Commentary and Glosses on the Zohar by the Gaon of Vilna – First Edition – Vilna, 1810 – Foreword by R. Chaim of ...

Commentary and Glosses on the Zohar by the Gaon of Vilna – First Edition – Vilna, 1810 – Foreword by R. Chaim of Volozhin Criticizing Chassidut
Commentary and glosses on the entire Zohar, Raaya Mehemana, Midrash HaNe'elam and Idra Rabba and Zuta, by the Gaon of Vilna. [Vilna], 1810. First edition.
Printed by R. Yehuda Leib Vilner, son of the Gaon of Vilna, and by his grandson R. Yaakov Moshe of Slonim (son of R. Avraham son of the Gaon of Vilna), based on the original manuscript of the Gaon of Vilna. This is the first work of the Gaon of Vilna on the Zohar to be published (the references to the Zohar follow the foliation of the Mantua Zohar edition).
This commentary is on Part III of the Zohar, leaves 151-175. Kabbalistic selections were added in the two final leaves, also presumably from the original manuscript of the Gaon of Vilna.
With a lengthy and important foreword by R. Chaim of Volozhin, containing Jewish thought and covert criticism of the Chassidic movement. In his book Nefesh HaChaim, R. Chaim expanded on these points (see Hebrew description).
The foreword by R. Chaim of Volozhin is followed by a foreword by the son and grandson of the Gaon of Vilna, in which they describe the latter's prominence (this foreword was published in Yeshurun, Vol. XVI, pp. 737-745, with variations and additions, based on the manuscript of R. Yaakov Moshe of Slonim).
[44] leaves. 17 cm. Overall good condition. Stains. Dark dampstains to some leaves. Worming to final leaves, with minor damage to text. Stamp. Handwritten inscription on back endpaper. New binding.
Vinograd, Thesaurus of the Books of the Vilna Gaon, no. 663.
Provenance: The Yeshayahu Vinograd Collection, Jerusalem.