THE BOOK THAT ALMOST DISAPPEARED — TOO JEWISH TO PUBLISH

Levin, Meyer (1905–1981)

In Search - An Autobiography [ Inscribed to Ben Raeburn Publisher's Archive: with Signed Ephemera]

New York: Horizon Press, 1950. First Edition, First Printing.
A REMARKABLE ‘PUBLISHER’S ARCHIVE’ COPY OF MEYER LEVIN'S SEARCHING AUTOBIOGRAPHY.
This volume comes from the estate of Horizon Press founder Ben Raeburn, to whom the book is warmly inscribed. It includes a rich trove of laid-in ephemera from Raeburn's files, documenting Levin’s desperate struggle to publish this book, his gratitude to Raeburn, and his bitter, historic lawsuit over The Diary of Anne Frank.

KEY FEATURES
+++ Content: A seminal text on mid-century Jewish-American identity, covering Levin's evolution from a Chicago marioneteer to a Holocaust reporter and fervent Zionist.
+++ Associated Names: Meyer Levin (Author); Ben Raeburn (Recipient/Publisher); Otto Frank (Subject of Ephemera).
+++ Provenance: Inscribed in blue ink on the front free endpaper: 'For Ben Raeburn – / even a better publisher than / Meyer Levin / New York / 1950'.
+++ The Ephemera Archive: Contains several original clippings from the publisher's files, including:
1) A 6.5 x 22-inch article by Levin from Congress Bi-Weekly ("When I Was a Book Peddler") detailing how Ben Raeburn rescued this exact book from obscurity;
2) Levin's 1961 essay "Another Kind of Blacklist";
3) A rebuttal letter defending Otto Frank against Levin's lawsuit over the Anne Frank stage rights;
4) A 1950 Romeike press clipping; 5) A 1950 proof of Levin's open letter to a critic.

CONDITION: Very Good in Good Dust Jacket -- The bindings are tight and square. Text is clean with light, even age-toning. There is a small tear to the cloth at the head of the spine. Distinct browning/offsetting to the endpapers is present, caused by the acidic newspaper clippings housed within the book for decades. The dust jacket is unclipped ($3.75) but age-toned with visible wear to the edges and spine ends.
+++ Binding: Publisher's black cloth boards with gilt spine titles.
+++ Imprint: New York: Horizon Press, 1950. First Edition.
+++ Specs: 8.5 inches tall / 524 pages

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE - -
Meyer Levin was a titan of mid-century Jewish-American literature, but his career was defined by fierce, often self-destructive battles. The most famous was his obsession with The Diary of Anne Frank, resulting in a bitter lawsuit against Otto Frank over the Broadway adaptation rights—a controversy detailed in the ephemera included here.

Before that battle, Levin struggled to publish In Search because it was deemed 'Too Jewish' for a general audience. As detailed in the laid-in Congress Bi-Weekly article, he self-published the book in France and peddled it out of suitcases until Ben Raeburn (Horizon Press) risked his 'entire capital' to publish the American edition. The inscription—'even a better publisher than Meyer Levin'— is a direct, heartfelt reference to this history. This is not just a signed book; it is the physical artifact of a literary rescue mission.

SUBJECTS: Meyer Levin, Jewish American Literature, The Diary of Anne Frank, Otto Frank, Zionism, Horizon Press, Ben Raeburn, Publishing History, Blacklisting, The Holocaust.

Item #21516

Price: $185.00