H. Rider Haggard Works
1918 - Moon of Israel
MOON OF ISRAEL : A Tale of the Exodus
MOON OF ISRAEL first appeared as a serialization in The Cornill Magazine, January 1918 through October 1918. This serialization has no illustrations.
McKay, Scott, and Whatmore claim that John Murray published the first edition in London on October 31, 1918. The ads at the end of the book are not dated. McKay and Scott claim that 10,000 copies were printed.
Higgins claims that Murray paid £250 ($24,000 in 2020 dollars) for the serial rights, and £500 ($49,000 in 2020 dollars) was advanced for publication in book-form. In addition, "John Murray agreed to give Haggard a half-share in the copyright of JESS which had been acquired when [he] published Smith, Elder & Co.'s business."
Longmans, Green and Company published the first American edition on November 14, 1918. McKay and Scott both agree on the publication date in New York. The American edition has a frontispiece illustration by Enos B. Comstock. The ads at the end of the book are not dated.
A few newspapers serialized this novel in 1919, with Edmund Frederick illustrations.
See the VisualHaggard.org page dedicated to the illustrations found in various editions.
I do not own any of the books pictured below, unless noted.
Below: A copy of the John Murray British first edition with original dust jacket
My copy of the British first edition
Below: the British first edition title-page
The ads at the end of the book prominently include on the first page an ad for JESS.
Note: I have yet to see any John Murray edition illustrated with 12 Maurice Greiffenhagen illustrations, though the publishers of the British first edition of JESS (Smith, Elder) did publish in 1896 an edition with 12 Greiffenhagen illustrations.
One variant of the Imperial Library first edition
Another variant of the Imperial Library first edition
A signed copy
My copy of the American first edition with original dust jacket
The first American edition dust jacket, my copy and then one that I sold to another collector
Below: The first American edition frontispiece by Enos B. Comstock, and the title-page
American Longmans first printing, second printing and fourth printing books compared
The seocnd printing is thinner than the other two.
The first American edition second printing dust jacket has a YMCA ad on its front inner flap
Longmans made a mistake on its 1920 3rd printing by designating on its title-page SECOND IMPRESSION, while the copyright page clearly lists a 3rd printing from March, 1920.
The ads at the end of the first edition are devoted to highlighting the Allan Quatermain series of novels
The first part of the serialization of MOON OF ISRAEL from the weekly Sunday section called THE AMERICAN WEEKLY, published in THE SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER on March 23, 1919
Below: Additional pages/parts of the serialization of MOON OF ISRAEL from the weekly Sunday section called THE AMERICAN WEEKLY, published in THE SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER between March 23, 1919 and at least July 1919
A part of the serialization of MOON OF ISRAEL from the weekly Sunday section called THE AMERICAN WEEKLY, published in THE BOSTON SUNDAY ADVERTISER April 13, 1919
I do not own this so this is the best image I could get
A 1924 German poster for the German film of MOON OF ISRAEL
John Murray British reprints
MOON OF ISRAEL was made into a film, which resulted in numerous movie posters and other advertising memorabilia
