AMERICANA Talmid Yerushalmi. Masecta Bikurim. Second Edition. Chicago 1890.

First published in 1887, this was the first volume of the Talmud to be published in America. With a three-part commentary by R. Avrohom Eliezer Alperstein. In the first edition, the author extolled the virtues of the members of his congregation in Chicago. In this edition however, the author rewrote the introduction, referring to his members as “wild boars” and refers to America as a whole as an “Ama Reika”, an “empty nation”.
R. Avrohom Eliezer Alperstein (1853-1917), was born in Kobrin and studied under the Ridvaz and the Beis HaLevy in Slutzk. He served as Rav in a few communities in Lithuania including Slabodka, before emigrating to the United States in 1881. He initially settled in Chicago, but then moved to New York where he served as the first Rosh Yeshiva in the newly established Yeshivas Rabbeinu Yitzchok Elchonon.
Includes approbations by the Beis HaLevy and R. Yaakov Yosef, the Rav Ha’Kollel. There is a handwritten inscription, possibly in the hand of the author.
Goldman 569. Rosenberg press. [2], 6, 48 pages. 33.5 cm. Very fine condition. Pages bound out of order in a few places. One page with a tear on the corner slightly effecting text. Antique binding.
Opening bid $300