A few Yiddish imprints from the teens & twenties

The physical qualities of Yiddish books in the period between 1880 and 1920 are distinct from both Yiddish books published in the earlier and later periods. Content alone makes the materials published after 1880 distinct from the earlier material. A large amount of the material that appeared at this time was issued in small pamphlets often with delicate colored paper covers. We do see some survivors in original wraps but more have survived as a result of bindings that were added. The standards of printing improved over the decade between 1920 and 1930 in both the US and Eastern Europe. Better paper became more widely available and Yiddish orthography curtailed the older preference for Germanic style. Below are a few samples of that era. All are available on the hollanderbooks website.

Hirschbein, Peretz. Der Inteligent: A Drama in 3 Akten. Warsaw, Ferlag A. Gitlin, 1914. Small octavo, black cloth spine with a paper label, black cloth covered boards with mild edgewear, 46 pp., yellowed paper . Hardbound. Very Good. Text is in Yiddish. (83919) 

Hirschbein grew up in poverty. He was sent by his family to study and "eat" in the home of sponsors and sleep on the bench in the study house. His first inkling of a world beyond came from the booklets of Shomer, but he accepted the intellectual viewpoint that Hebrew was the language in which proper Jewish literature should be composed. His early works were written in Hebrew and then translated into Yiddish sometimes by others and sometimes by himself. Hirschbein's Hebrew play, Shevarim (Pieces), dealt with the internal frustration and self-defeat of an intellectual, like the author, who fails to connect with "the masses. Der Inteligent is the Yiddish translation of that work. The first editon, which is physically smaller, was published in 1907 by Yavneh. This is the second edition. A last separate edition was published after the First World War.

Hirschbein wrote a large body of plays. As a result of wanderlust that sent him to England, Argentina, the United States, Israel, India and Canada among other places gave his plenty of material for travelogues of which he published a number. In his teens he was associated with the later folklorist Elzet (Zlotnick). He later worked with both Ansky and Bialik. In the theater he worked with Maurice Schwartz and Rudolph Schildkraut among others. He met his wife, the author Esther Shumiachter, on one of his visits to Canada. They had one son. After they had their son Hirschbein and Schumiachter remained in the US for most of the rest of their lives, first on the East Coast and ultimately in Los Angeles where Hirschbein passed away. 
Hirschbein was a vital presence in Yiddish theater in his lifetime, but the Yiddish theater dramatically faded away just as Hirschbein's life came to an end. He is now little discussed. If he had written in Russian perhaps his plays would still get performed. His work was translated in several different languages in his lifetime. The Perets Hirshbayn-Bikher-Komitet published a memorial edition of his works in 1951, but relatively few editions of his work appeared after that. $60.00


Justman, Moshe Bunem. In'm Reben's hoyf: a interesante ertsehlung: fun Hasidishen leben in Poylen. Warsaw, Farlag B. Shimin, [1914]. Octavo, red cloth with gold lettering, 207 pp., yellowed paper. Hardbound. Very Good. Text is in Yiddish. (83908) The first edition of this work was also published in Warsaw, but three years earlier. Justman's real name was Yushzon and he came from a Hasidic family. He joined the Mizrachi Party and became a very active journalist starting in his late teens. He was only twenty-two when In'm Reben's hoyf was first published. He is best known today for his collection of Yiddish/ Hasidic folkloric materials Fun unzer altn oytser which appeared in Poland in 1932 and later in American and Israeli editions. It is still a popular text among Hasidic readers.  $75.00

