Altneuland, by Theodor Herzl – First Edition – Leipzig, 1902

Altneuland, by Theodor Herzl – First Edition – Leipzig, 1902
Altneuland, Roman von Theodor Herzl. Leipzig: Hermann Seemann Nachfolger, [1902]. German. First edition.
First edition of Herzl’s utopian novel Altneuland [Old New Land] in which he described the Jewish state he envisioned would be established in Palestine.
Altneuland was published a few years after the publication of Herzl's prophetic pamphlet The Jewish State and after he visited Palestine. Herzl worked on the manuscript during the years 1899-1902 and initially titled it ‘New Zion.’ Later, inspired by ’Altneuschul’ – the name of the Prague synagogue – he changed the title to ‘Altneuland.’ The book was published in Yiddish and Hebrew in the same year and within less than a year it was translated into six other languages. (The Hebrew title "Tel-Aviv," chosen by the translator Nachum Sokolow, was later adopted as the name of the first Jewish city.) Printed on the title page is Herzl’s famous adage: "Wenn ihr wollt, ist es kein Märchen" [If you will it, it is no dream].
[3], 343, [1] pp, 17.5 cm. Good condition. Small tears along the edges of several of the last leaves (pp. 337-342), not affecting the text; one tear (pp. 339-340) is reinforced with tape. The upper 3 cm of the title page is missing (slightly affecting the decoration) and restored with paper. Stain along the upper part of the second page. Small tears to spine. Original plain hardcover binding.