Anarchism (Eltzbacher book)

Anarchism is book-length study of anarchism written by Paul Eltzbacher. It was originally published in 1900 and quickly translated into five languages, including English in 1908 by Steven T. Byington.

Anarchism
Title page of first English edition
AuthorPaul Eltzbacher
Original titleDer Anarchismus
TranslatorSteven T. Byington
LanguageGerman
SubjectAnarchism
PublisherGuttentag
Publication date
1900
Publication placeGermany
Published in English
1908
Pages305 (German 1st ed.)
309 (English 1st ed.)
OCLC1150798
Original text
Der Anarchismus at HathiTrust
TranslationAnarchism at HathiTrust

Contents

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Eltzbacher gives straightforward descriptions of seven major figures in anarchism: Godwin, Proudhon, Stirner, Bakunin, Kropotkin, Tucker, and Tolstoy.[1] He is not a sympathetic critic.[1]

Publication

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Originally published in 1900, Eltzbacher's book was quickly translated into Spanish (1901), French (1902), Russian (1903), and Dutch (1903). Steven T. Byington translated the English version for publication by Benjamin Tucker in 1908. The English translation was reprinted in 1960 by the Libertarian Book Club of New York. The reprint's editor preface provides a history of the book's publication and details on the author, translator, and publisher. But it also introduces errors, particularly in the Proudhon section.[2]

Reception and legacy

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Eltzbacher's Anarchism was among the most accessible compilations of anarchist writings in the early twentieth century.[1] It was and remains among the most read studies of the subject.[3]

Kropotkin himself, in his 1910 Encyclopædia Britannica article on "Anarchism", commended the book as the best and most fair work on the topic, written with a full knowledge of anarchist literature.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Weir 1997, p. 270.
  2. ^ Weir 1997, pp. 270–271.
  3. ^ Kuhn 2010, p. 302.

Bibliography

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