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Table of Contents > Political & Americana > Lot 195 |
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Lot Number: 195
Click for a Printable PageSign-in to Bid or Register to Bid Estimate Range: $14,000 - $24,000 |
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First Edition of Theodor Herzl's 1896 Historic Proposal and Plan for a Jewish State that laid the Foundations of Political Zionism |
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[Theodor Herzl / Judaica] 1896 True First Edition Book authored by Theodor Herzl, titled, “Der Judenstaat.” (German, literally "The Jew State", commonly translated as "The Jewish State") Versuch Einer Modernen Lsung Der Judenfrage,” ("Proposal of a modern solution for the Jewish question"), of Herzl's historic plan for a Jewish State, 86 pages, Complete, written 1895/96 while working as a journalist in Vienna, printed in Leipzig und Wien: M. Breitenstein, 1896, Fine. First edition of Herzl’s landmark manifesto for an independent Jewish state, “one of the most important books in the history of the Jewish People.” It is considered one of the most important texts of early Zionism. In fine condition, this Rare and Important First Edition Hardcover Book of Theodor Herzl's Historic Plan for a Jewish State, “Der Judenstaat. Versuch Einer Modernen Lsung Der Judenfrage,” Leipzig und Wien, by M. Breitenstein, 1896. This First Edition measuring 9.25” x 6.25” (8vo) with 86 pages, complete. Quarter brown morocco over marbled paper-covered boards; all edges trimmed; marbled endpapers; title-page evenly toned; scattered soiling to the text; extensive contemporary handwritten notations and marginalia. Printing and the Mind of Man, 381This foundational First Edition of Theodor Herzl's proposal for a Jewish state was a widely influential work that laid the very foundations of political Zionism. Written in the Spring of 1895 through the Winter of 1896, when Herzl was working as a journalist in Vienna, Austria. Herzl was deeply affected by the ongoing “Dreyfus affair” in Paris, and the rampant pogroms in Russia during the 1880s. Appalled at this Anti-Semitism, Herzl concluded that the answer to the "Jewish question" and their protection from violence, was not a social or religious one, but rather a national one, that could only be solved by organizing the Jewish people into a worldwide political force. This work inaugurated Herzl's work in "transform[ing] Zionism from a weak and insignificant movement into a world organization and a political entity that Great Britain was prepared to accept as the authorized representative of the Jewish people. This in turn led to the Balfour Declaration and eventually to the founding of the State of Israel" (Encyclopedia Judaica 8:419-20). "It was Herzl's book which really crystallized the idea of a “National Home” for the Jews. By this work he transformed the Jewish people from a passive community into a positive political force." (PMM). Herzl's work was originally planned as a speech to be given to the influential Jewish Rothschild family, but was rejected by Baron Edmond de Rothschild, who disagreed with Herzl's ideas. Following early difficulties in obtaining a publisher, he and the small Viennese publisher, “M. Breitenstein” published this slim volume in an edition of 3,000 copies in early February, 1896. That same year translations from its original German into English and French appeared, paid directly out of pocket by Herzl. "That a Jewish State was created in Palestine within fifty years of his death was due to the vision and practical methods of Herzl, expressed in his manifesto of 1896." (PMM). We note only one similar quality original copy offered currently online by a prominent book dealer being offered at $30,000. Overall, this example has additional insight and notations, an exceedingly rare original First True Edition as originally published in German. Having a clean even overall appearance, lacking in most all institutional and private collections. As expressed in this book, Herzl envisioned the founding of a future independent Jewish state during the 20th century. He argued that the best way to avoid antisemitism in Europe was to create this independent Jewish state. Herzl, who had lived as a secular, largely assimilated Jew, was fluent in neither Hebrew nor Yiddish. His lack of contact with Jewish culture and intellectual currents, and his limited contact with Jews less assimilated than he was probably the reason he abandoned fundamental Jewish principles and rekindled Zionism with this text. The book was used to encourage Jews from all across Europe to purchase land in Palestine. In Der Judenstaat, Herzl noted the possibility of a Jewish state in Argentina.Herzl popularized the term "Zionism", which was coined by Nathan Birnbaum. The nationalist movement culminated in the birth of the State of Israel in 1948, though Zionism continues to be connected with political support of the State of Israel. First published in Vienna in 1896 as “Der Judenstaat” and in English that same year (in London by David Nutt), this work inaugurated Herzl's work in "transform[ing] Zionism from a weak and insignificant movement into a world organization and a political entity that Great Britain was prepared to accept as the authorized representative of the Jewish people. This in turn led to the Balfour Declaration and eventually to the founding of the State of Israel" (Encyclopedia Judaica 8:419-20). The first draft of the work, titled "Address to the Rothschilds", was to be a private communication not intended for publication. Herzl planned to show the Rothschilds that their wealth was "an ever-rising tower that was bound for collapse unless the base upon which it rested was proportionately widened... The Rothschilds' wealth, he argued, should be sanctified by the goal it serves. It should provide the financial basis of a vast program of migration and settlement, which Herzl set out to describe in detail" (Encyclopedia Judaica). "It was Herzl's book which really crystallized the idea of a national home for the Jews. Two conceptions had prevailed hitherto: either that of the ghetto, presupposing an unbridgeable gulf between Jews and Gentiles, or that of assimilation, which meant a complete acceptance by the Jews of their environment leading eventually to becoming among whom they lived. Herzl took a different view. By his work he transformed the Jewish people from a passive community into a positive political force" (PMM 381). It "has remained the single most important manifesto of modern Zionism and is one of the most important books in the history of the Jewish People" (Heymann, Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana-Treasures of Jewish Booklore 46:102-03). |
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Lot Number: 195
Click for a Printable Page Sign-in to Bid or Register to Bid |
Estimate Range: $14,000 - $24,000 |
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Early American History Auctions, Inc. 1520 Commerce St., # 312 • Winchester, VA 22601 Phone: 858 • 759 • 3290 Email: Auctions@EarlyAmerican.com |
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