[ANARCHISTS & I.W.W.] TILLIER, Claude; Benj. R. Tucker, trans.; Ludwig Pfau, sketch of the author's life

My Uncle Benjamin: A Humorous, Satirical, and Philosophical Novel

Boston: Benj. R. Tucker, 1890. First English Language Edition. Octavo (19.5cm.); publisher's red gilt-lettered cloth; 312,[3](ads)pp.; added color lithographic title page. Light shelf wear, miniscule damp spot to upper cover, spine a shade darkened, contemporary ownership signature to front free endpaper and bookplate to front pastedown, late 20th-century bookseller's ticket to front pastedown, else Very Good or better.

Though first published in France in 1843, "Mon Oncle Benjamin" was not previously available to an English-speaking readership before individualist anarchist publisher Benjamin R. Tucker's translation, which appeared just in time for Christmas, 1890. The novel, which is set in the last days of the reign of Louis XV and into that of the doomed Louis XVI, recounts the exploits of a hapless doctor, the eponymous Uncle Benjamin, who takes poorly to the administering of medicine but excels at drinking and accruing unpaid debts. Like many novels Tucker chose to translate and publish, "My Uncle Benjamin" is not overtly anarchist, though as one early review notes, "very little thought [is given] sometimes for the sensibilities of the pious or the delicate reader, but with tender regard to the sacredness of human rights and feelings" (from "The Brooklyn Daily Eagle" (under the header "A Virile Old French Novel"), December 28, 1890).

Price: $250.00

Go Back