Mishnat Chachamim – By Rabbi Meshulam Feivish of Kremenets, Father-in-Law...

Mishnat Chachamim – By Rabbi Meshulam Feivish of Kremenets, Father-in-Law of Rabbi Avraham HaMalach and Great-Grandfather of Rabbi Yisrael of Ruzhin – First Edition, Ostroh, 1796 – Unique Copy with Divisional Title Pages for Each of the Six Orders of the Mishnah

Mishnat Chachamim, novellae on the Six Orders of the Mishnah, Parts I-VI, by R. Meshulam Feivish HaLevi Horowitz of Kremenets. Ostroh: [Aharon son of Yonah, 1796]. First edition. The six parts are bound in six volumes. Unique copy with six divisional title pages for each of the six orders.
Approbations of the Noda BiYehudah, the Haflaah, R. Shaul Rabbi of Amsterdam, R. Betzalel Margaliot Rabbi of Ostroh, Rabbi Refael HaKohen Rabbi of Hamburg and other rabbis. At the beginning of Seder Nashim are approbations of R. Elazar Kallir Rabbi of Kolín and Rabbi David Tzvi Auerbach Rabbi of Kremenets [father-in-law of R. Natan of Breslov].
The author, R. Meshulam Feivish HaLevi Horowitz (born ca. 1710, died between 1785-1790) was born and lived his entire life in Kremenets (Eastern Galicia), where he taught Torah. R. Elazar Kallir extols him in his approbation, calling him "holy from the womb" and stating that "only his Torah is his trade, learning Torah for its own sake". The Noda BiYehudah offers him uncharacteristically extensive praise in his own approbation, declaring him to be like one of the early generations and reputed unique among Torah learners. The author of Haflaah, in his approbation, calls him "my dear friend, the extraordinary, well-reputed rabbi, sharp and proficient".
His daughter Gittel wed R. Avraham the Malach, son of the Maggid of Mezeritch (their grandson was R. Yisrael of Ruzhin). Many stories of this match circulate among the Chassidic dynasties of his descendants. Rebbe Chaim Meir Yechiel of Mogielnica relates that when the Maggid of Mezeritch sought "a daughter of a Torah scholar" for his son R. Avraham, he asked that Heaven reveal to him the greatest Torah scholar of that generation, and the one revealed to him was R. Feivel of Kremenets (Toldot HaNiflaot, Warsaw 1899, no. 123). In another source, it is recounted that the Maggid of Mezeritch desired to have R. Meshulam Feivish's daughter marry his son, since she was the daughter of a Torah scholar studying Torah for its own sake in holiness and purity (Toldot HaMishnat Chachamim at the end of Mishnat Chachamim, Beit Avot edition, Brooklyn, 2014, p. 694; see there for further stories regarding the match, his extraordinary meeting with the Maggid of Mezeritch and his view of the great holiness of the Maggid and his son R. Avraham).
Six title pages in the present copy – one for each order of Mishnah. The first title page is general and illustrated. Moed and Nashim have special frames for the respective order. Nezikin has an illustrated title page identical to the first general title page. Kodashim and Taharot have an unillustrated frame.
The Bibliography of the Hebrew Book documents a copy with only four title pages, without the title pages for Kodashim and Taharot.
Six volumes. Zera'im: [2], 33 leaves. Missing leaf [3], with the end of the approbations and introduction of the publisher, the author's son R. Menachem Manis of Kremenets. Leaves 9-10 are bound after leaf 6. Moed: [1], 15 leaves. Nashim: [1], 18 leaves. Missing leaves 19-22. Nezikin: [1], 20 leaves. Kodashim: [1], 24 leaves. Taharot: [1], 46 leaves. 19-20.5 cm. Varying condition of volumes; volumes I-III in fair-good to fair condition; volumes IV-VI in good condition. Stains. Tears, including open tears to title page and second leaf in first volume, affecting illustrated title frame and text, repaired with paper filling. Worming in several volumes, affecting text, partially repaired with tape. New (uniform) bindings.