Ben-Avi, Ithamar. Avi

Estimate: $600–$900
Hammer price: $1,600

Historical auction record. Hammer prices exclude buyer’s premium and taxes.

author

(BEN-YEHUDAH, ELIEZER)

Place

“Yeruçalaym” (i.e. Jerusalem)

Publication

1927 (“X Le-Hatzharat Balfur”)

Description

FIRST EDITION. INSCRIBED AND SIGNED BY AUTHOR. Illustrated plates, folding-plate. Includes romanized Hebrew to English glossary. Foreword with a rudimentary outline of the author’s innovative use of Hebrew

summary

A biography of Eliezer Ben-Yehudah by his son, Ithamar, putatively the first modern Jew whose mother-tongue was exclusively Hebrew. The present work displays the author’s bold linguistic innovation, writing his Hebrew entirely in Latin characters, testifying to Ben-Avi’s political and cultural wish to transform the Jewish people into an independent “Western” nation. See EJ, IV cols.469-70

pp.16, 4, 106, (2). Name of recipient cut from upper right corner of title page, paper replaced. Rebound with original cover retained, pages uncut. 8vo

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