Program for Dinner to Welcome Emma Goldman, Wednesday, November 24, 1924.
London: 1924. First Edition. Single sheet measuring 11 x 6 ½ inches with text to both sides. Near fine condition. Item #List1635
Emma Goldman lived in the United Kingdom for two years beginning in September of 1924, a period in which she tried to revive her career as a lecturer and writer. Upon arriving, a group including Rebecca West, Bertrand Russell and Edward Carpenter hosted a large reception dinner at Anderton’s Hotel and Restaurant, intending to welcome Goldman into English society. Attendance was estimated at 250 people. Offered here is a program from the dinner, with the menu on the recto and the program on the verso, with a program featuring a toast by Goldman, replies by Russel and William Owen, a toast by Peggy Shannon, replies by Rebecca West and Adame Malburg, another reply by Goldman, and then a version of “The International” by all attendees.
Goldman used the dinner to make her anti-Soviet views known, and though she viewed the dinner as a success at the time, she would ultimately fail to build support in England due to the degree that her anti-Soviet views alienated many on the left, and her leftist views alienated many who would support her views on the Soviet Union. In Sasha and Emma, The Anarchist Odyssey of Alexander Berkman and Emma Goldman, Paul and Karen Averich state that “In spite of the vigorous efforts of Goldman, the backing of the west, and the interest of some prominent British citizens, Goldman’s Russia crusade never gained traction in Great Britain.” (Averich, 2012, p. 319).
We find no other examples of this menu, either institutionally or in the trade. A scarce piece of Goldman ephemera from this period in her career, documenting an important event in her period in England.
Price: $1,200.00