Editing Unua Libro

{{Short description|Pamphlet by L. L. Zamenhof that introduces the language Esperanto}}
{{Infobox book
| italic title   =
| name           = Unua Libro
| image          = Dr. Esperanto's International Language cover page.jpg
| image_size     =
| alt            =
| caption        = ''Dr. Esperanto's International Language''<br />(1889 Geoghegan translation)
| author         = [[L. L. Zamenhof]]
| audio_read_by  = [http://librivox.org/dr-esperantos-international-language-introduction-and-complete-grammar-by-ll-zamenhof/ Nicholas James Bridgewater] ([[LibriVox]])
| title_orig     = Международный языкъ
| orig_lang_code = ru
| title_working  =
| translator     = Julian Steinhaus (1888)<br />[[Richard H. Geoghegan|Richard Geoghegan]] (1889)<br />Henry Phillips Jr. (1889)
| illustrator    =
| cover_artist   =
| country        =
| language       = [[Russian language|Russian]], [[Esperanto]]
| series         =
| release_number =
| subject        = [[Esperanto]], [[international auxiliary language]]
| genre          =
| set_in         =
| publisher      = Chaim Kelter
| publisher2     =
| pub_date       = {{OldStyleDate|July 26|1887|July 14}}
| english_pub_date =
| published      = [[Warsaw]], [[Congress Poland]], [[Russian Empire]]
| media_type     =
| pages          = 42
| awards         =
| isbn           =
| isbn_note      =
| oclc           =
| dewey          =
| congress       =
| preceded_by    =
| followed_by    = [[Dua Libro]]
| native_wikisource = Международный язык (Заменгоф)
| wikisource     =  Dr. Esperanto's International Language
| notes          =
| exclude_cover  =
| website        =
}}
{{Esperanto sidebar |expanded=History}}

'''''Dr. Esperanto's International Language'''''{{refn|''Dr. Esperanto's International Language'' is the title of the 1889 Geoghegan translation, the standard English translation. Other titles of English translations include '''''Dr. Esperanto's International Tongue''''', the 1888 Steinhaus translation, and '''''An Attempt towards an International Language''''', the 1889 Phillips translation.|group=n}} ({{langx|ru|[[wikt:международный#Russian|Международный]] [[wikt:язык#Russian|язык]]}}), commonly referred to as '''''{{Langx|eo|Unua Libro|links=no|label=none}}''''' (''First Book''), is an 1887 book by Polish ophthalmologist [[L. L. Zamenhof]], in which he first introduced and described the [[constructed language]] [[Esperanto]].<ref name="natgeo">{{cite web |url=http://www.nationalgeographic.org/thisday/jul26/unua-libro-en-esperanto-first-book-esperanto/ |title=1887: Unua Libro en Esperanto (First Book in Esperanto) |website=NationalGeographic.org |access-date=October 19, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171020135352/https://www.nationalgeographic.org/thisday/jul26/unua-libro-en-esperanto-first-book-esperanto/ |archive-date=October 20, 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref> First published in Russian on {{OldStyleDate|July 26|1887|July 14}}, the publication of ''Unua Libro'' marks the formal beginning of the [[Esperanto movement]].<ref name="natgeo"/>

Writing under the pseudonym "Dr. Esperanto", Zamenhof originally referred to the language as the ''international language''; the use of ''Esperanto'' did not arise until 1889 when people began to use his pseudonym as the name of the language itself. Zamenhof reproduced a significant portion of the content of ''Unua Libro'' in the 1905 ''[[Fundamento de Esperanto]]'', which he established as the sole obligatory authority over Esperanto in the [[Declaration of Boulogne]], ratified by the first [[World Esperanto Congress]] later that year.<ref name="olga">{{cite web|url=http://blogs.bl.uk/european/2013/07/la-unua-libro.html |title=La Unua Libro |author=Kerziouk, Olga |website=Blogs.BL.UK |access-date=November 16, 2017}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Unuaj Libroj por Rusoj, Poloj, Francoj kaj Germanoj - 1887.jpg|thumb|The original [[Russian language|Russian]] publication of ''Unua Libro'' and the 1887 [[Polish language|Polish]], [[French language|French]], and [[German language|German]] translations]]
After [[Proto-Esperanto|many years of developing the language]], Zamenhof completed ''Unua Libro'' by the spring of 1885 and spent the next two years looking for a publisher.<ref name="Korzhenkov 2009 16">{{harvnb|Korzhenkov|2009|p=16}}</ref> In 1887, shortly after he married his wife Klara, his new father-in-law Aleksandr Silbernik advised him to use money from Klara's dowry to find a publisher. Following his advice, Zamenhof found a publisher in [[Warsaw]], Chaim Kelter. On {{OldStyleDate|July 26|1887|July 14}}, Kelter published the book in [[Russian language|Russian]] as ''International Language'' ({{langx|ru|Международный язык}}).<ref name="Korzhenkov 2009 16"/> Before the end of the year, Kelter published the [[Polish language|Polish]], [[French language|French]], and [[German language|German]] editions of the book, as well.<ref name="Korzhenkov 2009 16"/>