Lafargue, Paul. Di froy un di arbayter-frage. Translated into Yiddish by A.L Bound with several additional works. Warsaw, Ferlag "Progres", 1906. Duodecimo, green cloth with minor wear at the spine ends, 26, 14, 32, 32, 96, 16, 32, 12, 12 pp.,  Hardbound. Good. Texts are in Yiddish. Additional works are "Der Leher, Ertsehlungen," Abraham Reisin, Warsaw, Farlag Bikher Far Ale, 1905; "Di ershte yedies` fun magnetizm un elektritsitet," by P Kantorovits and translated into Yiddish by A P Nechaev, Warsaw, Ferlag "Yavneh," 1907. Visnshaftslikhe Folks-Bibliotek No. 2, with three b/w drawings; "Privat-eygentum," Abraham Simchah Sachs, Warsaw, Farlag Bikher Far Ale, 1906; "Patriotizmus un internatsyonalitet," A Haman, London, Arbeyter fraynd, 1904. "Ertsehlung vegen zieben gehangene," Leonid Andreyev, translated into Yiddish by Noah Prilutski, Nyu York, Literarisher ferlag, 1916, illustrated title-page; "Vi azoy men flegt behalten revolutsyonern (Nokh Stepniak)," Yisroel Iser Cohen, Warsaw, Tipografia I. Edelshteina, 1907; "Vos vilen di sotsyalisten: an aynfakhe erklehrung," Wilhelm Bracke, translated into Yiddish by Sh. Peskin, New York, M. Gurevitch, c. 1907, torn title-page; "Vos Iz Tsiyonism?" lacking title page and bibliographic data, possibly aslo from the M. Gurevitch Book Store; "Di kameye: ertsehlung," Mordecai Ze'ev Feuerberg, translated into Yiddish from the Hebrew by Y. Y. Propus, edited by Y.H. Ravnitzky, Minsk, Ferlag "Kultur," c. 1906. (83895)

Palimsest texts like this one are not uncommon. They are something that I look for. The bindings of these collections are contemporary with the pamphlets. I have no idea whether these were produced by booksellers, lending libraries, or individuals. This collection is a pretty wide ranging miscellany. Paul Lafargue was a Marxist theorist with the credential of having married Karl Marx's second daughter Laura. Literature is represented by Abraham Reisen and Leonid Andreyev. There are additional pamphlets on Socialism, Feminism and Zionist themes. There is even one dealing with Magnetism and Electricity. These collections can be hard to manage and often the pamphlets after the first one in the volume are masked. (Microfilm reels also have a similar problem.) Some booksellers will break up these collections to sell the pamphlets individually. I find these collections interesting for both what they contain and for the way the different items play off each other.    $150.00

Lafargue, Paul. Di religyon fun kapital. Warsaw, Ferlag "Di Velt", 1906. Duodecimo, black cloth spine with a paper label, worn marbled paper covered boards, original paper covers bound in, 64 pp.  Hardbound. Very Good. Translated into Yiddish by [?]. With a rare bookplate on the inside front cover with the rules for circulation at "Da Hibru Progresiv Laybreri," in Richmond, Virginia. La religion du capital, was first published in 1886 and was translated into a variety of different languages (including this Yiddish edition) during the author's lifetime. Lafargue was the first socialist elected to the French parliament. (83896)     $75.00

Taflewitz, Adolph. Di fershleyerte muze. Poezye: Ershter Band. New York, The Author, 1923. Paper covers with a green cloth spine, frontispiece photo, 160 pp. Softbound. Very Good. Text is in Yiddish. Taflewitz's only book. An uncommon work by an author not noted in the Leksikon fun der Nayer Yidisher Literatur or Leksikon fun Yidish-Shraybers. (83887)     $50.00

Yubileum-shrift tsu Ab. Kahan's 50sten geburtstog 1860-1910. New York, Aroysgegeben fun dem Yublieum-Komite, 1910. Octavo, black cloth with minor wear and a small paper label on the spine, lacking the free front endpaper (probably), 112 pp., b/w photo, mild soiling, Cahan bibliography, list of the members of the Jubilee Committee. Hardbound. Good. Text is in Yiddish except for short comments in English by J.G. Phelps Stokes and Charles Edward Russell. Includes chapters by A. Liesen, Saul Badanes, Dr. Rayevsky, Alexander Harkavy, B. Weinstein, B. Faigenbaum, Cahan, Morris Rosenfeld, S. Yanovsky, and M. Borochov. (83902)     $75.00

Sources:

Leksikon fun der Nayer Yidisher Literatur. New York, CYCO, 1956-1981.

http://yleksikon.blogspot.com (Based on the Leksikon and other Yiddish sources.)

http://www.worldcat.org/

Yiddishe Dikhterin

For most of a decade I worked on a collection of works by and about women in Yiddish. I amassed one of the best collections of work from the modern period, but I was never able to place it with an institution as I had hoped. Inquiries are welcome. A full printed bibliography with many illustrations is available to any institution with a serious interest. Price and details available upon request.

Below are some interesting items newly acquired and among the less common titles in this area. All are currently available on the Hollander Books website.

