Mein Kampf: 1938

[BrodieBartfast]

Hello folks.

I've mentioned this one previously elsewhere on the forum, and was very excited for it to arrive. I ordered it before Christmas, but the dealer decided to hang onto it over the holidays in lieu of it spending a few days sat in a sorting office.

I have been interested in acquiring a copy of this book for some time. Not out of any willingness to read it, but simply because it defines the period of German history in which it was published. The epicenter of Nazi propaganda, and the book around which many of the central principles of Nazism were based. It remains controversial to this day. There are not many people who have not heard of 'Mein Kampf'.

I waited a long time to purchase a copy, determined to find the best condition example I could, and I'm pleased to say that I've done fairly well with this one! The book itself is in near-mint condition, with no tears or foxing to the paper. The inner cover is pristine, and of course the dust jacket is also in place. There has been some application of tape to the cover's edges, and there are some small tears and scuffs, but other than that it is almost as minty as the book itself.

It has what appears to be a personal dedication on one of the front pages, dated to 1940.

I may have overpaid for this one slightly, with a price tag of just over 200 Euros, but I think the condition of this copy made it worth the extra expense.



Regards, B.B.

[thecyclist64]

A nice example. I recently bought the English version from Waterstones to read and gain an insight into the man's head. It's really tough going with lots of verbose old fashioned language, but some of it translates well into today's politics, especially in the dark art of the effective use of propoganda and how to win over the opinions of voters. Social media does exactly the same today, so worth a read.

[Raul]

Nice dust cover . Raul

[BrodieBartfast]

Thank you both!

I’ve thought of picking up a modern English translation, but decided against it. From what I understand, it is simply a feature-length rant by a very angry and bitter man, and is not terribly well written to boot. It is interesting as a historical resource, but not something I’d want to spend any time reading.

Not something that would be easy to explain if I was caught reading it in the breakroom at work, anyway!

B.B.

[drmessimer]

BrodieBartFast: That is a very nice example of Mein Kampf, especially with a pristine dust cover. Mine is a 1933, 74th edition that I bought a few years ago for $50. According to the publisher’s page, the 74th edition brought the total number of copies printed to 1,010,000 copies. I would be interested to know if the number of copies published to date in 1938 is shown in your copy. My copy has no dust cover, and the binding cover has some sort of stain on it, but otherwise the book is in excellent condition, tight binding and clean pages. You wrote that it is “a feature-length rant by a very angry and bitter man, and is not terribly well written to boot. It is interesting as a historical resource…” I fully agree that the prose is turgid, but the writing style cannot be described as being poorly written. I suppose that sounds like an oxymoron, but in the time it was written, that writing style was fairly common and readily accepted, but it is heavy going. You are right on the money when you observe that the book is “a historical resource;” especially so if one wants to better understand Hitler’s thinking, which corresponds with the attitudes of his followers. He did not create the Nazis, he just tapped the well that turned them loose. Congratulations on a fine acquisition for your collection. Dwight

[Martin Bull]

I agree with the above comments. Pre-war copies are getting harder to find but what sets this one apart is the dustwrapper in such good condition.