Auction 74 - Judaica - Books, Manuscripts, Rabbinical Letters, Ceremonial Art

HaMagid Newspaper – 16 Bound Volumes of Issues – Hundreds of Issues of the Weekly from its Various Periods of Publication – Lyck, Berlin, Krakow, 1858-1899

Opening: $1,500
Sold for: $2,125
Including buyer's premium
HaMagid newspaper, published by Eliezer Lipman Silberman, David Gordon, Dov Gordon and Yaakov Shmuel Fuchs. 16 bound volumes of issues. Lyck, Berlin, Krakow, 1858-1899. 
16 volumes, with hundreds of issues of the weekly newspaper HaMagid. A list of issues is available upon request. 
HaMagid was the first Hebrew language weekly newspaper. Its inaugural issue was published in June 1856, in time for the Shavuot holiday, in Lyck, East Prussia (today Ełk, northeastern Poland). The newspaper aimed to publicize news items from all over the globe as well as developments in the Jewish world, but it was also a vehicle for publishing poetry, scientific articles, and opinion pieces. It published works by many of the finest Jewish authors and scholars of the nineteenth century. Even at its height, the paper attained a circulation of no more than 1,800 copies, but these copies were passed from hand to hand, and it is therefore unclear how broad the readership actually was. In order to achieve maximal readership, the paper went out of its way to steer clear of the controversies that roiled the Jewish world at the time and adopted a decidedly moderate tone. Still, the newspaper voiced wholehearted support for Jewish immigration to Eretz Israel, for the "Hibbat Zion" movement and for the Zionist movement. Many of its news items dealt with the settlement of Eretz Israel.
From 1856 to 1880, HaMagid was edited by Eliezer Lipman Silberman and David Gordon, and in the years 1880-86 by Gordon and his son Dov. Following his father's passing, Dov Gordon edited the paper alone until 1890, whereupon Yaakov Shmuel Fuchs moved the operation from Berlin to Krakow and assumed control as editor. HaMagid ceased publication in 1903.
16 volumes, hundreds of issues. 33-35 cm. Overall good to good-fair condition. Some issues printed on dry, brittle paper. Stains and wear. Open tears, affecting text. Old bindings. Wear and damage to bindings.
Periodicals and Miscellanea
Periodicals and Miscellanea