Israel. Einzige, von der Verfasserin autorisirte, deutsche Uebersetzung – “Israel. The only German translation authorized by the author” by Josef Johann. Vienna, 1899 – First German edition of the antisemitic publication written under the name Gyp, the pseudonym of the French author Sibylle Riquetti de Mirabeau (1849-1932). Published by “Kikeriki” (the well-known Viennese antisemitic publishing house and journal of the same name). The cover features the word “Israel” in letters reminiscent of an ancient Hebrew script, and an illustration of Rothschild at the center of the world holding bags of money, surrounded by spider webs and French aristocratic symbols.
Antisemitic short stories depicting Jews as exploiters of French society and controllers of French wealth at the expense of the entire population. The German translator notes that it is easy to substitute the characters in the stories with their Jewish counterparts in Vienna or Berlin. The book is accompanied by several antisemitic illustrated plates portraying Jews in general and the Rothschild family in particular as high nobility enjoying elevated status at the expense of the weaker population. Among the illustrations is one showing a fat and satisfied Jew with the caption “A Kingdom of Genius.” Another illustration depicts the Rothschild family controlling the French economy with the caption “Jewelry and Politics, ” and more. The back of the book features an advertisement for the Viennese antisemitic journal “Kikeriki, ” which “zealously stands for German morals.”
The author, a French writer who was a prominent figure in the antisemitic literary scene at the end of the 19th century, published antisemitic articles in La Vie Parisienne, and wrote numerous sketches and novels in which she crudely denounced the French Republic. She testified against Dreyfus in his trial in 1899 and often described her profession as “antisemite” rather than “writer.”
Rare. Six records of the German edition in the WorldCat global library catalog.
160 pages + 10 antisemitic illustrated plates. Slight wear on the cover. Good condition.
