Tractate Berachot with German Translation. Berlin, 1842. Only Edition. Polemic

Tractate Berachot with German Translation. Berlin, 1842. Only Edition. Polemic
Tractate Berachot of the Babylonian Talmud, with commentaries and German translation by Efraim Moshe Pinner. Berlin, 1842. Only edition. Various paginations, 43 cm. Hebrew and German title pages. The edition is dedicated to Tsar Nicholas of Russia. Unique work, German translation of the Talmud. Only this volume was printed. The author [c. 1800-1880] was a Torah scholar and Professor, a disciple of Rabbi Yisrael of Liska. He printed some of his Torah thoughts at the end of the book. He wanted to translate the Talmud into German in order to show scholars the beauty of the Talmud and to combat anti-Semitism. This edition is dedicated to Tsar Nicholas of Russia who ordered 100 copies. The names of kings, princes and noblemen who paid in advance for the book are printed at the beginning of the book. The book was the subject of much debate. Rabbi Moshe Sofer, the Chatam Sofer, gave an approbation to the book but later rescinded it. He even published a notice: ‘Chanuni Chanuni…. And asked the author to stop the preparations for the book’. The author finished it’s printing, but omitted that prestigious approbation. Original binding with gold embossing. Tear without loss to the German title page. Stains. Very fine condition.