THE JEWISH CEMETERY IN PRAGUE And THE COUNCIL OF REPRESENTATIVES Of The Twelve Tribes of Israel ST. PETERSBURG Printed by the Association “Obschestvenaya Polza” On the Moika, at the Round Market, No. 5 1872 [Illustration: FACSIMILE OF THE FOREWORD TO THE STORY PUBLISHED IN 1872, SHOWING THAT THE AUTHOR REGARDED IT AS A “LEGENDARY STORY,” COLORED BY THE AUTHOR’S “FANTASTIC IMAGINATION.”] [Transcription: ПРЕДИСЛОВІЕ. Описаніе еврейскаго кладбища въ Прагѣ и легендарный разсказъ о собраніи представителей двѣнадцати израильскихъ колѣнъ заимствованы изъ историко-политическаго романа Сера Джона Редклиффа «До Седана», помѣщеннаго въ журналѣ, издаваемомъ Николаемъ Степановичемъ Львовымъ. Содержаніе легенды не есть вымыселъ одного Редклиффа; скорѣе Редклиффъ, съ свойственнымъ ему фантастическимъ вooбраженіемъ, собралъ части въ одно цѣлое и окрасилъ все поэтическими красками, поражающими, можетъ быть, чрезмѣрною яркостію, но тѣмъ не менѣе представляющими интересъ. * * * * * Дозволено цензурою, С.-Петербургъ, 17-го мая 1872 года. ] [Transliteration: PREDISLOVIE. Opisanie evrejskago kladbishha v Prage i legendarnyj razskaz o sobranii predstavitelej dvenadcati izrail'skih kolen zaimstvovany iz istoriko-politicheskago romana Sera Dzhona Redkliffa «Do Sedana», pomeshhennago v zhurnale, izdavaemom Nikolaem Stepanovichem L'vovym. Soderzhanie legendy ne est' vymysel odnogo Redkliffa; skoree Redkliff, s svojstvennym emu fantasticheskim voobrazheniem, sobral chasti v odno celoe i okrasil vse poeticheskimi kraskami, porazhajushhimi, mozhet byt', chrezmernoju jarkostiju, no tem ne menee predstavljajushhimi interes. * * * * * Dozvoleno cenzuroju, S.-Peterburg, 17-go maja 1872 goda. ] _(Translation)_ FOREWORD “The description of the Jewish cemetery in Prague and the legendary story of the meeting of the representatives of the twelve tribes of Israel are borrowed from the historico-political novel by Sir John Radcliff, ‘To Sedan,’ published in the magazine edited by Nicholas Stepanovitch Lvoff. “The contents of the legend are not the invention of Radcliff himself; rather Radcliff, with his characteristic fantastic imagination, collected various parts into one whole and painted all with poetic colors, which strike one perhaps by their excessive gaudiness, but which are nevertheless interesting.” * * * * * Passed by the Censor, St. Petersburg, May 17, 1872 This product of “Radcliff’s fantastic imagination,” the work of one experienced in the perpetration of forgeries, will now be permitted to tell its own story. It requires no commentary. It clearly foreshadows the protocols, with all its accompaniment of melodrama, not even omitting the Devil, himself. THE JEWISH CEMETERY IN PRAGUE and The Council of Representatives of the Twelve Tribes of Israel