Letters to Anne & Peter.
[Judaica]. Montagu, Lily H. Letters to Anne & Peter. London: Mamelok Press, (1944).
8vo.; offsetting to preliminaries; discrete bookstore sticker on front pastedown; blue cloth; green dust-jacket, edgeworn and lightly rubbed; one closed tear to top of front panel, a very small chip to back panel.
First edition. These letters are meant to be read to children by their parents in conjunction with specific passages of the Old Testament to explain and comment on them. Montagu’s charming analogies and insightful lessons are a refreshing take on the Bible, with “a splendid integrity and fidelity to the truth, righteousness and mercy,” according to the introduction by Rev. A. A. Cock. There are sixty-eight letters, with passages drawn from the entire Old Testament, including the Proverbs and Psalms.
Most interesting in terms of Montagu’s own beliefs is the approach she takes to “the more difficult moral issues” of the early books. A striking example comes in her comment on the song of God’s triumph from Exodus after the Egyptian pursuers were drowned: “Now this song is very fine poetry. The verses go with a swing. But we couldn’t make up a song like that today. We shouldn’t like to. You and I never want to think of God as a God who destroys life. We believe He hates war and all the pain and cruelty war brings” (p. 38). She continues to relate the rabbinical story of God stopping the angels from singing at the Egyptians’ deaths because “All people are God’s children,” using the passage to teach a lesson about English behavior during World War II. Montagu’s various careers as a lay-preacher, educator, women’s advocate and passionate social worker all influence her view on the Bible that she wishes her readers to grow to love. A fragile book, produced under stringent wartime restrictions; scarce, especially in dust-jacket.
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