Auction 97 Part 2 Rare and Important Items
"Der Judenstaat, Versuch einer modernen Lösung der Judenfrage" ["The Jewish State: Proposal of a Modern Solution for the Jewish Question"], by Theodor Herzl. Vienna-Leipzig: M. Breitenstein, 1896. German. First Edition.
First edition of Theodor Herzl’s historical landmark, the first work to clearly articulate his Zionist vision of a Jewish state. Copy with the original paper cover.
86 pages, approx. 24 cm. Good condition. Unopened leaves. Creases. Few stains. Minor tears to edges of several leaves. Cover with several open tears to edges and to spine, professionally restored, with no damage to print. Housed in box lined with red fabric, approx. 27X3X18.5 cm. With two typewritten notes (catalogue listing).
Publication of "Der Judenstaat"
The story behind "Der Judenstaat" – commonly translated as "The Jewish State" and widely regarded as the book that served as the founding statement of the Zionist Movement – can be said to have begun with the so-called "Speech to the Rothschilds", composed by Theodor Herzl in time for his meeting with members of the Rothschild family in 1895. This speech, 22 pages in length, laid out the preliminary outline for what would eventually become Herzl’s grand landmark plan. This outline would gradually undergo a number of incarnations and versions before it sufficiently matured into a full-fledged plan, whereupon Herzl decided to turn it into a complete book.
According to Herzl’s own account, the book was written all at once, in two months of non-stop writing, "while walking, standing, lying, on the street, while eating, at night when the subject would keep me awake…" Once completed, the manuscript would, for the first time, present Herzl’s grand vision in all its glory – a detailed plan for the establishment of a Jewish state, stage by stage, beginning with the gathering and organizing of the Jews of the world, up until the enactment of a legal constitution and the adoption of a national flag. Regarding his thoughts and feelings at the time of the writing, Herzl had this to say: "I do not recall having written anything in my life with such an uplifted spirit as I experienced in the days of writing this book. Heine says that when he was composing his best-known works, he would hear the wingbeat of eagles above his head. Something of that same wingbeat is what I believe I was hearing as well".
Initially, no publisher was willing to print the book. Herzl found himself rejected by all his regular publishers, such as Duncker & Humblot, and the Berlin-based Siegfried Cronbach, who insisted that antisemitism was a waning force throughout the world. In the end, Herzl turned to Max Bernstein, a small-scale Viennese bookseller who agreed to print the book even though he did not share Herzl’s beliefs, nor was he at all sympathetic to the Zionist cause.
In February 1896, a small edition of "Der Judenstaat" was finally published in German with the subtitle "Proposal of a Modern Solution for the Jewish Question". In order to ensure that the work be treated with the seriousness he felt it deserved, Herzl added his academic degree – "LL.D." (Doctor of Laws) – to the authorship of the book.
Immediately upon publication, the book stirred up a maelstrom. A majority of public figures – Jewish and non-Jewish alike – viewed it as nonsensical and absurd; one particular Jewish newspaper editor even offered the use of his personal carriage to transport Herzl to an insane asylum. Among the book’s initial opponents were such unlikely personalities as Hayim Nahman Bialik – soon to be renowned as the "Jewish National Poet" – and Nahum Sokolow, the pioneer of Hebrew journalism who would one day become the author of the first Hebrew translation of Herzl’s "Altneuland". In the words of author Stefan Zweig, "never in [the history of] Vienna had anyone been subjected to such ridicule as Herzl".
As agreed in advance, Max Bernstein published three additional editions (distinguished from the original edition only in minute details on the respective covers and title pages) that same year. He published no subsequent editions of "Der Judenstaat".
Notwithstanding the scathing reactions of public figures and noted academics to "Der Judenstaat", the book succeeded in igniting the imaginations of a great many readers in Europe and around the world, and new editions – in Yiddish, Russian, English, and other languages – appeared not long after the publication of the original German editions.
One of the earliest editions to see the light of day was the Hebrew translation by Herzl’s personal secretary, Michael Berkowitz. It was published by "Toshiah" Publishers in 1896, the same year as the first German edition. In its introduction, Berkowitz brought attention to two "corrections" that Herzl insisted upon in oral communications with him; Berkowitz wrote the following (in Hebrew): "I hereby testify to two issues that relate in particular to the Hebrew translation… In the chapter [entitled] "Language of the Land", after he was made aware that a Hebrew-speaking readership exists for this book, a changed spirit took hold of him, as he was assured that the Hebrew language could surely be rejuvenated… As to the place of settlement… he [likewise] changed his mind… and addressed his attention exclusively to the Land of our Forefathers".
In subsequent years, with the burgeoning of the Zionist Movement and the convening of the early Zionist Congresses, the book came to be translated into yet more languages, and began to appear overseas, particularly in the United States, where Zionism quickly developed into a movement that carried weight and influence. In sum total, during Herzl’s brief remaining lifetime, no fewer than 17 editions of "Der Judenstaat" were published – most in small editions numbering only a few thousand copies, and often in the form of thin, nondurable booklets. Dozens more editions were published following Theodor Herzl’s passing, including translations into such languages as Ladino, Esperanto, Serbo-Croatian, and many others. It was to become one of the best-known Jewish works of all time.