In 1888, Zamenhof had Julian Steinhaus translate the book into English, and the translation was published under the title ''Dr. Esperanto's International Tongue''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ancientpages.com/2016/07/26/day-history-unua-libro-first-book-describing-esperanto-published-july-26-1887/ |title=On This Day In History: Unua Libro 'First Book' Describing Esperanto Published – On July 26, 1887 |website=AncientPages.com |date=26 July 2016 |access-date=October 19, 2017}}</ref>{{unreliable source?|date=July 2021}} However, when [[Richard H. Geoghegan|Richard Geoghegan]] pointed out that Steinhaus's translation was very poor, Zamenhof destroyed his remaining copies and requested that Geoghegan produce a fresh translation.<ref name="olga"/> Geoghegan's translation of the book, titled ''Dr. Esperanto's International Language'', was published on {{OldStyleDate|January 17|1889|January 5}} and became the standard English translation.<ref name="Korzhenkov 2009 16"/> Henry Phillips Jr., a secretary of the [[American Philosophical Society]] and early supporter of Esperanto, also produced a translation in 1889, titled ''An Attempt towards an International Language'', but Geoghegan's translation remains the preferred standard.<ref name="genekeyes">{{cite web|url=http://www.genekeyes.com/Dr_Esperanto.html |title=Dr. Esperanto's International Language |website=GeneKeyes.com |access-date=November 16, 2017}}</ref>

''Unua Libro'' was also translated into [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], [[Yiddish]], [[Swedish language|Swedish]], and [[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]] in 1889 and then into [[Danish language|Danish]], [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]], [[Italian language|Italian]], [[Spanish language|Spanish]], and [[Czech language|Czech]] in 1890.<ref name="Korzhenkov 2009 16"/>

The name ''Unua Libro'' was applied retroactively to the book in relation to the title of Zamenhof's 1888 book ''[[Dua Libro]]'' (''Second Book'').{{citation needed|date=July 2018}}

In 1905, Zamenhof reproduced much of the content of ''Unua Libro'' in ''[[Fundamento de Esperanto]]'', which he established as the only obligatory authority over Esperanto in the [[Declaration of Boulogne]] at the first [[World Esperanto Congress]] later that year. However, in his 1888 ''[[Dua Libro#Aldono al la Dua Libro|Aldono al la Dua Libro]]'' (''Supplement to the Second Book''), he officially altered the spelling of the suffixes of the temporal correlatives (''when'', ''then'', ''always'', ''sometimes'', ''never'') from ''-ian'' to ''-iam'', which rendered the Esperanto of ''Unua Libro'' slightly outdated.{{citation needed|date=July 2018}}

==Content==
The book consists of three parts, an introduction, a grammar section, and a dictionary.

Zamenhof begins by renouncing all rights to the language, putting it in the [[public domain]].

In the introduction, Zamenhof lays out his case for the need for an [[international auxiliary language]] (IAL). He states that previous attempts, such as [[Volapük]], have failed because they have not overcome the three main difficulties an IAL must overcome in order to succeed. Those difficulties are:<ref name="genekeyes"/>

{{blockquote|1. To render the study of the language so easy as to make its acquisition mere play to the learner.<br />
2. To enable the learner to make direct use of his knowledge with persons of any nationality, whether the language be universally accepted or not; in other words, the language is to be directly a means of international communication.<br />
3. To find some means of overcoming the natural indifference of mankind, and disposing them, in the quickest manner possible, and en masse, to learn and use the proposed language as a living one, and not only in last extremities, and with the key at hand. | L. L. Zamenhof, ''Unua Libro''}}

In the next three parts, he addresses each difficulty specifically and explains why he believes Esperanto is fit to overcome them.

[[File:Promeso lerni esperanton.png|thumb|left|150px|Slip for the universal vote campaign]]
In part I, he explains the simplicity and flexibility of [[Esperanto grammar]], particularly due to its regularity and use of [[affix]]es.

