In 1882, following the "Sufot BaNegev" pogroms,Yehuda Leib Pinsker (1821-1891), a physician. Philosopher, Zionist activist and one of the "Hibbat Zion" movement leaders published his book "Autoemancipation!" anonymously. In this book Pinsker explains that the dream of Jewish emancipation will never come true since hostility against Jews has become a mental illness amongst the nations, an illness which he named "Judophobia". In this composition Pinsker's views changed radically and he no longer believed in integration and equal rights. He called for "autoemancipation" – self release, drifting apart from gentiles and passing from anomaly to normality. The solution for the Jewish problem, claimed Pinsker, is in establishing a Jewish state for the Jewish people in Eretz Israel. The booklet was first published in berlin,Germany, in 1882 (see below) and later was published in 90 editions in 22 languages.
1. Autoemancipation, mahnruf an seine Stammesgenossen, von einem Russischen Juden. Berlin, 1882. 1st edition. Copy with omissions. 32 pp instead of 36 pp. Includes original cover. New binding. 26.5 cm.
2.Autoemancipation, appeal to his brothers, by a Russian Jew, translated into Hebrew by F. Frenkel. Berdichev, [1899]. 34 pp, 15.5 cm. Fair condition. Ex-library copy. Moth-holes, ink-stamps and stains. Original cover mounted on a cardboard binding.
3. Oitoemantsipatsye! A kol kore fun a rusishn yid tsu zayne brider. Translated into Yiddish by M. Bleishtift, with an introduction by I. Uger. "Beit Am" publishing, Lodz, [1919]. "Second edition". [2], [32], [2] pp, 20.5 cm. Good condition. Ink stamps. Original cover, detached, minor tears, stains.
From the collection of Arnie Druck.