Reference:
1. Theodor Herzl, "Theodor Herzls Tagebücher, 1895–1904", Vols. 1 and 2, 1922. In Hebrew: "Inyan HaYehudim, Sifrei Yoman (1895-1904)", Jerusalem: Mossad Bialik, 1997-2001, Vol. 1, p. 70.
2. Samuel Leib Zitron, "Herzl, Hayav U-Fe‘ulotav", Vilnius: Sh. Sreberk, 1921, p. 52 (Hebrew).
![Pendant bearing portrait of Theodor Herzl. [Bulgaria? Eastern Europe?], 5679 / 1919.Brass, cast.Obverse: Profile of Theodor H](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale97/129_1.jpg "Pendant with Portrait of Theodor Herzl – \"Day of the Shekel\", 1919")
![Pendant bearing portrait of Theodor Herzl. [Bulgaria? Eastern Europe?], 5679 / 1919.Brass, cast.Obverse: Profile of Theodor H](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale97/129_2.jpg "Pendant with Portrait of Theodor Herzl – \"Day of the Shekel\", 1919")
Pendant bearing portrait of Theodor Herzl. [Bulgaria? Eastern Europe?], 5679 / 1919.
Brass, cast.
Obverse: Profile of Theodor Herzl, facing leftward, with the inscription: "Dr. Theodor Herzl" (Hebrew). Reverse: the Hebrew inscription: "In Commemoration of the celebration of ‘the Day of the Shekel’ Year 1919". Marked "HC" (Cyrillic letters?).
"Yom HaShekel" (lit. "Day of the Shekel") was an early Zionist holiday, celebrated by a number of Jewish communities, particularly in Bulgaria, in the cities of Sofia, Vidin, Ruse, and other places. The inspiration for the holiday came from a symbolic coin issued by the Zionist Movement, known as "HaShekel HaZioni" ("the Zionist Shekel"), which was sold in the form of an illustrated banknote. It entitled its bearer with the right to vote in the Zionist Congress. On the Zionist Shekel bill dated 1919 – the year the present pendant was created – was an illustration of an imaginary coin bearing a portrait of Theodor Herzl, facing leftward. This imaginary coin was very similar to the pendant presented here (see Kedem, auction no. 9, lot 307).
In Bulgarian Jewish communities, "Yom HaShekel" developed into a genuine holiday, and from 1901 onward, it was marked every Lag Ba’Omer with festive marches, blue-and-white ribbons, and special communal prayers in the synagogue. The holiday was also marked by other Jewish communities, mostly in Eastern Europe, and mostly on a smaller scale.
Diameter: approx. 28 mm. Suspension ring. Gilt.
Writ, hand-signed by Mordecai Manuel Noah. New York, 1821. English.
The present writ is printed and filled out in handwriting, instructing that a dozen jurors be gathered for a judicial hearing in New York City Hall. On the back is a notation handwritten by Mordecai Manuel Noah, with the title of "Sheriff" in the State of New York inscribed next to the signature: "The execution of this writ appear by the hand annexed, M. M. Noah, Sheriff".
Elegantly framed, positioned underneath a (later) hand-painted portrait of Mordecai Manuel Noah.
Approx. 32X13 cm. Good condition. Stains. Fold lines. Tears to length of fold lines (reinforced with adhesive tape on verso). Framed and matted, 30X48 cm. Signature faces outward; front side of writ not outwardly visible.
Mordecai Manuel Noah (1785-1851)
American "Visionary of the Jewish State", who campaigned for the establishment of a Jewish state some one hundred years before Theodor Herzl and the founding of the Zionist Movement. Noah was one of the leading Jewish figures and activists of the early 19th century; he served as a US consul and New York State judge and sheriff, and as editor of some of the major journals of his time. Renowned for his attempt to establish a state by the name of "Ararat" on Grand Island, near Buffalo, New York, as a refuge for Jews. His extensive efforts in this regard included correspondence with some of the founding fathers of the United States of America, including Presidents John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison, who expressed to him their support for the Jewish people.
Noah was born in Philadelphia, to a father of German extraction and a mother of Spanish-Portuguese origin and participated in the American Revolutionary War. George Washington is said to have been present at his parents’ wedding. Noah Moved to Charleston, South Carolina, to study law, and joined the Democratic-Republican Party (originally America’s first opposition party, which in Noah’s time developed into the largest and most dominant political party in the US – the eventual forerunner to the Democratic Party). In 1811, Noah submitted his candidacy for the position of US Consul, and was subsequently appointed by Secretary of State James Monroe (later to become the Fifth President of the United States) to serve first as Consul in Riga (then part of Imperial Russia; this appointment was declined by Noah) and finally, in 1813, to the Kingdom of Tunis. His diplomatic function in Tunis brought him into contact for the first time with non-American Jews; as a result, he personally witnessed the oppression, persecution, and discrimination suffered by his fellow Jews, and was profoundly influenced by what he saw and learned.
