Jewish State, A.
Herzl, Theodor. A Jewish State. An Attempt at a Modern Solution of the Jewish Question. Translated into English by Sylvie D’Avigdor. London: David Nutt, 1896.
8vo.; HNF initial plate; signature and light foxing on title page; blue cloth, morocco spine stamped in gilt.
First English edition; 500 copies. (Bein, Theodor Herzl, A Biography). Rare. Herzl was well aware of the need to enlist the support and monetary assistance of the English speaking Western world, hence this English edition. Its importance cannot be overstated in influencing British leaders to lay the groundwork for the support of the Balfour Declaration which called for a Jewish Homeland years later. This copy was deaccessioned from the Judischer Studentenverband Munchen, and shows the signs of serious use, with notes in pencil and ink on the title page, as well as shelf numbers to the title page and cover.
Der Judenstaat. Versuch einer Modernen Losung Der Judenfrage [The Jewish State, An Attempt at a Modern Solution of the Jewish Question] which first appeared, in 1896 in German, was a crystallization of both Herzl’s internal vision and a public call for the establishment of a national Jewish homeland. Jews had, since the abolishment of the ancient Jewish State by the Romans in 70 C.E., prayed for the restoration of their Jewish nationhood on Jewish soil, but it was Herzl who, in the age of modernity, argued convincingly for the building of a modern Jewish political entity among the other nation-states of the world. In his eyes, it was not the hitherto prevailing positions of ghetto isolationism or self-effacing assimilationism that would lead to Jewish equality, but rather an independent nation state that would be the solution for Jewish political and psychological safety, independence, and creativity. The State of Israel was established 52 years after the publication of his historic and persuasive manifesto which ignited a movement of international dialogue and activity known as political Zionism. (PMM 381)
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