Curiosities of the National Library of Israel available on the internet

Hundreds of vintage book advertisements, printed all over Israel between the 1930s and the 1950s, are now available online thanks to a new National Library of Israel project.

Once upon a time - before they invented Facebook, "four for NIS 100" and Amazon - publishers needed to print special posters to promote their latest books. The Land of Israel Publishers, for example, announced its book "Between Man and Wife" with a poster that described the publication as "a popular science book on the sexual problem, from the spiritual psychological perspective." The book "supplied life counseling for young couples [and] unified scientific philosophic material."

A scanned book advertisement. Courtesy of the National Library.

The publisher promised "78 packed pages, and a price of only Land of Israel 100 pence." At the bottom of the advertisement was the advice: "Buy the book immediately for every married man and woman." Lots of posters were printed all over the country between the 1930s and the 1950s. They gave the public the chance to examine well-known - and less known - books, and tell us much about how books were sold in that era. They also teach us a lot about the world of advertising back then.

The National Library of Israel started scanning its collection of posters and adverts last year and is making them available to the public online. The posters are not only about books. They also include those from the other art forms and activities that document day-to-day life in Israel.

This week, in honor of the Jerusalem International Book Fair that opened on Sunday and runs through Friday, the National Library is highlighting its poster collection, part of the its Voyage through Time Project.

Browsing through the collection is a nostalgic journey: "Tell your relative, acquaintances and customers in Israel and overseas about 'The Guide to the Land of Israel,'" proclaims a poster from March 19, 1931. "The purpose of the guide is to bring the tourist from the ends of the earth to the Land of Israel," it states. The name of the author of the text also appears on the poster: S. Tchernopolsky of 59 Hayarkon Street in Tel Aviv. "Sign up for Sifriat Hapoalim [Workers Library]. Worker, intellectual, young man - the Workers Library is your library," was how the Hapoalim publisher sought subscribers.

Another Hapoalim poster informed the public about a special party the publisher held on March 15, 1946: "A party with Lea Goldberg," the famous poet and writer, in honor of her new book.