Me'il Tzedakah – Berlin, 1856 – First Edition of the Commentary of the Gaon of Vilna on Megillat Esther, Including ...

Me'il Tzedakah – Berlin, 1856 – First Edition of the Commentary of the Gaon of Vilna on Megillat Esther, Including a Kabbalistic Commentary
Me'il Tzedakah, "a precious, pleasing and delightful commentary to Megillah Esther, using various approaches", by the Gaon of Vilna. Berlin, 1856. First edition of the commentary of the Gaon of Vilna to Megillat Esther.
The composition was published by R. Yaakov Lapin "from Neustadt Sugind [Žemaičių Naumiestis], Russia". The name of the author, the Gaon of Vilna, is not mentioned; the title page only states that the author is "A genius, a very great person, who has extensive knowledge in both hidden and revealed realms of the Torah…". The name of the author was omitted due to the prohibition of the Vilna Beit Din to print works by the Gaon of Vilna without their permission.
The commentary of the Gaon of Vilna on Megillah Esther is already mentioned in the introduction of the sons of the Gaon of Vilna to Perush al Kama Aggadot (Vilna, 1800). The uniqueness of this edition lies in the fact that the kabbalistic commentary is integrated in the Peshat commentary. Different versions of the commentary of the Gaon of Vilna on Megillat Esther were later printed, based on other manuscripts: the Jerusalem 1872 edition, published by R. Tzvi Hirsh Perlman of Kalushin, with barely any kabbalistic sections; the Warsaw 1876 edition, where a brief commentary was added according to the Remez approach; and the Warsaw 1899 edition (in the book Likutei Torah), containing only the kabbalistic commentary with barely any sections of Peshat.
[3], 60 pages. 16 cm. Good condition. Stains, including dampstains. Minor wear. Stamps and handwritten inscriptions. Minor worming. Original binding, worn, with tears, damage and worming.
Vinograd, Thesaurus of the Books of the Vilna Gaon, no. 126.
Provenance: The Yeshayahu Vinograd Collection, Jerusalem.