In part II, he demonstrates the ease of using [[Esperanto]] for international communication due to a simple and clear vocabulary. To demonstrate this, he translates the [[Lord's Prayer|Our Father]] and [[Genesis creation narrative|Genesis 1:1–9]] and presents a fictional letter and a few poems in Esperanto—"El Heine'", a translation, and "Mia penso" and "[[Ho, mia kor']]", both original.<ref>{{harvnb|Schor|2016|p=71}}</ref>

In part III, he presents an idea called the "universal vote", which is a campaign to allot 10 million signatures of people making the following pledge: "I, the undersigned, promise to learn the international language, proposed by Dr. Esperanto, if it shall be shown that ten million similar promises have been publicly given." He argues that this will prevent anyone from wasting time on learning the language since, once 10 million signatures have been gathered, there will be a significant population obliged to learn the language, rendering the language useful. He also welcomes critical feedback for the next year and promises to consider criticism before publishing a special booklet that will give definitive form to the language the following year (which was to be ''Aldono al la Dua Libro''). Additionally, he lays out guidelines for a language academy to guide the [[Modern evolution of Esperanto|evolution of the language]] in the future (which was to be the [[Akademio de Esperanto]]).<ref>{{harvnb|Schor|2016|p=72}}</ref>

In the grammar section, he explains the [[Esperanto orthography|Esperanto alphabet]] and sixteen grammar rules.

In the dictionary section, he presents a dictionary with 917 roots of vocabulary.<ref name="genekeyes"/>

==Reception and legacy==
Zamenhof received a wide range of reactions to ''Unua Libro'', from mocking criticism to avid interest.<ref>{{harvnb|Korzhenkov|2009|p=19}}</ref> In the hundreds of letters he received, he saw enough support to prompt him to publish ''Dua Libro'' in January 1888 and ''[[La Esperantisto]]'' in 1889, in order to provide more Esperanto reading material for those with interest.<ref>{{harvnb|Korzhenkov|2009|p=21}}</ref> In 1889, he also published Russian–Esperanto and German–Esperanto dictionaries to increase Esperanto vocabulary, as well as ''Aldono al la Dua Libro'', a supplement to ''Dua Libro'', to establish the definitive form of the language, a document he promised in part III of ''Unua Libro''.<ref name="Korzhenkov 2009 20">{{harvnb|Korzhenkov|2009|p=20}}</ref>

By all measures, Zamenhof's "universal vote" campaign failed. By 1889, he had only reached 1000 signatures, a mere 0.01% of his goal of 10 million. Nevertheless, the Esperanto movement continued onward. Among the early supporters were educated [[History of the Jews in Russia|Russian]] and [[History of the Jews in Poland|Polish Jews]], [[Leo Tolstoy]] and his followers, [[Eastern Europe]]an [[Freemasonry|freemason]]s, and speakers of [[Volapük]] who had lost hope in their language.<ref name="Korzhenkov 2009 20"/>

==See also==
* [[History of Esperanto]]
* [[Esperanto Day]]

== Footnotes ==
{{reflist|group=n|refs=}}

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* {{Cite book |title=Zamenhof: The Life, Works and Ideas of the Author of Esperanto |last=Korzhenkov |first=Aleksandr |editor-last=Tonkin |editor-first=Humphrey |editor-link=Humphrey Tonkin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C2WMcIE1svMC |location=New York |publisher=Mondial |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-59569-167-5 |lccn=2010926187 |access-date=November 16, 2017}}
* {{Cite book |title=Bridge of Words: Esperanto and the Dream of a Universal Language |last=Schor |first=Esther |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5DLpDAAAQBAJ |location=New York |publisher=[[Henry Holt and Company]] |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-42994-341-3 |lccn=2015018907 |access-date=November 19, 2017}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline|La Unua Libro}}
* {{wikisource-inline|Dr. Esperanto's International Language|single=true|''Dr. Esperanto's International Language''}}
* [http://esperanto.davidgsimpson.com/librejo/index.html A collection of free Esperanto books compiled by David G. Simpson.] This collection includes, among many others, reprints of the "canonical books" of the Esperanto language, i.e., Unua Libro, Dua Libro (with the Aldono al la Dua Libro) and Fundamento de Esperanto.

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1887 non-fiction books]]
[[Category:Esperanto history]]
[[Category:Esperanto literature]]
[[Category:Works published under a pseudonym]]