House in the orchard (Jaffa).

Watercolor on paper, signed.

Enclosed is a letter of authenticity from the Nachum Gutman Museum in Tel Aviv, signed by Prof. Menachem Gutman, the artist's son.

66.5X48 cm. Good condition.

Ben Uri Album, natsional yidish dekorativer kunst-ferayin, noch yidishe motivn fun fargangene tsaytn. By Lazar Berson, with an introduction by British-Jewish author Israel Zangwill. [Printed by I. Naroditsky, London, 1916 (5676)].

A portfolio comprising six hand-colored lithographic prints depicting various Jewish motifs – the Shema Yisrael prayer, Birkat Kohanim, menorahs, Stars of David, and more. One of the prints features a memorial monument to Theodor Herzl. The portfolio itself, designed by Berson and hand-colored, is printed with a dedication: "Dedicated to Bezalel Ben Uri of the tribe of Judah, father of Hebrew artists" (Hebrew).

The interior includes the regulations of the "Ben-Uri" artists’ society, a list of its members (both in Yiddish), and an introduction by Israel Zangwill (in English).

Enclosed is a leaf with clippings of Yiddish press reviews on the society and its members’ artistic work (two printed pages).

[1] leaf + [6] prints. Approx. 26X32 cm. Good condition. Minor defects to plates. Portfolio in good to fair condition, with marginal tears (some with slight loss affecting printed area). Front and back covers detached.

"First Day of Hebrew Post", four Minister Sheets bearing the first nine postage stamps issued by the State of Israel. May 16, 1948.

Official commemorative sheets, each bearing the complete set of nine "Doar Ivri" postage stamps, in denominations of 3, 5, 10, 15, 20, 50, 250, 500, and 1000 mils. Each sheet is inscribed at top with the date "7th Iyar 5708, 16.5.1948" and the words "Doar Ivri", and at bottom with the inscription "First Day of Hebrew Post" (Hebrew). These sheets are known as "Minister Sheets", as they were distributed to ministers and dignitaries. The first edition was only printed in some 40 copies, on thick, yellowish paper, with the stamps affixed between midnight and the morning of May 16, 1948.

The present lot includes four copies:

1. "Doar Ivri" – A copy postmarked ten times with the Sde Yaakov postmark, dated 7th Iyar 5708 (May 16, 1948).

2. "Doar Ivri" – A copy postmarked seven times with the "Tabul" Philatelic Exhibition postmark, dated 7th Iyar 5709 (May 6, 1949).

3-4. "Doar Ivri" – Two unmarked sheets (the stamps in these copies are held in plastic sleeves and affixed with small pieces of tape).

21.5X26 cm (one with wider margins, approx. 29X22.5 cm). Good condition. Two of the plastic sleeves detached.

Ben Sina, dramatische Gedicht in fünf Aufzügen, by Aziz Domet. Vienna: Samuel Insel, 1924. German.

The drama Ben Sina by Palestinian author Aziz Domet, nominee for the 1936 Nobel Prize in Literature, a supporter of the Zionist movement and the return of the Jewish people to Eretz Israel.

At the beginning of the volume is a portrait of Domet by Hermann Struck (signed and dated in the plate), executed in Haifa in 1924, presumably made for this publication of the play. On the title page appears an autograph inscription:
"To my dear friend, Mr. Hermann Struck, with love and friendship, dedicated by the author, Aziz Domet, Berlin, 4 August" (German; signature in Arabic).

Aziz Domet (1890-1943) was a Palestinian author writing in German – a unique voice among Arab writers of the 20th century – who, in his early works, embraced the Zionist ideal. In 1922, he published "Joseph Trumpeldor", a three-act drama about the Battle of Tel Hai, described by Avigdor Hameiri as "the first Eretz Israel drama" and regarded by some as the first work of its kind to place the theme of Jewish nationalism at its center.

During the 1920s, his works achieved success in Europe and in Palestine. At this time, he was in contact with many leaders and thinkers of the Zionist movement, despite sharp criticism from the Arab press. Dividing his life between Europe and Palestine, he gave public readings of his plays, visited Jewish moshavot, and was invited as an honoured guest to the reception for Chaim Weizmann’s arrival in the country in 1923 – an encounter which left a deep impression on Weizmann, who in turn introduced him to Albert Einstein.

Domet's vision of Jewish-Arab partnership began to waver after the 1929 riots, and throughout the 1930s his views shifted until he became an ardent opponent of Zionism. On the eve of World War II, he emigrated to Germany, where he was employed as an Arabic-language propaganda broadcaster for Radio Berlin. Presumably because of his earlier pro-Jewish writings, he was arrested at the start of the war and sent to Dachau concentration camp, where he perished in 1943. His literary output, life story, and unique voice remained largely forgotten until recent years, when it emerged that he had been among the nominees for the 1936 Nobel Prize in Literature.