Heller, Miriam. Oygn reyd: lider. New York, Farlag "Ramim", 1963. Octavo in dust jacket with wear at the corners and the head of the spine, frontispiece photo, 206 pp., index of first lines. Hardbound. Very Good-. Text is in Yiddish. The author's only book.This item is illustrated in my post on uncommon dust jackets.  (83918)     $45.00

Locker, Malka. Du: lider. Tel Aviv, Farlag "Yam", 1932. Small octavo, paper covers with minor edgewear, 84 pp. Softbound. Very Good. Text is in Yiddish. This was Locker's second book. The first was published the year before in Paris by Editions "Le Triangle." There is an advertisement for that book on the last page of this one. Her husband Berl Locker was a very active Zionist and in 1932 was living in London and working as a member of the board of the Jewish Agency. The choice of Tel Aviv as a place of publication is a bit unusual but probably came out of their Zionist connections. Locker's husband served one term in the mid-1950s in the Knesset. It appears that after independence the Lockers lived in Israel. Malka Locker published a variety of works on major French poets such as Charles Baudelaire and Paul Verlaine in that period. They have been translated into French, English and other languages. The outward looking nature of this project showed an optimism that may have belied a feeling of linguistic displacement in the Yiddish intolerant new Jewish state. (83884)     $50.00

Molodowsky, Kadia. Heshvndike Nekht: Lider [Heshwan`dike necht]. Vilna, Farlag fun B. Kletzkin, 1927. Small octavo, green cloth spine, green paper covered boards with a printed paper panel over the front board, 96 pp., yellowed paper, free front endpaper. Hardbound. Very Good-. Text is in Yiddish. The author's first book. Molodowsky was one of the greatest Yiddish poets in the Modern period. She had a very strong education. Her father taught her Bible and Talmud together with his male students. She lived in Kiev during the early 1920s. Kiev at the time was a cauldron of Yiddish writing and artistic production. Her poetry began to appear in various literary magazines in 1920. After Kiev she moved to Warsaw where she was engaged in circle around the magazine Literarische Bleter which included other talented youngsters like Isaac Bashevis Singer. Heshvandike Nekht was her first book length publication. Right from the beginning Molodowsky brought women's concerns to the forefront in her poetry. (83891)     $95.00

Molodovsky, Kadya [Kadie]. Afn Barg. New York, Yungvarg Bibliotek, bam Kooperativn Folks-Farlag fun Internatsyonaln Arbeter Ordn, 1965. Octavo, green cloth with a paper label on the spine, marbled paper covered boards 72 pp., b/w illustrations by Ruth Israel, Mane Katz and William Gropper. Hardbound. Very Good. Text is in Yiddish. Afn Barg was Molodowsky's first publication in the US. She was a talented writer for children. This collection includes many poems with two line stanzas with end rhymes. All of the poems have multiple stanzas  which was a difference from the style of her poetry for adults. The collections in full of amusing drawings. It was used in the Internationaler Odrn Shuln, the most radically left-wing of all of the secular Yiddish schools. (83894)     $60.00

Rolnik, Mashe [Rolnikayte, M.]. Ikh Muz Dersteyln. Warsaw - Moscow, Yidish Bukh, 1965. Octavo in dust jacket with minor chipping, frontispiece photo, 263 pp., b/w photos. Softbound. Very Good-. Text is in Yiddish. OCLC Number: 41217947.   Rolnik and her family had just recently moved to Vilna as the Nazis overtook Eastern Europe. She suffered in the Ghetto there and later at the Riga-Kaiserwald and Stutthof concentration camps. She kept a diary sometimes on paper but at other times only in her head. She was a song-writer as well but apparently destroyed her manuscripts. This work is the rewritten version of her memoirs from the Holocaust years. She is remembered in an article by Itzik Gottesman on the blog "Yiddish Song of the Week," which includes a recording of her talking about her experiences and includes the text and music associated with a few of her songs. Gottesman indicated that it is possible that a number of songs attributed to "the folk" were actually here compositions. This item is illustrated in my post on uncommon dust jackets. (83924)   $45.00


Turkow, Jonas, edited by. Ala Golomb-Grinberg: di kranknshvester in Varshever Geto. Tel Aviv, Irgun yots'e Mlaveh be-Yisrael/ Farband fun Mlaver in Yisroel, 1970. Octavo, tan cloth with black spine lettering and with black lettering in a red lozenge on the front board, frontispiece photo, 90 pp., b/w photos and two pages of illustrated documents. Hardbound. Very Good. Text is in Yiddish. Golomb-Grinberg was the head nurse in the hospital in the Warsaw Ghetto. Turkow was one of the fighters in the Warsaw Ghetto and survived the revolt in the Ghetto. He is the author on many useful account of the Holocaust time many of the published in the series Dos Poylishe Yidntum in Buenos Aires. (83901)     $65.00