In Tunis, Noah succeeded in securing the freedom of American citizens sold into slavery, but the ransom he paid for this was higher than the amount authorized by the US government. In his own defense, he argued that he was obligated to do so as a Jew, to fulfill the "mitzvah" of "pidyon shvuyim" ("release of captives"). But in response, Monroe sent him a sharply worded letter of dismissal, which he justified with what appeared to be clearly anti-Jewish arguments.
The evidently antisemitic tone of the letter of dismissal – in addition to the dramatic scenes he experienced in his encounters with Jewish communities in the course of his diplomatic duties – led to a drastic change in Noah’s worldview. Upon his return to the US, he began to devise new ideas for relieving the suffering of Jews around the world, and these ideas eventually led him to envision the concept of an autonomous Jewish territory, where Jews could find refuge from persecutions. Consequently, he began to negotiate the purchase of Grand Island. He invested his own resources in purchasing one third of the land on the island and planned to solicit donations to acquire the remainder of lands there. In September 1825, he conducted a rather pompous cornerstone-laying ceremony, attended by hundreds of invited guests, and used the occasion to proclaim the founding of "Ararat" – named after the safe-haven mountaintop upon which the biblical Noah’s Ark was said to have landed – as a place of refuge for Jews.
The proclamation of the establishment of a "State for the Jews" was widely dismissed as a recklessly futile act, and Noah was harshly mocked and ridiculed by most of his contemporaries. The "Niles’ Weekly Register" published a number of articles regarding the founding of Ararat and reported at length on the various pronouncements made by Noah and his appeal to the Jews of the world, which the publishers clearly viewed as eccentric and laughable. These pronouncements included Noah’s declaration of Ararat as a place of refuge for Jews wherever they may be; appointing himself as the "governor and judge" of the Children of Israel; his call to the Jews of the world to enlist and take part in the campaign under his leadership; his publication of a list of laws and instructions aimed at the entire Jewish people; his plea to rabbis and Jewish community leaders around the world to recognize Ararat; an order to conduct a worldwide census of all Jews everywhere; an impassioned appeal to Jews serving in imperial armies everywhere to outwardly demonstrate their loyalty to their respective armies; an announcement regarding the donation of gifts to "his holy brethren" in Jerusalem; a call to permanently abolish polygamy and prohibit the marriage of any couple in which one of the two partners is illiterate; a call for the reciting of particular prayers; an order to grant equal privileges to the "Black Jews" of India and Africa; a declaration that Native Americans are descendants of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel; and so on and so forth.
Notwithstanding all of Noah’s bold pronouncements, his plans for Ararat were largely ignored by the Jews of the world, and many of his fellow Jews scoffed at him, calling him a charlatan, or simply insane. (To be fair, the publication of Theodor Herzl’s book "Der Judenstaat" in 1896 was initially greeted similarly.) Noah had no choice but to abandon the idea of Ararat and instead began advancing a new idea, namely the establishment of a Jewish state in the Holy Land. He persistently adhered to the latter idea till the day he died, in 1851.
According to the historian Bernard Dov Weinryb, Mordecai Manuel Noah can be regarded as the "earliest proclaimer" of modern Zionism (see: Bernard Dov Weinryb, "Yesodot HaZionut VeToldotehah" ("Foundations and Development of Zionism"), in: "Tarbitz", Vol. 8, Booklet A, The Mandel Institute of Jewish Studies, Jerusalem, Tishrei 1936, Hebrew, pp. 69-112.
Seven issues of a journal and newspaper containing articles regarding the efforts of Mordecai Manuel Noah to establish a territorial colony to serve as a refuge for Jews in the United States. Baltimore and Philadelphia, 1820-1831. English.
1. Issue of the "National Gazette – Literary Register", Philadelphia, June 7, 1825, containing a news item stating that Mordecai Manuel Noah has purchased land on Grand Island (in the middle of the Niagara River, a few kilometers southeast of the Niagara Falls) from the State of New York, for the purpose of establishing there a place of refuge for Jews seeking to escape persecution in Europe.
2-7. Six issues of Baltimore’s weekly journal "Niles’ Weekly Register" – America’s largest and most influential weekly at the time, whose copies serve today as an invaluable source of historical information regarding the political and social currents of that period:
· Issue of January 29, 1820, with a report concerning Mordecai Manuel Noah’s official request of the New York state authorities to purchase Grand Island for the purpose of establishing a Jewish community there.
· Issue of September 10, 1825, with the announcement of a plan to hold a ceremony in which a cornerstone will be laid for a city to be named "Ararat" on Grand Island, scheduled to take place in mid-September, 1825.
