B A U M A N R A R E B O O K S J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 4 31 "THE MOST AUTHORITATIVE FIGURE IN JEWISH LIFE": SIGNED LIMITED FIRST EDITION OF CHAIM WEIZMANN'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY, ONE OF ONLY 500 COPIES SIGNED BY HIM 31. WEIZMANN, Chaim. Trial and Error. New York, 1949. Two volumes. Octavo, original blue cloth, dust jackets. $2500 Signed limited first edition, number 433 of only 500 copies printed on special paper, with Volume I signed and numbered by Weizmann on the publisher’s original tipped-in leaf. “Endowed with diplomatic gifts of the first order,” Weizmann, a Russian-born chemist, was perhaps the most important figure in the history of Zionism (DNB). The 1917 Balfour Declaration, “Weizman’s primary achievement, was a turning point in modern Jewish history” and has been described as “the greatest act of diplomatic statesmanship of the First World War.” Weizmann would become “universally recognized as the most authoritative figure in Jewish life” and was voted Israel’s first president in 1949 (Encyclopedia Judaica, 430). His autobiography, which appeared that same year, details the story of his childhood, the long struggle for recognition of the Zionist Movement, and the triumph of statehood. First edition with “First Edition L-X” on copyright pages, indicating publisher’s month of publication as November 1948. Without original slipcase. An exceptionally nice copy in about-fine condition.
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