Sources

Leksikon fun der Nayer Yidisher Literatur. New York, CYCO, 1956-1981. Joshua Fogel has been translating this work and turning it into a searchable resource since 2014. He is also integrating additional information from the later Leksikon fun Yidishe-Shrayers, by Berel Kagan. Kol ha-Kavod

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Uncommon Dust Jackets on Yiddish Books

Dust jackets on Yiddish books are relatively uncommon. Below are a selection of titles that were issued with dust jackets and managed to remain with them. Part of the interest in book collecting is in being able to see cultural objects as they appeared in their original state and time. This is particularly difficult with Yiddish books. I have a few ideas about it, but no real proof to support any of them.

All are currently available at the Hollander Books website.

Brusilow, Nisn [Nathan Brusilow]. Di Shtile Erd: Roman fun a Fargangener Velt/ The Quiet Earth: A Tale of an Extinct World. New York, CYCO Bicher-Verlag, 1957. Octavo in an attractive Saul Raskin illustrated dust jacket with a few short tears, 367 pp.  Hardbound. Very Good. Text is in Yiddish. (22285)      $45.00

Feldman, Richard. Shvarts un vays/ Black and White: Stories of South Africa. New York, Tsiko Farlag, 1957. Octavo in dust jacket, 232 pp. Hardbound. Very Good. Text is in Yiddish. (83897)     $45.00

Guiser, M. D. Yulyus un Mari (1905)/ Julius un Mary (1905). Buenos Aires, The Author, 1950. Octavo in dust jacket with a couple of slight tears, 96 pp. Hardbound. Very Good. Text is in Yiddish. (83922)     $50.00

Haeckel, Ernst. Di velt-retenishn: populere shtudyes iber monistisher filozofye. Warsaw - New York, Yatshkovskis populer visnshaftlekhe bibliotek, 1929. Octavo in dust jacket, 353 pp., yellowed paper. Hardbound. Very Good. Text is translated into Yiddish by Elim Bronstein. Yatshkovskis populer visnshaftlekhe bibliotek No. 2. Copies of books in this series are relatively uncommon for a "popular library." It was perhaps a little too high brow. (83912)     $65.00

Heller, Binem, edited by. Dos lid iz Geblibn: Lider fun Yidishe Dikhter in Poyln Umgekumenen b'es der Hitlerisher Okupatsye. Antologye. Warsaw, Farlag Yidish=Bukh, 1951. Octavo, paper covers in a delicate dust jacket with edgewear and minor soiling, 271 pp. Yellowed paper. Hardbound. Good. Text is in Yiddish. (83917)     $50.00

Heller, Miriam. Oygn reyd: lider. New York, Farlag "Ramim", 1963. Octavo in dust jacket with wear at the corners and the head of the spine, frontispiece photo, 206 pp., index of first lines. Hardbound. Very Good-. Text is in Yiddish. (83918)     $45.00

Hirshhoyt [Hirszhaut], J.[ulian]. Fintstere Nekht in Paviak (Zikhroynes, Geshtaltn, Bilder). Buenos Aires, Tzentral-Farband fun dos Poilishe Yidntum in Argentine , 1948. Small octavo in dust jacket with slight edgewear, 239 pp. Hardbound. Very Good. Text is in Yiddish. Bikher-Serie dos Polilshe Yidntum Band 37. This entire series appeared with dust jacket, but they are still less common than one would expect. (16779)     $50.00

Rapoport, Shabsa. Zamlung/ Essays. Toronto, Canada, Pomer Poblishing un Printing Ko., 1955. Octavo in dust jacket, 226 pp. Hardbound. Very Good. Text is in Yiddish. (83921)     $50.00

Rolnik, Mashe [Rolnikayte, M.]. Ikh Muz Dersteyln. Warsaw - Moscow, Yidish Bukh, 1965. Octavo in dust jacket with minor chipping, frontispiece photo, 263 pp., b/w photos. Softbound. Very Good-. Text is in Yiddish. OCLC Number: 41217947. Farlag Yidish Bukh printed many books with dust jackets over paper covers. Some remain, but most of the books from the press still lack them. (83924)     $45.00

