Physical Description:

Part II (of III). 298ff., quarto, 224:180 mm., wide margins, age and damp staining. A good copy bound in contemporary boards, rubbed.

Detailed Description:   

Ein Ya’akov is the classic collection of aggadah in the Talmud compiled by R. Jacob ben Solomon ibn Habib (c. 1445-c.1515). Ein Ya’akov was among the titles proscribed and burned together with the Talmud after the pope’s bull of August, 1553, and subsequently placed on the Index librorum prohibitorum. The Council of Trent, which permitted the publication of the Talmud in 1564, and certain other works as well, did so by imposing onerous conditions, primarily concerning the expurgation of passages inimical to Christianity, and the substitution of acceptable terms for objectionable ones. Among the other conditions imposed was the prohibition of Hebrew books under their original names. The Talmud, for example, could not be reprinted as such, but could be reissued only if that name were omitted, it now being called shas, and Ein Ya’akov only as Ein Yisrael. Graetz, commenting on this situation, writes, “Strange, indeed, that the pope should have allowed the thing, and forbidden its name! He was afraid of public opinion, which would have considered the contradiction too great between one pope, who had sought out and burnt the Talmud, and the next, who was allowing it to go untouched.”

Ein Ya’akov continued to be published under the name Ein Yisrael in places where Hebrew printing was not restricted by the Inquisition. While many of these imprints may be so named simply because they are copies of earlier editions named Ein Yisrael, those printed in other places, such as this Frankfort a. Main edition, were named Ein Yisrael so that the work might be exported to Italy. Ein Ya'akov remained on the Index librorum prohibitorum until the very end, appearing on the last edition of the Index, issued in 1948.

R. Moses Shapira, son of the zaddik R. Phinehas b. Abraham of Korets, founded the Slavuta printing press, in 1791. Later his two sons, Samuel Abraham and Phinehas, took over the administration of the press. Three editions of the Babylonian Talmud, an edition of the Bible (with commentaries), the Zohar, and many other religious works, especially chasidic literature, were all produced handsomely and with great care by the press. In 1836 the press was closed down when the owners were arrested for the alleged murder of a worker who had supposedly denounced them for printing books without permission from the censor. Slavuta imprints are rare as they were consistently and continuously used by Hasidim, causing extreme wear and the destruction of many copies.

Hebrew Description:

... כולל ומוסיף על ספר עין יעקב ... עם חדושי קהלת שלמה ... חלק א-ג.

על-פי סלאוויטא תקע"א-תקע"ב, בתיקון "כל שיבושי הע"י עפ"י גרסאות הגמר' אשר כעת ... וכאשר נחסר בהע"י מהגמרא או מרש"י ותוס' הצגנו ההוספה ... ובהשנות גרסות הע"י להיפך מגרסת הגמרא בסוגר הביאונוה ... ובמקום שהתוספות שבע"י אינו בתוספות שבגמרא ... רשמנו בצדו שאינו בתוס' שבגמרא" (מודעא רבה לאורייתא, בראש חלק א). דברי המדפיס "ומה גם שמחברת ע"י ג"כ לא נדפס מפי הרב המחבר רק מפי כתבו" ולכן נפלו בו שיבושים, אינם מדויקים. רבים מן השיבושים שתוקנו כאן נפלו בדפוסים המאוחרים ואינם בראשונים.
השמטות הצנזור לא נדפסו.
שם הספר, שם המדפיס ומקום הדפוס, בצבע אדום.

הסכמות (חלק א): ר' חיים הכהן רפאפורט, אוסטרהא, טו אב תקצ"ד;
בית הדין של אוסטרהא: ר' אלעזר ב"ר נפתלי ור' יהושע יונה ב"ר צבי, ז תשרי תקצ"ה.

חלק א: (ברכות - ביצה). בשנת ו'י'ש'כון י'ש'ר'א'ל בט'ח בד'ד ע'ין' י'ע'ק'ב [תר"ה! צ"ל: תקצ"ה], 1834 . [6], רס דף.
חלק ב: (ראש השנה - קידושין). בשנת ויש'כון י'שרא'ל ב'טח בד'ד ע'י'ן' י'ע'ק'ב [תקצ"ה], 1834. רצח דף.
חלק ג: (בבא קמא - עוקצין). בשנת וי'ש'כון י'שרא'ל ב'טח בדד עין' יע'קב [תקצ"ה], 1835. ש דף.