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TIOH Art Tour: Der Judenstaat

  • 1st Edition
  • Leather bound volume Der Judenstaat
  • Slippcased first edition of Theodor Herzl’s magnum opus, published in 1896 by Breitensteins Verglas Buschhandlung Leipzig und Wien
  • Gift of the Briskin Family

This First Edition volume of Der Judenstaat (The Jewish State), subtitled Versuch Einer Modernen Losung Der Judenfrage (An Attempt at a Modern Solution of the Jewish Question), was written by the father of modern Zionism, Theodor Herzl, and published as a pamphlet in 1896 in Leipzig and Vienna. It was originally called Address to the Rothschilds, referring to the Rothschild family banking dynasty, because Herzl planned to deliver it as a speech to them. Baron Edmond de Rothschild rejected Herzl’s plan to create a Jewish state in the land of Israel believing that it threatened Jews in the Diaspora and would put his own settlements in Palestine at risk. 

Der Judenstaat is considered one of the most important texts of early Zionism. Herzl envisioned founding a future independent Jewish state during the 20th century as the best way to avoid anti-Semitism in Europe. The book encouraged European Jews to purchase land in Palestine.  

This is an exceptionally fine copy encased in a blue cloth clamshell with titles on white paper lettering.

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