Auction 69 Part 1 Rare and Important Items
Dec 3, 2019 (your local time)
Israel
 8 Ramban St, Jerusalem.

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LOT 137:

"A Wreath of Poems for Yocheved Bat-Miriam" – Twenty-Four Poems Handwritten by Prominent Israeli Poets – A Gift to ...

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"A Wreath of Poems for Yocheved Bat-Miriam" – Twenty-Four Poems Handwritten by Prominent Israeli Poets – A Gift to the Poet Yocheved Bat-Miriam for Her 70th Birthday – Poems by Zelda, Abba Kovner, Avraham Halfi and Others
Twenty-four poems, handwritten by prominent Israeli poets for the book "Zer Shirim LeYocheved Bat-Miriam" [A Wreath of Poems for Yocheved Bat Miriam] – a collection of handwritten poems for her 70th birthday. Poems handwritten by Avraham Halfi, Zelda, Abba Kovner, Yehonatan Gefen and others. Israel, [ca. early 1970s].
The book "Zer Shirim LeYocheved Bat-Miriam" was published in 1971, presumably at the initiative of literary editor and poet Azriel Uchmani, a friend of Bat-Miriam. Several poets who knew Bat-Miriam, practically all of whom were prominent Hebrew poets, were asked to choose a poem they wanted to dedicate to her and copy it in their handwriting for printing. The result was a limited and numbered edition album published by "Sifriyat Poalim".
Offered here are twenty-four poems, copied in large, vowelized script by various poets for the book. The various poems were chosen or written especially for Bat-Miriam, and they properly reflect her position in Hebrew literature: the poem "Yedidut" (Friendship) by Zelda (in an enclosed letter sent by Zelda to Uchmani, she indicates "the great closeness" she feels to Bat-Miriam's poems); the poem "Vekach Hikarti et Panayich" by Abba Kovner, a close friend of the poet; the poem "Makeh Gufo Ahava" by Yair Horowitz; the poem "HaRuach" by Tirtzah Atar; and poems by Avraham Halfi, Yehonatan Gefen, Dan Pagis, T. Karmi, Amir Gilboa, Shimon Halkin and others. One of the poems, a long poem titled "HaYad VeHaMetzach" by Ezra Zussman, was eventually not printed in the book.
The poet Yocheved Bat-Miriam (1901-1980) was born in Keplits, Belarus. At the age of seventeen, she changed her surname, Zhelezniak, to the name of the first female poet in Jewish history – Miriam the Prophet. During the early 1920s, she left to study teaching in Odessa and Moscow and during these years started publishing her first poems in newspapers. In 1927, she moved to Paris and a year later immigrated to Palestine. In Palestine, her poems were deeply appreciated and by the 1940s she became one of the most prominent poets in Modern Hebrew poetry. Her voice ceased to be heard after being informed of the death of her son, Nachum "Zuzik", in the battles of the War of Independence – Bat-Miriam took a vow of silence, dressed only in black and ceased publishing poems (only two poems are known of which she wrote during this period). Despite her silence, in 1964 she was awarded the Bialik Prize and in 1972 – the Israel Prize for Literature. Alongside Rachel, Elisheva and Esther Raab, Bat-Miriam is considered one of the "Four Matriarchs" of Modern Hebrew poetry.
24 poems (some written on multiple pages). Size and condition vary. Good overall condition.
Enclosed: an additional copy of the poem "Esrim Shana BaGai" by Dan Pagis; three letters that were sent by the poets to Azriel Uchmani; a greeting card sent by Shimon Halkin to Yocheved Bat-Miriam; the book "Zer Shirim LeYocheved Bat Miriam", Tel Aviv: Sifriyat Poalim, HaKibbutz HaArtzi, 1971.
Provenance: The Uzi Agassi Collection.

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