78, [1] pages. 12 cm. Good condition. Stains and minor blemishes. Margins of inscription trimmed, with minor loss to text. Ink stamp to margin of title page. Old binding, worn and damaged.

Exceptionally rare copy of the score for the oratorio Haggadah, by composer Paul Dessau, writer Max Brod, and Mordechai Langer – Franz Kafka’s Hebrew teacher – with a collection of letters and ephemera documenting the process of their collaboration, from the inception of the idea in Europe in the 1930s to the work’s premiere in Jerusalem in 1962.

"Haggada", one of the most significant works of Jewish music to be published in Germany on the eve of the Holocaust, was composed on the initiative of Paul Dessau and offered a modern musical setting of the Passover narrative and the Exodus from Egypt. The German text was written by Max Brod and translated into Hebrew by Mordechai Langer, Franz Kafka’s Hebrew teacher.

The work was completed in 1936 and printed by the Jewish-German music publisher "Jibneh" in Berlin. Although concerts were planned in Berlin, Frankfurt, and Amsterdam, the work was not performed at the time, and the scheduled events were cancelled one after another.

In an attempt to preserve copies of the score, composer Joachim Stutschewsky tried to sell the rights to the Vienna publisher Universal Edition, but following the Anschluss in 1938 the plan was abandoned, and the publisher’s stock was packed in crates and stored in a cellar.

This unique collection records the work’s complex history:

• "Haggada – Oratorio", printed score of the original work, published in Germany under the Nazi regime. [Jibneh, Berlin, 1936].

5-228 pages (without title page; publisher’s name and date printed at foot of first music page). 27 cm. Good-fair condition. Later binding. Leaves partially detached from binding and from each other. Several handwritten annotations.

• Nine letters by Max Brod:

- Five early letters (1937-1938), from his period at the Prager Tagblatt, documenting efforts to stage the oratorio in Europe (German): "…Permit me to draw your attention to a truly splendid and representative work… I am convinced that a performance of Dessau’s Haggada will be a historic event in the annals of Jewish music" (to the director of a Jewish music festival, November 1937); "Jewish music is one of the dearest missions of my life… I will gladly write to you about Dessau’s Haggada…"; "I set aside all other work today in order to write to you about the Haggada. Enclosed you will find the article…"; "I agree with the changes. I am now writing to Dessau…" (to journalist and music critic Gershon Hermann Sweet, January-February 1938).

- Four later letters (1962), from Brod's Tel Aviv years, concerning his relationship with Dessau and the behind-the-scenes aspects of the Jerusalem premiere, held on April 22, 1962 at Binyanei HaUma, conducted by Chemjo (Nehemiah) Vinaver [Winawer], with the Israel Symphony Orchestra and the Kol Israel Choir (translation from German): "…Since I have not been involved in preparations for the performance until now, you will surely understand that I cannot at the last moment give my voice – neither for nor against, neither positively nor negatively…"; "On the night of the 25th I listened to the radio broadcast of the Haggada and I liked it very much – both the work and the performance. There are some details I would like to discuss in person…" (April 1962).

One letter is enclosed with a copy of a telegram from Paul Dessau imploring Brod to prevent the radio broadcast: "Please help to ensure that the Haggada is in no way broadcast on the radio…". In other letters, Brod complains of the lack of communication with Dessau, comments on press reviews, and discusses copyright issues.

•
Three letters by composer Sigmund (Shabtai) Petrushka, Head of the Music Department at Kol Israel, who participated in the premiere, to Dr. Fritz Hennenberg of Leipzig, a friend of Dessau and expert on his work.

The letters include retrospective details about the Israeli production, locations of archival material, his connections with Dessau, and further biographical information. Petrushka quotes Dessau on the genesis of the oratorio, the collaborative writing and composition process in Prague, the debate over using traditional melodies versus original compositions, and more.

He also describes an attempt to premiere the work in Nazi Berlin in 1937 – a project cancelled due to persecution: "It should be mentioned that as early as 1937 Vinaver intended to bring the work to performance; he was then in Berlin, with a large choir, the Kulturbund orchestra, and (among others) the soloists Wilhelm Guttmann and Paula Lindberg at his disposal. At that time, when the Jewish public was being pushed out of German musical life, there was considerable interest in high-quality Jewish works of artistic ambition such as Dessau’s. But conditions in Nazi Germany suddenly worsened, and Vinaver’s hands were full with arranging the 'Exodus' of himself and his family".

• Additional ephemera: photocopies of letters, press clippings, articles, and other related material.

Size and condition vary. Overall good-fair condition.