INSCRIBED BY NAHUM GOLDMANN

GOLDMANN, Nahum. Le paradoxe juif. Conversations en français avec Léon Abramowicz. (Paris): Stock, (1976). Octavo, original stiff paper wrappers. Housed in a custom chemise and slipcase. $350.

First edition in wrappers, French issue (preceding the first English edition), of this frank and wide-ranging collection of conversations between Goldmann and Léon Abramowicz, a presentation copy inscribed on the half title, “For Jane Engelhard with cordial best wishes. Paris 15/3 ’77, Nahum Goldmann.”

Through his life Nahum Goldmann, co-founder and one-time President of the World Jewish Congress and a former president of the World Zionist Organization, was "convinced that the inner condition of the Jewish people, 'the problem of Judaism' in Ahad Haam's formulation, was more relevant for Jewish existence than 'the problem of the Jews.' That position was bound up with his views about the historical nature of the Jewish people" (Raider, Nahum Goldmann, 6). As such, Goldmann eloquently summarizes his view of the Jewish people in Le paradox juif as "not better than others, or worse, but unique and different—by virtue of its structure, history, destiny and character—from all other peoples, and paradoxical in its contradictions." Precedes the first English edition. Text in French. Raider, 49-50. Recipient Jane Engelhard was a well-known American philanthropist.

A fine inscribed copy.