Das neue Ghetto [The New Ghetto] by Theodor Herzl. First German edition and first Hebrew edition (by Reuben Brainin). Vienna, 1897 / Warsaw, 1898.
The play Das neue Ghetto was written in late 1894, within seventeen days, after Herzl encountered outbursts of anti-Semitism throughout Paris. The central figure of the play is Jacob Samuel – an assimilated Jew who tries unsuccessfully to blend in in European society and meets his death defending his honor in a duel with an anti-Semitic nobleman. The play marked Herzl's withdrawal from the idea of Jewish integration into European society; it was rejected by the theaters due to its controversial content. Only in 1897, following the publication of Herzl's new vision in the book "Der Judenstaat", was the play printed for the first time in German and shortly afterwards also in its Hebrew translation. Before us are the first editions of the play in the two languages:
1. Das neue Ghetto, Schauspiel in 4 Acten, by Theodor Herzl. Vienna: Der Welt, 1897. German. Dedicated in print to Max Nordau.
[2], 100 pp. 20 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains. Minor blemishes. Loose Gatherings. Original cover, worn and blemished, with closed and open tears to spine.
2. "Das neue Ghetto by Theodor Herzl, a play in four acts, translated… by the special permission of the author by R. Brainin [Reuben Brainin]". Warsaw: Achiasaf Company, 1898. Hebrew.
63 pp. 20 cm. Good condition. Stains and minor blemishes.