Chassidus · R' Yaakov Yosef of Polnoye · The Baal Shem Tov (R' Yisrael ben Eliezer) — teachings · 18th c. · Korec · Printed Book · Chassidic · First Edition · Foundational

ספר תולדות יעקב יוסף — דפוס ראשון, קוריץ תק״ם

Toldos Yaakov Yosef — first edition (Korec, 1780), the first published Hasidic book

Korec, 1780 · The National Library of Israel

The first Hasidic book ever printed — published in Korec in 1780 by R' Yaakov Yosef of Polnoye, the Baal Shem Tov's primary disciple, just twenty years after his master's death. The volume contains over 280 teachings R' Yaakov Yosef heard directly from the Baal Shem Tov, each marked "שמעתי ממורי" ("I heard from my master"), and is the single most important and authentic source for the Baal Shem Tov's Torah. Its appearance was a watershed moment that brought the oral teachings of the early Hasidic movement into print and into wider circulation across Eastern Europe.