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Various Dovid Katz related Yiddish titles

Brooklyn born and Yeshiva of Flatbush educated Dovid Katz went on to receive a doctorate in linguistics at Columbia University for his thesis, Explorations in the History of the Semitic Component in Yiddish. Katz founded the Founding Instructor in Yiddish at the Oxford Centre for Postgraduate Hebrew Studies (OCPHS) [later the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies]. The Yiddish program was strong and healthy during his residence. He tried to establish a separate Institute for Yiddish but this failed with due to financial issues. 
         During his time at Oxford he published three volumes of Oksforder Yiddish. These were the first major publications of Yiddish scholarly articles in Yiddish published after the Holocaust (excepting the YIVO bleter). Oksforder Yiddish reminds one of the large anthologies of academic articles published by YIVO in Vilna and Berlin before the war. He published works that tried to establish standards for Yiddish language that would create a common spelling, grammar and stylistics. He also published several creative literary works under a pseudonym. All of these works exhibit similar aesthetics in their bindings and typography. Below we offer a number of them. All are currently available at the Hollander Books website.

Estraikh, Gennady. Moskver Purim-shpiln: dertseylungen/ Moscow Purim Plays: Yiddish Short Stories/ Dramau Byrion Idish: Straeon Byrion Idish. Rowen, County Gwynedd, Wales, Three Sisters Press, 1993. Small octavo, decorative paper covered boards, 151 pp. Hardbound. Very Good. Text is in Yiddish. Inscribed by the author to Joseph Mlotek. (83910)      $50.00

Fain, Yonia. Nyu-Yorker Adresn: Dertseylungen/ New York Addresses: Yiddish Short Stories/ Cyfeiriadau Efrog Newydd straeon byrion Idish. Rowen, Wales, Three Sisters Press, 1995. ISBN: 1-874386-05-6. Octavo, silver cloth covered boards with black lettering, 403 pp., b/w drawings by the author. Hardbound. Very Good. Text is in Yiddish (45208)      $50.00

Katz, Dovid, edited by. Oksforder Yidish: A Yearbook of Yiddish Studies I. London, Harwood Academic Publishers in cooperation with the Oxford Centre for Postgraduate Hebrew Studies, 1990. First Edition. ISBN: 3-7186-4979-9. Royal octavo, printed tan boards, 402 pp. Hardbound. Fine. In Yiddish. Articles are "Yiddish in Yiddish," Dovid Katz, "Blitz and Witzenhausen: New Aspects of an Old Conflict," Marion Aptroot, "Yiddish Culture in Prewar Piotrkow (Pyeterkov)," Majer Bogdanski, "Jews in Polish Folklore," Wladyslaw T. Bartoszewski, "Halachic Sources of Old Yiddish Words, " Joseph Bar-El, "On Mendele's Syntax in 'Fishke der krumer,'" Lewis Glinert, "Why do Literary Historians Ignore A.N. Stencl?" Jeffrey Grossman, "On the Origins of Ashkenaz and Yiddish," Shmuel Hiley, "Abraham Sutzkever's 'Ode tsu der toyb,'" Heather Valencia, "The Politics of Researching Spoken Yiddish in the USA and the USSR," Rakhmiel Peltz, "In Honor of Professor Chone Shmeruk," S.S. Prawer, "Older Yiddish Lexicography: Sources and Methods," Dovid Katz, "Watchmaking in Mikhalishek," Menke Katz, "A Conspiracy and a Question Mark," Robert D. King, "Irony in Arthur Schnitzler and Lamed Shapiro," Dafna Clifford, "Beginnings of Modern Literary Yiddish (1771-1798)," Dov-Ber Kerler, "My Teacher Elye Falkovitsh," Joseph Kerler, "Remnants of Yiddish in the German of Schopfloch," Hadassah Shy, "Yiddish Literature and Collective Memory: The Khmelnitski Pogroms," Chone Shmeruk, "In Memorium: Hartog Beem," "In Memorium: Florence Guggenheim-Grunberg," "Seven Letters from Sholem Ash to Moyshe Sanders." (43083)      $125.00

Katz, Dovid. Tikney takanos: fragn fun Yidisher stilistik/ Amended Amendments: Issues in Yiddish Stylistics. Oxford, UK, Oksforder Yidish Press in cooperation with the Oxford Centre for Postgraduate Hebrew Studies, 1993. ISBN: 1-897744-00-5. Octavo, glossy paper covered boards, 354 pp., bibliography, index. Hardbound. Very Good. Text is in Yiddish. Based upon principles established by the author's father, the Yiddish poet, Menke Katz (1906-1991). (45896)      $50.00

