Philosophische Erzählungen. [Philosophical Narratives].

HERZL, Theodor.

$3,000.00

Item Number: 143199

Berlin: Verlag con Gebruder Paetel, 1900.

First edition of this collection of seventeen narratives written by Herzl during his years as a correspondent for the Viennese Neue Freie Presse. Octavo, bound in three quarters calf over embossed boards with gilt titles and tooling to the spine, patterned endpapers, all edges red. In very good condition. First editions are rare.

Theodor Herzl's legacy includes almost 300 feuilletons and short stories, seventeen of which were collected and published as Philosophical Narratives in 1900. Throughout the stories, Herzl struggles to answer one prevailing question: what is it that motivates man to pursue art, science and politics? The answer is simple, but not always pleasant, as he reveals the motivating factors to lie in desperation, traumatizing childhood experiences, burning envy, bickering spouses, hunger, or the striving to overcome it. Throughout the tales, Herzl expresses his attitude toward progress and technology as well as his views on human suffering and morality, the masses vs. individuals, on society and the state, pleasure and duty, the love of a man for a woman and parents for their children.