.
• Kol Yaakov, on the Five Megillot, by R. Yaakov Kranz – the Maggid of Dubno, translated into Yiddish. Lviv, 1873. [26] leaves. Lacking final 16 leaves.
Five books bound together. Approx. 24 cm. Condition varies. Damaged binding.

PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.