Nilus, Sergiei [Harris Ayres Houghton]

PRÆMONITUS PRÆMUNITUS: THE PROTOCOLS OF THE WISE MEN OF ZION. TRANSLATED FROM THE RUSSIAN TO THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE FOR THE INFORMATION OF ALL TRUE AMERICANS & TO CONFOUND ENEMIES OF DEMOCRACY & THE REPUBLIC, ALSO TO DEMONSTRATE THE POSSIBLE FULFILLMENT OF BIBLICAL PROPHECY AS TO WORLD DOMINATION BY THE CHOSEN PEOPLE. [WITH] AN ADDRESS ISSUED BY THE AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE AND NINE ALLIED ORGANIZATIONS AS REBUTTAL TO THE IMPLIED INDICTMENT IN THE PROTOCOLS OF THE WISE MEN OF ZION [TIPPED IN]

New York: Beckwith Co., 1920-1921. Item #42422

1st US editions [Main work is simultaneous with the Small, Maynard & Company edition, slightly different title; Rebuttal is 1st separate edition]. Main title is original printed publisher’s cloth, 8vo, 165 pages, with frontis and 4 facsimiles. 21 cm. Rebuttal is original paper wrappers, 12mo, 9 pages, "Now Reprinted For Distribution With The Beckwith Edition Of The Protocols Text, Having Been Taken From The New York Times Of December 1, 1920." Each facsimile in the main work is accompanied by a tissue guard sheet containing translation. According to this infamous text, a secret cabal of Jews seek to dominate world affairs. “At the turn of the century, the Russian Czar’s secret police forged a document, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, which purported to outline a plan for Jewish world domination. The Russians claimed that the radical Jewish intelligentsia gathered in 1897 at the First Zionist Congress in Basle, Switzerland wrote the Protocols….A Russian monarchist émigré, Boris Brasol, translated the Protocols into English and passed a copy to the State Department, hoping to persuade the United States government to withhold recognition of the Soviet regime….An American Army Intelligence officer in Brooklyn, Harris Ayres Houghton, MD, obtained Brasol’s translation of the Protocols and became convinced of their authenticity. An ardent anti-Semite and anticommunist, Houghton had the authority to act on his fantasies. According to historian Robert Singerman, writing in the journal of the American Jewish Historical Society, Houghton “ordered one of his subordinates ‘to investigate any Jew as long as he was prominent’” for signs of subversion. In 1918, Houghton passed a copy of the Protocols to Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes….but Justice Hughes scoffed at the idea and denied the authenticity of the Protocols….. In 1920…a version was published in England and both Brasol and Houghton planned to bring out annotated versions in the United States. Brasol found a respectable company named Small, Maynard to publish his version. Putnam and Son publishers agreed to publish Houghton’s.When the American Jewish Committee learned of Putnam’s plans, its president, Louis Marshall, contacted General George H. Putnam directly to discuss the publication project….Since there was ample proof that the Protocols were forgeries written to stir up violence against Jews, it would be irresponsible for Putnam to publish it without clearly labeling it a fraud. Putnam agreed, and withdrew from the project. Undaunted, Houghton found a financial sponsor, purchased the plates from Putnam’s, and published the work privately under the pseudonym of Peter Beckwith [Houghton replaced the Putnam's title page with a new Beckwith printed title page].. The book sold poorly, however…. Brasol sent a copy of the Protocols to automobile manufacturer Henry Ford, who was convinced that they were authentic. For the next two years, Ford gave the Protocols wide circulation in his newspaper, the Dearborn Independent.Nothing did more to poison the atmosphere against American Jewry in the years between 1920 and 1922 than Ford’s publication of the Protocols” (Feldberg, Jewish Virtual Library https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-ldquo-protocols-rdquo-come-to-amer ica). The Rebuttal, aparantly published BY BECKWITH (?!?) for distribution with copies sold after some date in 1921 is signed (in the print) by various leaders of organizations allied with American Reform, Conservative and Orthodox Jewry and major Zionist and Cultural organizations, including Louis Marshall, Cyrus Adler, Juilus Rosenwald, Cyrus Sulzberger Julian Mack, Jacob de Hass, Herbert S. Goldstein, Nathan Strauss, Stephen S. Wise, Leo M. Franklin, Max D. Klein, M.S. Margolis, etc. OCLC: 529924 (main work) & 52415959 (Rebuttal). Jewish ex-library with markings on blank endpapers title pages. Hinges starting Light wear to boards, spine label removed, some foxing to paper, Good Condition. Rare with the rebuttal present (Holo2-160-35A).

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