WITTE ARRIVES: A NOVEL [INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR]

Tobenkin, Elias

Published by New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1916

1st Edition. Original Blue Boards. [10], 304, [6] pages ; 20 cm. In English. Tobenkin's first published novel. It "traces the life of Emil Witte from his arrival as a child at the old Castle Garden entry station, predecessor of Ellis Island, through his studious boyhood to a career, first as newspaper reporter and finally as a youthful editor on an established liberal weekly. Yet Witte sees that caste lines have formed in his adopted country, the masses are gripped by the terrible fear of joblessness, and he must face religious discrimination as a Jew. His first success comes to him when, as a Socialist, he writes what he consciously considers to be an 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' of wage-slavery" (Rideout) "Elias Tobenkin was born to Marcus A. (Mosheh Aharon) and Fanny Tobenkin in the village of Slutsk, Russia, on 10 February 1882. When Elias was 17 the Tobenkin family left the poverty, bigotry, and growing political instability of Romanov Russia behind and emigrated to Madison, Wisconsin. Elias Tobenkin's long-standing interest in a literary career led to his first novel, Witte Arrives (1916) , an early examination of the immigrant Jewish experience in America. Witte Arrives, along with God of Might (a 1925 novel depicting the problems of interfaith marriage) , were to be the best-received of Tobenkin's six published novels. After employment with the federal government's Creel Committee in the First World War Elias Tobenkin pursued a career as a foreign correspondent, travelling to Europe in 1919 and 1920, and to Soviet Russia in 1926 and 1931. During the decade he alternated between foreign affairs reporting (primarily for the New York Herald Tribune and the New York Times) and continuing his work as a novelist and writer for the periodical press. " (Harry Ransom Center At UT Austin) . SUBJECT(S) : Radicalism in literature. Immigrants -- Fiction. Includes a handwritten and signed note from the author dated in 1916, as well as a period review of the Book, probably from a New York paper. Illustrations included. Some wear but overall in about very good condition. (AMR-49-31). Seller Inventory # 37650

Bibliographic Details

Title: WITTE ARRIVES: A NOVEL [INSCRIBED BY THE ...
Publisher: New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company
Publication Date: 1916
Binding: Hardback
Signed: Signed by Author(s)
Edition: 1st Edition