· Issue of September 24, 1825, with a report on the cornerstone-laying ceremony for the future city of Ararat, which took place, according to the article, on September 14. The article scoffs at the various declarations made at the ceremony by Mordecai Manuel Noah, but does not reveal details of their contents.
· Issue of October 1, 1825, with a lengthy news item (covering roughly half a page) devoted to Mordecai Manuel Noah’s plan to establish the city of Ararat, including a detailed report on the speech delivered by Noah at the cornerstone-laying ceremony for the future city.
· Issue of January 21, 1826, with an article critical of Mordecai Manuel Noah, alongside a detailed response issued by Noah himself.
· Issue of November 26, 1831, containing an article giving a biographical sketch of Mordecai Manuel Noah (in a section dealing with "rediscovered" archival material); the tone of the article is somewhat dismissive, but it quotes the essential points of Noah’s speech at the cornerstone-laying ceremony for the future city of Ararat that had taken place a few years previously in the month of Tishrei, September, 1825.
Seven journal and newspaper issues. Size and condition vary. Overall good condition.
Mordecai Manuel Noah (1785-1851)
American "Visionary of the Jewish State", who campaigned for the establishment of a Jewish state some one hundred years before Theodor Herzl and the founding of the Zionist Movement. Noah was one of the leading Jewish figures and activists of the early 19th century; he served as a US consul and New York State judge and sheriff, and as editor of some of the major journals of his time. Renowned for his attempt to establish a state by the name of "Ararat" on Grand Island, near Buffalo, New York, as a refuge for Jews. His extensive efforts in this regard included correspondence with some of the founding fathers of the United States of America, including Presidents John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison, who expressed to him their support for the Jewish people.
Noah was born in Philadelphia, to a father of German extraction and a mother of Spanish-Portuguese origin and participated in the American Revolutionary War. George Washington is said to have been present at his parents’ wedding. Noah Moved to Charleston, South Carolina, to study law, and joined the Democratic-Republican Party (originally America’s first opposition party, which in Noah’s time developed into the largest and most dominant political party in the US – the eventual forerunner to the Democratic Party). In 1811, Noah submitted his candidacy for the position of US Consul, and was subsequently appointed by Secretary of State James Monroe (later to become the Fifth President of the United States) to serve first as Consul in Riga (then part of Imperial Russia; this appointment was declined by Noah) and finally, in 1813, to the Kingdom of Tunis. His diplomatic function in Tunis brought him into contact for the first time with non-American Jews; as a result, he personally witnessed the oppression, persecution, and discrimination suffered by his fellow Jews, and was profoundly influenced by what he saw and learned.
In Tunis, Noah succeeded in securing the freedom of American citizens sold into slavery, but the ransom he paid for this was higher than the amount authorized by the US government. In his own defense, he argued that he was obligated to do so as a Jew, to fulfill the "mitzvah" of "pidyon shvuyim" ("release of captives"). But in response, Monroe sent him a sharply worded letter of dismissal, which he justified with what appeared to be clearly anti-Jewish arguments.
The evidently antisemitic tone of the letter of dismissal – in addition to the dramatic scenes he experienced in his encounters with Jewish communities in the course of his diplomatic duties – led to a drastic change in Noah’s worldview. Upon his return to the US, he began to devise new ideas for relieving the suffering of Jews around the world, and these ideas eventually led him to envision the concept of an autonomous Jewish territory, where Jews could find refuge from persecutions. Consequently, he began to negotiate the purchase of Grand Island. He invested his own resources in purchasing one third of the land on the island and planned to solicit donations to acquire the remainder of lands there. In September 1825, he conducted a rather pompous cornerstone-laying ceremony, attended by hundreds of invited guests, and used the occasion to proclaim the founding of "Ararat" – named after the safe-haven mountaintop upon which the biblical Noah’s Ark was said to have landed – as a place of refuge for Jews.
The proclamation of the establishment of a "State for the Jews" was widely dismissed as a recklessly futile act, and Noah was harshly mocked and ridiculed by most of his contemporaries. The "Niles’ Weekly Register" published a number of articles regarding the founding of Ararat and reported at length on the various pronouncements made by Noah and his appeal to the Jews of the world, which the publishers clearly viewed as eccentric and laughable. These pronouncements included Noah’s declaration of Ararat as a place of refuge for Jews wherever they may be; appointing himself as the "governor and judge" of the Children of Israel; his call to the Jews of the world to enlist and take part in the campaign under his leadership; his publication of a list of laws and instructions aimed at the entire Jewish people; his plea to rabbis and Jewish community leaders around the world to recognize Ararat; an order to conduct a worldwide census of all Jews everywhere; an impassioned appeal to Jews serving in imperial armies everywhere to outwardly demonstrate their loyalty to their respective armies; an announcement regarding the donation of gifts to "his holy brethren" in Jerusalem; a call to permanently abolish polygamy and prohibit the marriage of any couple in which one of the two partners is illiterate; a call for the reciting of particular prayers; an order to grant equal privileges to the "Black Jews" of India and Africa; a declaration that Native Americans are descendants of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel; and so on and so forth.
