Internationale Bibliothek. Bound run of the First Thirteen Issues

New York: John Müller, 1887-88. First Edition. Thirteen octavo issues (22.5cm) in 20th-century binding of half-calf over marbled boards; 16pp per issue. Occasional darkening to text paper (most pronounced on first number), still a complete, well-preserved run; Very Good. Texts primarily in German. Includes an unbroken run of the first thirteen issues, all published from 1887-1888 (titles listed below). After these initial thirteen issues, publication became erratic, with only four more issues published over the following three years, beginning with no. 14, "Die Kommunistische Anarchismus" in December, 1889 and ending with "Gott und der Staat" in 1891. There also appear to have been two English-language supplements, numbered "14A" and "16A," issued under the "Internationale Bibliothek" series title, during this period.

Our run includes:

1. An das proletariat. April, 1887.
2. Die Hoelle von Blackwells Island. Mai, 1887.
3. Die Gottespest. Juni, 1887.
4. Stammt der Mensch vom Affen ab? Juli, 1887.
5. Die Freie Gesellschaft. August, 1887.
6. Die Eigenthumsbestie. September, 1887.
7. An die jungen Leute. October, 1887.
8. Gesetz und Autorität. November, 1887.
9. Zwischen Galgen und Zuchthaus. Dezember, 1887.
10. Die Anarchie. Januar, 1888.
11. Der Narrenthurm. Februar, 1888.
12. Vive la Commune. März, 1888.
13. Die Stimmkasten. Juni 1888. Representative run of an important and extremely uncommon periodical, edited and almost entirely written by the German emigré communist-anarchist Johann Most. Most (1846-1906), by trade a bookbinder, emigrated to New York in 1882. A follower of Bakunin, Most quickly established himself as the lead- ing spokesman for "Propaganda by the Deed" in America; his weekly newspaper Freiheit, founded in 1879, emerged as the dominant German-language anarchist periodical of the period. "Most's influence on the anarchist movement in New York and other eastern cities was unquestionably profound and lasting...[at a meeting of the International Working People's Association] in Pittsburgh, Most emerged as the leading East Coast delegate and authored the conference's proclamation ...[which] declared that the people had a right to overthrow an oppressive government and that through 'organization and unity', propaganda by the deed should coexist with propaganda by the word" (Tom Goyens, "Johann Most and the German Anarchists" in Radical Gotham: Anarchism in New York City from Schwab's Saloon to Occupy Wall Street, Urbana, 2017).

Following the Haymarket Affair of 1886, Most largely renounced spontaneous political violence in favor of organized activity, including the establishment of working-class militias. He continued to publish Freiheit, but the paper's tone moderated through the 1890s; in 1892, Most even published a denunciation of Alexander Berkman's attempted assassination of Henry Clay Frick, precipitating a deep rift between Most and such former allies as Berkman and Emma Goldman.

Internationale Bibliothek dates from this post-Haymarket period and served as a vehicle for presenting Most's own revolutionary writings. Though given a serial title, the pamphlets stand alone, each containing a full essay, of which nearly all are signed by Most. Many of his best-known polemics made their first appearance in this series, including "An Das Proletariat" (Issue 1), "Die Göttespest" (issue 3), and "Die Hoelle von Blackwells Island," recounting Most's imprisonment following the Haymarket Massacre (issue 2). Rare: OCLC notes perhaps 7 full runs in North America, with scattered holdings for individual issues. Indexed in Arndt-Olson, but with no entry. HOERDER, Immigrant Labor Press in North America, III:413 (note). NETTLAU pp 157-9 (citing several individual titles by Most). STAMMHAMMER I:141, II:226.