New, Vol. 10: Edition of the Babylonian Talmud (Classic Reprint)

Sepher beL oH akdamha keguph beL onechamaha, which means A book without a preface is similar to a body without a soul ;and, indeed, this proverb remains forever true. At the time we began our translation of the Talmud, we were aware that to the study of it a clear preface which should explain its nature and the character of the sages mentioned in it was necessary, as without it there would be great difficulty for students in catching the real meaning, and in some places the reader would be confused, not being aware of its history and of the names mentioned who these were and when they existed. With this in mind, we had already prepared the present work in 1897, when only a few volumes of our translation had been issued. Although we gave a brief general introduction to the first volume of the translation, and also some prefaces and introductions in the succeeding volumes, they do not suffice for the student who desires to have a clear idea of all that he is studying. However, the translation has taken up so much of our time that it has hitherto been impossible for us to look up everything pertinent to our purpose that has been written and to submit it in presentable form. Now, after the completion, with theD ivine help of the two large sections, containing twenty-seven tracts, and in response to many inquiries from the reading public for some explanations, we find that now is the time to put forth this work; and, instead of adding two more volumes to the translation of the Talmud in the current year, we have decided to furnish the two volumes which form our History of the Talmud. It may be inferred that what was written several years ago has had to be thoroughly revised and corrected, according to the literature which has appeared since that time.
(Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don't occur in the book.)

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