Notwithstanding all of Noah’s bold pronouncements, his plans for Ararat were largely ignored by the Jews of the world, and many of his fellow Jews scoffed at him, calling him a charlatan, or simply insane. (To be fair, the publication of Theodor Herzl’s book "Der Judenstaat" in 1896 was initially greeted similarly.) Noah had no choice but to abandon the idea of Ararat and instead began advancing a new idea, namely the establishment of a Jewish state in the Holy Land. He persistently adhered to the latter idea till the day he died, in 1851.
According to the historian Bernard Dov Weinryb, Mordecai Manuel Noah can be regarded as the "earliest proclaimer" of modern Zionism (see: Bernard Dov Weinryb, "Yesodot HaZionut VeToldotehah" ("Foundations and Development of Zionism"), in: "Tarbitz", Vol. 8, Booklet A, The Mandel Institute of Jewish Studies, Jerusalem, Tishrei 1936, Hebrew, pp. 69-112.
!["Sefer Barkai, by Naftali Herz Imber. Jerusalem: M. Meyuhas, [1886]. Hebrew and some German.First book of poems by Nafta](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale97/132_1.jpg "\"Sefer Barkai\" by Naftali Herz Imber – First Printing of \"Hatikvah\" –")
!["Sefer Barkai, by Naftali Herz Imber. Jerusalem: M. Meyuhas, [1886]. Hebrew and some German.First book of poems by Nafta](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale97/132_2.jpg "\"Sefer Barkai\" by Naftali Herz Imber – First Printing of \"Hatikvah\" –")
"Sefer Barkai, by Naftali Herz Imber. Jerusalem: M. Meyuhas, [1886]. Hebrew and some German.
First book of poems by Naftali Herz Imber (1856-1909), notably including, for the first time in print, his poem "Tikvatenu" ("Our Hope"), which would in time develop into "Hatikvah", anthem of the Zionist Movement, and ultimately the anthem of the State of Israel.
According to his own account, Naftali Herz Imber wrote the first draft of the poem, then known as "Tikvatenu"in 1877-1878 while he was living in Iași, Romania. But a different source, cited by the "Encyclopedia of the Pioneers and Founders of the Yishuv" (p. 1586), states that the original words were written in 1886, while Imber was thoroughly intoxicated, having drunk profusely in the course of the Purim festivities at the moshava of Gedera. According to this source, Imber arose from his stupor to declare that he had "just now composed the first two verses to our national song, which shall give expression to our hope".
Subsequently, while touring the various moshavot of Palestine, Imber altered the words and added verses. Eventually, the work was published in its final draft (for the time being) in Imber’s collection of poems titled "Sefer Barkai" ("Book of the Shining Morning Star"). Roughly a year after the publication of the collection, Shmuel Cohen (1870-1940), one of the young "chalutzim" of Rishon LeZion, took an existing melody and set it to the words of the poem. Cohen’s work was an adaptation of a traditional melody with Slavic roots, associated with Romanian coachmen. The Czech composer Bedřich Smetana (1824-1884) made use of an almost identical tune as the central theme to his famous symphonic poem "Vltava" (also known as "The Moldau").
The song was enthusiastically adopted by the settlers of the moshavot. From there it traveled to Europe and was quickly embraced by the Zionist Congresses, to be sung at the conclusion of each session. Years later, the song was renamed "Hatikvah", and the Hebrew lyrics gradually underwent a number of changes. The main changes were introduced in 1905, when the line "to return to the land of our fathers, to the city where David had encamped" was exchanged for "to be a free people in our country, the Land of Zion and Jerusalem" and the words "the Age-Old Hope" were turned into "the Hope ["Hatikvah"] of Two Thousand Years". Though not officially ratified at the time by law or decree, the first two verses of the song became almost universally accepted, with few if any dissenting voices, as the national anthem of the Jewish people. In 1933, "Hatikvah" gained recognition as the anthem of the Zionist Movement. With the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, it was unofficially adopted as the national anthem. This recognition was not officially grounded in law until 2004.
