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Every edition I've seen of Tanya includes a list, in chronological order, of every edition of Tanya ever printed. For each edition, bibliographic information is included: the publisher, the city and year of publication, the exact title as printed on the title page, the format (octavo or the like), and the number of pages.

Why?

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    I wonder if it's related to this http://www.chabadinfo.com/?url=article_en&id=26169 – Double AA Apr 28 '13 at 15:23
  • If you look at the first x number of editions, you'll see that they many were printed differently. Some having sections that others did not, etc. It is only once the Rebbe Rashab (5 Lubavitcher Rebbe) retypeset the Tanya that it takes on the form the Tanya presently holds. – Menachem Apr 29 '13 at 08:39
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    Closely related: http://judaism.stackexchange.com/q/31031 and http://judaism.stackexchange.com/q/28252 – msh210 Sep 11 '13 at 18:16
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    It's not just Tanya. See http://beta.hebrewbooks.org/reader/reader.aspx?sfid=16069#p=p284 . I think they do this for other seforim also. – ertert3terte Oct 27 '13 at 21:04

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As recollected here this was on specific instruction of the most recent Lubavitcher Rebbe to illustrate the unity of all of the locations where the Tanya was printed.

Shaar Blatt

One of the instructions that the Rebbe gave regarding the printing of the Tanya’s was regarding the Shaar Blatt, the cover page. Every Tanya has as page one, a cover page on which it states the city in which the Tanya was printed.

The Rebbe wanted that in addition to the standard Shaar Blatt which appears in every addition [sic] of Tanya, there should be a special Tanya in which should be included every single Shaar Blatt of all the previous editions that were printed.

The Rebbe explained the reason for this. When Tanya’s are printed all over the world, this serves to unite all the cities which participated in printing Tanya’s. To illustrate this unity, all the Shaarei Blatt of each edition should be collected and bound into one volume.

In 5742-1982 on Yud Aleph Nissan after the Farbrengen the Rebbe handed out to everyone a maroon colored Tanya in which were collected all the Shaarei Blatt of Tanya’s that had been printed up until then. The Rebbe gave out Tanya’s for seven hours, from 12 AM to 7 AM (see Yoman in Yud Aleph Nissan section).

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First, some background information:

Allegedly, Israel ben Eliezer Baal Shem wrote a letter to his brother in law wherein he states that on Rosh HaShanah of 5507 (1746), he spiritually ascended to the "Chamber of Moshiach" and has a conversation with the future mashiah. In the course of the conversation, the mashiah supposedly tells him that "When your wellsprings flow to the outside" (i.e. when your teachings are spread throughout the world) then he would come to redeem Israel.

Now, to answer your question:

Essentially, they are "documenting" the supposed fulfillment of the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov being spread throughout the world in the form of the Tanya. I.e. the more places and printings take place, the more the doctrines of Hasidism are spread throughout the world, the closer the coming of mashiah [supposedly] is.

  • Sounds plausible, but do you have any source or proofs for this? – HodofHod Oct 07 '13 at 06:14
  • What @HodofHod said; plus, this answer doesn't really answer the question: why are they documenting the fulfillment of this teaching of the Baal Shem Tov? – msh210 Oct 07 '13 at 08:01
  • Well, why do they feel the need to get a bunch of rabbis to sign proclamations of the supposed meshihuth of Rabbi Schneersohn when it does not actually effect anything in reality? This is along those same lines. They are documenting a self-fulfilling "prophecy." Take the answer or leave it. –  Oct 17 '13 at 04:14
  • the prophecy is not self-fulfilling. It may be controversial, but not self-fulfilling. – ertert3terte Oct 27 '13 at 21:05
  • Okay, so define the difference between "prophecy" and "self-fulfilled prophecy" –  Oct 27 '13 at 21:50
  • @ShmuelBrin If it comes true it will either have been real prophecy or it was self-fulfilling. Those are the only two reasons it could have come true (since I assume we can leave coincidence out of this, since Tanya didn't get accidentally printed everywhere). – Double AA Nov 14 '13 at 02:43
  • @DoubleAA A self fulfilling prophecy is a logical fallacy. There is nothing logically false here. If the prophecy isn't real, then Mashiach's coming would have nothing to do with the printing (in other word, it would be a coincidence). – ertert3terte Nov 14 '13 at 03:39
  • @Maimonist see above. An example of a self-fulfilling prophecy is: "When Roxanna falsely believes her marriage will fail, her fears of such failure actually cause the marriage to fail." – ertert3terte Nov 14 '13 at 03:41
  • @ShmuelBrin "When the Lubavitchers [falsely?] believe that the Geulah will be preceded by printing Tanya everywhere, that belief actually causes them to print Tanya everywhere." And it really does cause it, because otherwise they wouldn't bother going to Antarctica to print it. I don't see anywhere on that Wikipedia page that it is a logical fallacy. There is nothing fallacious here, unless you try to prove from the result that the prophecy was true. It itself is not fallacious. – Double AA Nov 14 '13 at 03:47
  • @DoubleAA Yes, the printing is self-fulfilling, not the coming of Moshiach. Yet, there was no prophecy that there will be Tanyas printed everywhere. – ertert3terte Nov 14 '13 at 04:08
  • @ShmuelBrin I thought we were talking about the claim that Lubavitchers document that Tanyas are being printed everywhere because of the prophecy that they must be spread everywhere before Mashiach can come. That is a self-fulfilling prophecy, and Mashiach's coming won't prove anything about if printing Tanyas had anything to do with it. – Double AA Nov 14 '13 at 04:13
  • @DoubleAA not before, but to cause – ertert3terte Nov 14 '13 at 04:35
  • @ShmuelBrin Same difference. If Mashiach comes the day after the last location prints a Tanya, it will prove nothing about the effectiveness of the method. To try and prove so would be committing the fallacy you referred to. – Double AA Nov 14 '13 at 04:54
  • @ShmuelBrin The reason why it is "self-fulfilling" in this case is because mashiah is coming anyway. No matter what we do. Haza"l is clear that we can speed the process or not merit him until due time, but either way he IS coming. So the fact that mashiah will come after the Tanya is printed means and proves [absolutely] nothing. I could make a similar claim regarding eating lasagna on Tuesdays, i.e. that it is because I eat lasagna on Tuesdays that the winter season will come. But this, too, proves nothing. Winter is coming anyway. So, I am just taking simple advantage of that fact. Kol tuv. –  Nov 14 '13 at 12:00