LETTER: ALS to Judge Mayer Sulzberger, October 23, 1898.
Szold, Henrietta. Autograph Letter Signed "Henrietta Szold.” Baltimore: To Judge Mayer Sulzberger, October 23, 1898.
Single sheets: 6 x 9-1/2", 2 pp.; on the letterhead of The Jewish Publication Society of America; written on the first side only of each sheet; folded once lengthwise to fit an envelope; lower right tip creased; very good. Housed in a custom-made lettercase.
Mayer Sulzberger (1843-1923), jurist, Hebrew scholar and celebrated book collector, served as Judge of the Court of Common Pleas from 1895 until 1916. Like his cousin Cyrus Sulzberger, Judge Mayer Sulzberger actively involved himself in the welfare of his community. As a Hebrew scholar, the mission of the Jewish Publication Society to make available Jewish texts in English was important to Sulzberger. He delivered the Society's decennial address and, as this letter documents, worked with Henrietta Szold, the editorial secretary of the Society. The letter reflects the professionalism and attention to detail which would become so critical in Szold's work. She describes with great clarity the constraints of the type under consideration and also sets out collateral issues of the publication date vis à vis Jewish holidays and the Society's fiscal year. She writes:
Dear Judge Sulzberger: - Enclosed please find specimen pages submitted by the Friedewald Co. together with their estimate on Mr. Abrahams' work. [Likely CHAPTERS ON JEWISH LITERATURE by Israel Abrahams which The Jewish Publication Society published in 1899.] The type on the specimens (Old Style, but not Ronaldson) is the closest to that of 'in the Pale' owned by the Friedewald's in connection with the linotype machine. It is of exactly the same size, making the same number of lines to the page. I did not ask for the line under the running title, but I did not have the specimens revised, because it is important that no time should be lost in beginning the composition of the book. If the type pleases you, the running title can be arranged for later. The line under the running title, I venture to think, requires the type page to be shorter by two lines, which would make the book contain about 270 pp. of text instead of about 250 pp. — not an objection, I should say. If the line under the running title is omitted, the type page is long enough to leave a good margin and make as large a book as 'In the Pale.' To the heavy running title there is a double objection — it is the one we are using for the juvenile series, and the printer has so small a font of the type that he could not have more than thirty-two pages electrotyped at a time. [Paragraph] The date of delivery was fixed on February 1st, in case we want to have the book out for Purim (February 24), a desirable time if we decide to have a fourth book during the fiscal year. If we are not to have a fourth book, it will be easy enough to delay distribution until before Passover. The dates mentioned in the estimate permit the author to keep the galley proof ten days and allow twenty for mailing it to England and return. The whole proof will be sent at one time.
She closes simply, "Very truly yours, Henrietta Szold.”
Henrietta Szold served as editorial secretary for the Society from 1893 until 1916. During her tenure "she had a major part in translating and editing...Heinrich Graetz's History Of The Jews, the first two volumes of Louis Ginzberg's The Legends Of The Jews, Moritz Lazarus' The Ethics Of Judaism, and Nahum Slouschz's The Renascence Of Hebrew Literature” (NAW). NAW also notes that for many years she "did most of the work of producing the standard annual of information about American Jews and the Jewish community of the world, the American Jewish Year Book.” This letter with the fine association with Mayer Sulzberger excellently represents Szold's work as editor and the mission of The Jewish Publication Society. (Concise Dictionary Of American Biography, pp. 1031-1032. NAW III, pp. 417-420)
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