Naftali Herz Imber was born in Złoczów (today Zolochiv), Galicia (then a region of the Austrian Empire, today part of Ukraine). He was given a traditional Jewish education up to his teenage years, but while still a youth he embraced the "Haskalah" movement, and shortly thereafter, Zionism. After wandering through Eastern and Southern Europe, taking on assorted occupations, in 1882 he chanced upon the Christian Zionist author, journalist, and British Member of Parliament, Sir Laurence Oliphant (1829-1888), to whom he dedicated his book of poetry, "Sefer Barkai". Oliphant happily took the young poet under his wing and brought him along when he took up residence in the Holy Land, where Imber served as his personal secretary. Once here, Imber was mostly supported by Oliphant and his wife, Alice. Imber’s relationship with the land’s Jewish settlers was complex; on one hand, he was filled with profound admiration for the "chalutzim" (pioneers), spent a great deal of time getting to know the various moshavot, and found many enthusiastic readers for his poetry among the people there; on the other hand, he never ceased to quarrel with the officials appointed by the preeminent patron of the "Yishuv" (the settlement enterprise in the Holy Land), the Baron Edmond de Rothschild (1845-1934). In the "Polemic of the ‘Shmitah’" (Hebrew, 1887-89) – a halakhic discourse in search of an appropriate approach to the biblical commandment requiring farmers to leave their fields fallow every seventh year – Imber sided with the Rabbinical establishment, and through his poetry, took issue with the representatives, supporters, and patrons of the New Yishuv, specifically the Baron Rothschild, Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, and Eliyahu Scheid; apparently, his excoriation of the Baron’s clerks for their corruption and ineptitude was at least to some extent in response to the harsh criticism personally leveled against him at the time for accepting money and medical care from his benefactor, Laurence Oliphant, and from various Christian missionaries. Nevertheless, Imber’s stance on these matters was far from consistent; at times he actually showered praise on the Baron’s personnel, particularly when they catered to his material desires.
Following the passing of Alice Oliphant, Sir Laurence left Palestine, and Imber was deprived of his patron. Shortly thereafter, he returned to his wandering lifestyle, visiting India and spending time in London before finally settling in the United States. He died in New York in 1909 and was buried there, but was reinterred in Israel, in Jerusalem’s Har HaMenuhot Cemetery, in 1953.
VI, [2], 127, [1] pages., 16 cm. Good condition. Title page detached, with stains and slight tears to edges, and inked stamp in margin. Stains. Minor tears to edges of several leaves. Inked stamps and notations. New leather binding.
Sh. Halevy, no. 545.
![Lengthy, detailed, handwritten account of a journey over several weeks, from March 7 to April 10 [1855], to the Holy Land und](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale97/133_1.jpg "Handwritten Palestine Travelogue – Visit of an American Tourist to the")
![Lengthy, detailed, handwritten account of a journey over several weeks, from March 7 to April 10 [1855], to the Holy Land und](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale97/133_2.jpg "Handwritten Palestine Travelogue – Visit of an American Tourist to the")
Lengthy, detailed, handwritten account of a journey over several weeks, from March 7 to April 10 [1855], to the Holy Land under Ottoman rule. English.
Handwritten travel diary of a prominent, well-connected American tourist whose name is unmentioned. The diary provides intriguing documentation of the early colonial period in the Holy Land, including meetings with consuls and with representatives of world powers, and meetings with travelers and other personalities who happened to be in the Holy Land at the time. It also includes descriptions of holy cities and sites (some of which were off-limits to Christians), and of local inhabitants and their lifestyles, and more.
The diary begins with the author relating his arrival by ship at the shores of the Holy Land: The "memorable morning when my feet first trod the soil of Judea! ... on the deck of the Germania this ancient city appeared beautifully resting upon the bold point commanding a fine view of the road-stead & of the Mediterranean". In an additional observation from that first day, the author gives his impressions of a meeting he had with American Vice Consul Jacob Serapion Murad, who dispatched his personal bodyguard to accompany the traveler on his way to Jerusalem.
Further on in the diary, the author gives a detailed account of his experiences on the road from Jaffa to Jerusalem, and thus provides a revealing picture of just what sort of journey this would have been in those days, including descriptions of the various way stations, encounters with local Bedouin nomads, and road tolls forcibly collected by various parties. He describes various sites, such as Absalom’s Pillar, Solomon’s Pools, the Hill of Evil Counsel (as it was identified at the time), and "the monastery that fell prey to the Muslims". He also paints a contemporary picture of the local forms of agriculture and of the nature – in particular, the flora – and the natural landscape of the land. But perhaps the most fascinating and important part of the diary – the description of Jerusalem – consists of observations made in the course of several days, and introduces some of the prominent figures and personalities active in the city at the time (some of them barely ever mentioned in other documents), individuals such as "Mr. Meshullam" (John Meshullam, an English Jewish convert to Christianity, one of the founders of the farming community of Artas, near Bethlehem); "Mrs. Cooper" (Caroline Cooper, who established the Anglican Mission’s girls’ school); "Mr. Graham" (presumably the photographer James Graham); "a Mr. Cresson, once a Quaker in Philadelphia, and now turned Jew" (Warder Cresson, later Michael Boaz Yisrael ben Abraham, who briefly served as the first US Consul to Jerusalem, prior to converting to Judaism); and others. This part of the diary also contains an interesting description of the Jewish converts to Christianity in the workshops of the Anglican Mission, including their occupations and appearance. Some entries describe visits to places and sites that Christians were forbidden from entering, or sites inaccessible to all visitors, for instance, a visit to the Tomb of David guided by a Bedouin child: "I was led into the mosque and at the furthest end I was pointed to a little window which was said to look into the tomb"; a tour of the Adullam Caves near Hebron, using a candle and string to mark the way in a place otherwise blanketed by complete darkness; and more.
