Original U.S. Pre WWII 1st Edition "The New Order" Anti-Axis Political Cartoon Collection Book by Arthur Szyk with Worn Dust Cover

Original Item: Only One Available. This is a fantastic 1st Edition copy of The New Order, a collection of political cartoons by the world renowned Polish Jewish illustrator Arthur Szyk. Born 3 June 1894 in Łódź, then part of the Congress Poland, Russian Empire, he traveled much during his life, studying in France before moving to Kraków for further studies, which was at that time was under Austrian rule. He would travel to what was then Mandatory Palestine to see the work of Jewish settlers, and was called back to Poland after the outbreak of WWI, as the area was then part of the Ottoman Empire.

He would go on to work with the Second Polish republic before moving with his family to France in 1921, where they stayed until 1933. His illustrations continued to improve, and his work was increasingly in demand. He worked on many historical illustrations at the time, including a legendary series of illustrations about the Hebrew Exodus from Egypt, called the Haggadah. This work is considered his Magnum Opus, and it was illustrated after Adolf H's seizure of power in 1933, after which Szyk's work became much more heavily politicized. Aspects of the heavily Anti-Semitic NSDAP Regime found their way into the illustrations for the Haggadah, which unfortunately led to censorship in the United Kingdom, due to their policy of "appeasement".

Following the outbreak of the war, his output became quite prolific, and he did not shy at all from criticism of all members of the Axis Powers and their leaders. At the beginning of July 1940, with the support of the British government and the Polish government-in-exile, Arthur Szyk left Britain for North America, on assignment to popularize in the New World the struggle of the British and Polish nations against the NSDAP. He would then take up permanent residence in the United States, and published a collection of political cartoon caricatures originally published in the New York area newspaper, PM.

This is the book we have here, called "The New Order", which was published in July 1941, five months before the United States entered War War II. It measures 8" x 20", and comes with the original dust cover, which is worn and tape repaired. There is some tearing at the edges, and a bit missing. This looks to have been a copy that saw a lot of use, not one that was just put away on a shelf after being purchased. It has 48 pages beginning at the title page, which is what it is supposed to have, so we do not believe any pages are missing. Some pages do show some stains and dirt.

Many of the cartoons in the book reflect Szyk's optimism that it would end soon, though unfortunately that did not end up being the case. The slip cover and title page title page for this book bear the caricatures of Hermann Goering (center), Italian dictator Benito Mussolini (left), and Hideki Tojo, Prime Minister of Japan (right) that appeared in the pages of PM on Sunday, January 19, 1941. The pages of the book contain 38 additional cartoons, most in black and white, which portray a variety of different political commentary visual styles.

A lovely care worn example of a highly collectible book from a Legendary Illustrator.