Lot 247
Autograph Letter Signed by Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, to Nahum Sokolow – Jerusalem, 1896 – "The First Leaves of My Great Composition 'The Dictionary of the Hebrew Language' will Soon be Published"
A letter handwritten and signed by Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, addressed to Nahum Sokolow. Jerusalem, [1896].
In the letter, Ben-Yehuda informs Sokolow, then the editor of "HaTzfira" newspaper, that the first leaves of his great Hebrew dictionary will be published shortly ("the first leaves of my great composition 'The Dictionary of the Hebrew Language' will soon be published) and asks him to "mention it favorably in his newspaper […] so that I will be able to publish my great composition, the printing of which requires a lot of money" (Hebrew). At the end of the letter, Ben-Yehuda adds a request to publish in "HaTzfirah" an advertisement for "HaZvi" newspaper, Ben-Yehuda's newspaper in Palestine, in order to defeat its major competitor, "HaChavatzelet".
"The Complete Dictionary of Ancient and Modern Hebrew", also known as the Ben-Yehuda Dictionary, was printed during the years 1908-1959 in sixteen volumes, most of them published after Ben-Yehuda's death. In 1896, the year in which this letter was written, the booklet "General, Complete and Detailed Dictionary for the Hebrew Language" (Hebrew) was printed (Jerusalem: "HaZvi" publishing house). The booklet contained dictionary entries for words beginning with the Hebrew letter Aleph. In its introduction, it was noted that the booklet introduces the first leaves from an extensive dictionary soon to be published.
[1] leaf, folded in half (two written pages), 17.5 cm. Good condition. Minor stains and blemishes. Fold lines and small tears along edges.