On March 20, the author mentions preparations for the visit of the Duke of Brabant to Jerusalem. Taken together with other details from the diary, this reference indicates that the author’s visit to the Holy Land took place in 1855.
Parts of the diary describe the author’s journey beyond the boundaries of the Holy Land, to Egypt and Europe.
52 handwritten leaves. 18.5 cm. Diary leaves in good condition. Minor blemishes and tears to edges. Few stains. Leaves and gatherings detached in whole or in part. Front board detached. Parts of spine detached or missing.
Some 130 postcards printed on the occasion of the official visit of the German Emperor, Kaiser Wilhelm II, to the Holy Land. Various printers; most postcards printed in Germany, 1898.
Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany made his journey to the Holy Land and the major cities of the Ottoman Empire in the months of October and November 1898. The visit to the Ottoman Empire was regarded as a highly significant historical milestone in relations between the two empires.
Because of the tremendous importance attached to the voyage, it was commemorated in many and varied ways – through books, games, and a host of souvenirs – but by far the foremost medium was the postcard. Germany was, at the time, the world’s leading producer of postcards. An astounding number of publishers – some 350 of them, from Germany and other countries – began publishing postcards commemorating the journey on a historically unprecedented scale. The vast majority of postcards were printed and circulated throughout the year 1898 – some shortly before the Kaiser embarked on his journey, most during the journey itself, and some shortly after his return to his homeland. In honor of the visit, some publishers made a special offer to purchasers: individual postcards would be sent to one of the Kaiser’s destinations in the Middle East, would await the Kaiser’s arrival at that destination, and would then be postmarked on the day of his arrival and be subsequently mailed to the purchaser.
The present collection comprises over 130 postcards – most of them postmarked – and is arranged in three albums according to the various types of postcards and according to the printed subject matter, as follows:
· The first album contains some 30 postcards either bearing rare postmarks or representing limited editions. Included: Two postcards and an envelope with rare postmarks from the royal yacht ("Kais. Deutsche Marine-Schiffsspost"); postcards with postmarks from the Imperial Tent Camp in Jerusalem ("Camp Imperial Jerusalem" in Latin and Arabic letters); four large-format postcards published by Knackstedt & Näther (Hamburg); a postcard issued in honor of a planned visit to a destination the Kaiser never actually reached – the city of Luxor, Egypt (published by Emil Frankel, Egypt); and more.
· The second album contains some 50 postcards that bear postmarks dating from the day of arrival of the Kaiser in various cities; these are postcards postmarked at the German post office branch in Jaffa; the Ottoman post office branch in Jerusalem; and the Austrian Consulate in Jerusalem; as well as postcards postmarked at the Imperial Tent Camp in Jerusalem, and more. In addition, in the same album there are postcards featuring pictures of the various hotels in which the Kaiser stayed in the course of his journey.
· The third album contains some 50 postcards from various places the Kaiser passed through during his journey, including Venice, Athens, Constantinople, the Holy Land, and additional places.
Included among the various publishing companies responsible for printing postcards in this collection are Hermann Vogel (Berlin), Alfred Silberman (Berlin), Knacksted & Näther (Hamburg), Verlag des Syrischen Waisenhaues (Jerusalem), Ersten Internationalen Ansichtskarten-Gesellschaft (Berlin-Vienna), and others.
Some of the postcards appear in duplicate copies, usually with variations.
Enclosed: · Portrait of the Kaiser (1906), wearing a medal struck to commemorate the inaugural ceremony (1898) of the Church of the Redeemer in Jerusalem; · Ex Libris (bookplate): "Kaiser Wilhelm Bibliothek Posen" (1898); · picture, mounted on cardboard, of a bronze bouquet of flowers, created for the Kaiser to lay on the tomb of Saladin in Damascus; 4 postcards that apparently served as inspiration for postcards issued in honor of the Kaiser’s journey to the Middle East.
Reference: Ralph Perry and David Pearlman, "Postcards commemorating the Journey of the Imperial Couple to the Orient in 1898", Verein für Württembergischen Kirchengeschichte, Stuttgart, 2019.
Some 130 postcards, approx. 9X14 cm (four of the postcards are in large format, 15X22 cm). Varying condition. Overall good condition.
Kaiser Wilhelm II’s Visit to Jerusalem
In the months of October-November 1898, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, and his wife, the Empress Augusta Victoria, toured some of the major cities of the Ottoman Empire, with Jerusalem being the most important of the destinations. The journey took place at a time when the impending and anticipated disintegration of the Ottoman Empire was hovering in the background, and a struggle between the European powers over the "spoils" – the assets of the so-called "Sick Man of Europe" – appeared likely to ensue in the near future. The journey went on for more than a month. Chief among its goals were the strengthening of ties between the German and Ottoman empires and the encouragement of Christian settlement in the Holy Land. Among the places visited by the Kaiser and his entourage were, in addition to Jerusalem, Athens, Constantinople, Haifa, Jaffa, Ramle, and Cairo.
