OTHER THINGS BEING EQUAL
First edition of this interfaith contemporary romance — the "first American novel written by a Jew on a Jewish theme for an American audience" (D. G. Myers) — inscribed by the author to her brother.
Very good.
Price: $5,000.00
OTHER THINGS BEING EQUAL
"Two ideas held him in a desperate struggle, — his child's happiness; the prejudice of a lifetime."
Wolf was a Jewish woman and wheelchair user born in California; her father, an immigrant from France, helped settle the Bay area in the 1840s. In the Gilded Age, most Jewish representation focused on the Eastern European immigrants living on the East Coast, especially New York City: Wolf's novels of high society in the West add welcome complexity to the literary landscape and counteract monolithic interpretations of US Jewish culture. This was Wolf's first novel, and its importance was immediately recognized, as evidenced in a letter Israel Zangill sent to the author, telling her: "Certainly you are the best product of American Judaism since Emma Lazarus."
An interfaith romance between a Jewish woman and Christian man set in 1880s San Francisco, OTHER THINGS BEING EQUAL was a popular and influential novel that navigates the potential obstacles of an intermarriage with a poise and delicacy. When her mother becomes ill, the heroine comes into contact with the local doctor, a young and charming Christian man. The two fall in love and agree to get married, neither concerned about their differing religions nor expecting the other to convert. But the heroine's father objects to the marriage on the grounds that the gulf is too wide. Unable to proceed with a marriage her father cannot accept, the heroine breaks off the engagement. After attempting and failing to match her with a Jewish cousin, the heroine's father can no longer ignore the connection between the couple and gives them his blessing. What is especially remarkable about this romance is that it remains prominently interfaith, focusing on their common beliefs (e.g. in God, human goodness) while creating space for each to cherish their individual beliefs. A landmark in American fiction and the history of romance literature.
Read more: Mandel, A World Of Difference; Cantalupo, "The Letters of Israel Zangwill to Emma Wolf: Transatlantic Mentoring in the 1890s," in Resources for American Literary Study.
The Object
Chicago: A.C. McClurg and Company, 1892. 6.75'' x 4''. Original brown cloth with black-stamped floral frame on front board, gilt-lettered spine. Publisher's ads at rear. 275, [1], [4] pages. Inscribed by Wolf: "With 'the author's' love to her dear, every day dearer brother." Spine lean, wear along front joint and spine ends, bumping to corners: interior clean.
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