Menkes, Heershadovid. Eldra Don: un andere mayses/ Eldra Don: a straon byrion Idish eraill (Eldra Don and other Yiddish short stories). Rowen, Wales, Farlag "Dray shvester", 1992. ISBN: 1-874386-00-5. Small octavo, glossy decorative paper covered boards with matching endpapers, 191 pp. Hardbound. Very Good. In Yiddish. Inscribed by the author on the half-title page. OCLC Number: 30154632. (46498)     $30.00

Meynkes, Hirshe=David [Heershadovid Menkes]. Der Flakher Shpits: Mesiyos fun Vilner Gubernye/ The Flat Peak: Tales of the Province of Vilna/ Y Copa Gwastad: a storiau Idish eraill o Dalaith Filna. Rowen, Wales, Farlag "Dray Shvester", 1993. ISBN: 1-874386-01-3. Octavo, glossy paper covered boards meant to look live marbled paper covered boards, iv, 188 pp. Hardbound. Very Good. In Yiddish (29876)      $25.00

Klal-takones fun Yidishn oysleyg: loytn heskem fun 752-1992 tsvishn di opteylungen fun Yidisher shprakh un literatur baym Oksforder Universitet, Bar-Ilan Universitet, Vilner Universitet, Tel Aviver Universitet/ Code of Yiddish Spelling ratified by the programmes in Yiddish language and literature at Bar Ilan University, Oxford University, Tel Aviv University, Vilnius University. Oxford, Farlag Oksforder Yidish: Be-shutfes mitn Oksforder Tsenter far hekhere Hebreishe shtudies, 1992. Octavo, black cloth with gold lettering, 55 pp.  Hardbound. Very Good. In Yiddish (36518)      $40.00

Sources

Oksforder Blues, by Dan Cohn-Sherbok. Retrieved 7/12/2107:  https://www.timeshighereducation.com/features/an-oksforders-blues/105419.article

Dovid Katz personal website. Retrieved 7/10/2017: http://dovidkatz.net/index.htm

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American Yiddish Children's Books

A brief selection of Children's books for American Yiddish speaking children. Some were created specifically out of the Yiddish Shuln and others were created more independently. A previous post about the artist Todros Geller can be found here. All are currently available at the Hollander Books website.

Title page.

Davidsohn, Michl. In veldl: kinder-drame in tsvey aktn. Chicago, Naye gezelshaft, 1926. Oblong octavo, brown cloth spine, tan paper covered boards with a front cover illustration by Todros Geller, illustrated endpapers, illustrated title-page, 143 pp., b/w drawings. Hardbound. Very Good. Translated from the original Hebrew most likely by the author. Hebrew edition originally published in 1918 also by Naye Gezelshaft. Probably not illustrated by Geller. (83905)
     Davidsohn was influenced and mentored by the Hebrew author Judah Steinberg. This was his only illustrated work. He did not work in the secular Yiddish schools. At the time of his death he was teaching at a Yeshiva in the Bensonhurst neighborhood of Brooklyn. Geller's illustrations here are full-throated and ambitious.     $250.00

Ba Di Velt Gazlonim - With the Forest Bandits

Elbe [Bassein], Leon. Ingele Ringele: Di tshikave Voynderlakhe Geshikhte fun a Ingele mit a Ringole, vos iz oysgeven vo nor a hek, un voz di velt hot an ek. Di Hidushim vos er hot gezen, un alts vos mit im iz geshen. Gut far ale kinder, afilu fargroyse, nit nor far kleyne, vorn di maseh iz alts ayns a shayne/ Yingele Ringele. [New York], Farlag Matones for the Sholom Aleichim Folk Institut, 1929. Third Printing. Royal octavo, blue cloth with blue lettering on the spine and a large pastedown illustration covering the entire from board, 200 pp., a page of photos of Elbe and with full and partial page illustrations by Aaron Godelman. With a modest Yiddish to Yiddish glossary. Hardbound. Very Good. Godelman's modern style is unique but familiar.
      Ingele Rigele was originally published serially in the children's magazine of the Sholom Aleichem Folk Institute, "Kinder Zhurnal," with the Godelman illustrations that appear in the book version. Naomi Prawer Kadar discussed this book at length in her recent posthumous publication, "Raising Secular Jews: Yiddish Schools and Their Periodicals for American Children, 1917-1950," pp. 183-187. She points out that the idea of a young boy with a magic ring goes back to the Mendele's story/novella "Dos Vintshfingerl." She viewed this collection as one of the most successful publications coming out of the Yiddish children's magazines at provided quality children's literature that served the interests of the children first as well as meeting the educational goals of the Sholom Aleichem Folk Institut. Elbe was active in the Sholom Aleichem Folk Institut and the National Radical Schools that preceded the Folk Institut. His initial professional occupation was as a journalist with the "Di Varheit." (20859)     $60.00