Preparations for the Kaiser’s visit to Jerusalem had already begun in the summer of 1898. These included a massive municipal clean-up, the improvement and overhaul of infrastructure, the laying of a new telegraph line, and other operations. In time for the Kaiser’s arrival in Jerusalem, a number of municipal roads were widened. The authorities went as far as breaching a gap in Jerusalem’s Old City Wall, adjacent to Jaffa Gate, to enable the smooth passage of the Kaiser’s opulent carriage. In addition, the city streets – most notably HaNevi’im Street, where a special tent camp for the Kaiser and his entourage, the so-called "Camp Imperial", was to be temporarily constructed – were adorned with the flags of Germany and the Ottoman Empire, and with makeshift, portable ceremonial gates.
One of the main highlights of the Kaiser’s visit to Jerusalem was the inaugural ceremony of the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, adjacent to the Holy Sepulchre in the Christian Quarter of the Old City. The Kaiser also visited the German Colony, the Mt. of Olives, City Hall, and other sites. From a Jewish standpoint, undoubtedly the most historically important event on the Kaiser’s itinerary was his hastily arranged meeting with Theodor Herzl.
Throughout their visit, Wilhelm and the Empress were accompanied by a small entourage. The Kaiser rode either on horseback or in the imperial carriage. Following in the footsteps of his immediate entourage in Jerusalem was a parade of lower-ranked officials, accompanied by cavalry regiments and "kawas" officials – ceremonial Ottoman-Empire bodyguards.
The Kaiser’s mission was documented in its time in hundreds of books and articles, and commemorated on playing cards, board games, and souvenir cards – collector’s items – featuring Holy Land landscapes. But beyond a doubt, the quintessential commemorative souvenirs of the visit were the numerous different postcards, many of excellent quality, printed specially for the occasion. An astounding number of publishers – some 350 of them, from Germany and other countries – began publishing postcards commemorating the journey on a historically unprecedented scale. Major publishers such as Vogel, Silbermann, and Knackstedt-Näther went as far as presenting stamp and postcard collectors with a special offer; in exchange for a fixed fee, subscribers would be rewarded with postcards featuring "the Kaiser’s blessing" from all the various cities he visited, postmarked and mailed on the very day the Kaiser actually made his presence in the city in question.
Collection of especially significant ephemera from Kaiser Wilhelm II’s visit to Jerusalem. The Holy Land and Germany, 1898. German.
1. Official entrance ticket to the dedication ceremony of the Church of the Redeemer, October 31, 1898, issued to "H. Silberdiener Krause" – the person responsible for the Kaiser’s silverware. Printed, and filled out in handwriting. On the back, dress code instructions and a small diagram of the church, indicating doorways.
29X14.5 cm.
2. Official program for the dedication ceremony of the Church of the Redeemer ("Programm für die festliche Einweihung der evangelischen Erlöser-Kirche in Jerusalem am Montag, 31. Oktober 1898"). Berlin: Sonntagsblattes, [1898]; with detailed instructions for participants regarding each of the various stages in the ceremony, from the time of entrance into the church until the departure of the Kaiser and Kaiserin from the premises.
[4] pages, 31 cm.
3. Book of hymns for participants in the dedication ceremony of the Church of the Redeemer ("Kirchliche Festordnung zur Einweihung der evangelischen Erlöser-Kirche in Jerusalem am 31. Oktober 1898"). Berlin: Sonntagsblattes, [1898].
[4] pages, 31 cm.
4. "Map of the Imperial Tent Camp in Jerusalem" ("Plan Des Kaiserlichen Zeltlagers zu Jerusalem"); hand-drawn copied sketch with eighty-seven small, numbered circles, indicating the locations of the tents of the members of the delegation, with their names and positions, in addition to showing the tent of the Kaiser and Kaiserin, hosting parlors, kitchens, the mobile postal station, and additional structures erected on the site. One of the circles is marked in pencil and labeled with the German words "Mein Zelt" ("My Tent"). Clearly, copies of the map were distributed in order to help members of the delegation find their way around the camp.
Approx. 47X47 cm.
5. Large-format postcard with photographic print showing the Kaiser attending a ceremony wherein the German Empire is granted title to the plot of land on Mt. Zion where the Dormition Abbey would eventually be built, in 1910. Printed by Knacksted & Näther, Hamburg. Delivered by mail.
22X15 cm.
6. Rare postcard with colored illustration showing the Imperial Tent Camp in Jerusalem. Printed by H.A.J. Schultz. This postcard does not appear in the catalogue of postcards of the Kaiser’s journey to the Orient assembled by Perry and Pearlman (see: Ralph Perry and David Pearlman, "Postcards commemorating the 1898 journey of the German imperial couple to the Orient", Verein für württembergische Kirchengeschichte, Stuttgart, 2019; pages. 66-67 are devoted to postcards created by the postcard printer "H.A.J. Schultz".
Approx. 9X14 cm.
6 items. Good condition. Minor blemishes and several pinholes to map of imperial tent camp.