Margaliot HaTorah, by Rabbi Hirsh Chassid of Semyatich, Disciple of the Gaon of Vilna – First Edition of Part II – ...

Margaliot HaTorah, by Rabbi Hirsh Chassid of Semyatich, Disciple of the Gaon of Vilna – First Edition of Part II – Warsaw, After 1855 (Mistakenly Recorded as Minkovitz, 1807)
Margaliot HaTorah, kabbalistic composition on Neviim, Ketuvim and the Five Megillot, by R. Tzvi Hirsh Maggid of Semyatich (Siemiatycze), prominent disciple of the Gaon of Vilna. [Warsaw, after 1855]. First edition of Part II.
Bibliographers estimate the place and year of printing as Minkovitz, 1807, yet this is incorrect – see below.
Part I of this book, on the Torah, was printed in Poritsk (Pavlivka) in 1788. This copy comprises Part II, on Neviim and Ketuvim, which was only prepared for print many years later by the kabbalist R. Mordechai Bibelkind, a rabbi and dayan in Warsaw, author of Mor Deror (father-in-law of R. Shmuel Zanvil Klepfish, head of the Warsaw Beit Din).
The author, kabbalist R. Tzvi Hirsh, maggid of Semyatich, was known in his generation as "R. Hirsh Chassid". The title page states that he was "one of the foremost disciples of R. Eliyahu of Vilna… as mentioned in the foreword to [the commentary of the Gaon of Vilna on] Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim, where they [the sons of the Gaon of Vilna] write: The sixth is the great, astute, erudite and renowned rabbi, R. Tzvi Hirsh of Semyatich. Extremely well versed both in revealed and hidden realms of the Torah, he served as his [the Gaon of Vilna's] attendant for many years. He cleaved to some of his ways in piety and asceticism…". On the final leaf of this book, the editor also mentions the fact that R. Tzvi Hirsh is ranked sixth amongst the disciples of the Gaon of Vilna listed in the foreword to Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim (in this list, the disciples of the Gaon of Vilna were listed in order of their prominence and closeness to the Gaon of Vilna, see Hebrew description of item 51).
The place of printing is not mentioned on the title page, and the chronogram indicates that the book was printed in the Hebrew year 967 – equivalent to 2207, an impossible date. Various bibliographers removed 400 from the sum, and recorded the book as being published in Minkovitz, 1807 (see: Bibliography of the Hebrew Book, listing 000160350; Vinograd, Thesaurus of the Books of the Vilna Gaon, no. 1529; Vinograd, Otzar HaSefer HaIvri, Minkovitz, 14; Friedberg, Beit Eked Sefarim, Mem, 3602).
It is evident that the book was printed after 1855, since the editor, R. Mordechai Bibelkind, who passed away in Tammuz 1855, is mentioned on the final leaf of this book as deceased (the fact that R. Mordechai was involved in arranging this book for print is also mentioned in Nachalat Olamim, Warsaw, 1882. He is described there as a person well versed in Kabbalah, as can be seen from his corrections and kabbalistic notes to the book Margaliot HaTorah on Neviim and Ketuvim. The book also quotes his epitaph from 1855).
Samuel Joseph Fünn in his book Knesset Yisrael (Warsaw 1887, p. 285), in the entry on R. Tzvi Hirsh of Semyatich, writes that this book was printed in Warsaw (where the editor resided): "And his work on Neviim and Ketuvim, also entitled Margaliot HaTorah, was recently published in Warsaw".
Interestingly, in the "words of the editor" at the end of the book, the chronogram indicating the completion of editing amounts to 1293 (equivalent of the year 2533), which is also an impossible date. Only by removing the first and last letter of the chronogram – which together have the numerical value of 700 – from the sum, does one come to the year 1833, a realistic date for the completion of editing.
[1], 18; 40; 29; 16; 19-28, (lacking 2 additional leaves from the Book of Yirmiyahu foliated 27-28), 27-65; 10 leaves. Approx. 21 cm (uneven margins). Overall good condition. Stains and wear. Worming and tears to several leaves, affecting text. Stamps. New binding.
Foliation 27-28 in the Book of Yirmiyahu originally appears three times consecutively. In this copy, the middle two leaves 27-28 are lacking (they may have been mistakenly omitted during the course of printing, due to the repetition in foliation).
Vinograd, Thesaurus of the Books of the Vilna Gaon, no. 1529.
Provenance: The Yeshayahu Vinograd Collection, Jerusalem.