From "Der Geshmisener Kyser."

From "A May'seh mit Drey Brider."

Entin, Joel. Fun folk's moyl: Idishe mayselakh far shul un hoyz; mit optaytshung fun shvere verter un mit bibliografishe notitsen nokh yeder mayse. New York, Hebrew Publishing Company, 1919. Octavo, orange cloth spine with a pastedown illustration on the front cover and a pastedown list of publications on the rear cover, 201 pp. , b/w drawings by Saul Raskin, minor edgewear. With Yiddish to Yiddish notes at the base of each page. Hardbound. Very Good.
      Entin was also involved in the National Radical Schools and the stories included in this collection are probably compiled from their magazine, "Di Yidishe Kindervelt." Raskin's work in this volume as well as in the "Di Yidishe Kindervelt." are at a place between his early caricature and cartoon work and his later large scale book works. (397)     $65.00

Leib, Mani. A mays´ele in gramen fun dray zin mit a mamen. New York, Ferlag Kinder Ring bay der Arbeter Ring Bildungs Komitet, 1937. Small quarto, illustrated paper covered boards with some soiling and edgewear, soiled endpapers, 44 pp., color plates by Emanuel Romano. Hardbound. Good-
     Mani Leib was one of the immigrant generation of poets that turned towards a "literature for Literature's sake" approach in a group - "Di Yunge." His enjoyment of such literary devices as alliteration in particular made him a suitable author for children's literature and he seems to have relished writing for children. El Lisitzy's illustrated version is probably the most internationally famous book ever published for children in Yiddish. This work was published at the height of the depression and was produced at the same time that Romano (Emanuel Glicen Romano or Emanuel Glicenstein) was employed by the Federal Art Project, an off-shoot of the WPA, painting murals. Romano taught art before making aliyah in the early 1950s.  (83926)     $75.00




Kopeloff, Isidore. Amolike yorn: iberlebungen fun a Idish ingel in der alter heym. New York, Farlag Matones, 1931. Octavo, blue cloth with white spine lettering, minor wear at the spine ends, illustrated paper panel over the front board, frontispiece photo, 208 pp., b/w illustrations by Todros Geller, a few stray pen marks. Hardbound. Good. Text is in Yiddish. Pen gift inscription opposite the frontispiece photo.
     Kopeloff published three volumes of his memoirs for adults. The first two appeared in Europe before this adaptation appeared in the US with Farlag Matones (publisher of the Sholom Aleichem Folk Institut). One more volume of the memoir for adults appeared subsequently in Europe which dealt with his experiences in America after his immigration. Kopeloff was born in 1858 Bobroisk, Lithuania and studies Talmud and Kabbalah in various yeshivot. He later became more involved socialism, anarchism and the labor movement. He was one of the older generation that the creators of the various Yiddish schools hoped to help young children to maintain connections with. Naomi Prawer Kadar does not mention Kopeloff or this work, but she does discuss the figure of the grandfather as a marker of the authenticity of Yiddish culture.
     Geller's work in this volume does seem to be adapted for a children and is not as hard edged as his work for adults. There are quite a few capitals with small detailed drawing that practically need a magnifying glass to appreciate.   (83885)     $50.00

Frontispiece photo of the author.

Enlargement of one of the capitals. 

 

An in-text illustration of a Rabbi's tisch. 

Sources

Leksikon fun der Nayer Yidisher Literatur. New York, CYCO, 1956-1981.

Kadar, Naomi Prawer. Raising Secular Jews: Yiddish Schools and Their Periodicals for American Children, 1917-1950. Waltham, Massachusetts, Brandeis University Press, 2017. Foreword by David G. Roskies. (I have a review of this publication in manuscript. Spoiler alert: It is a positive review.)

END