THE EGO AND HIS OWN (1907) by Max Stirner,Steven T. Byington

For greater than two decades i've got entertained the layout of publishing an English translation of " Der Einzige und sein Eigentum. 1 " whilst I shaped this layout, the variety of English-speaking folks who had ever heard of the e-book was once very constrained. The reminiscence of Max Stirner were almost extinct for a whole new release. yet within the final twenty years there was a impressive revival of curiosity either within the publication and in its writer. it all started during this state with a dialogue within the pages of the Anarchist periodical, " Liberty," within which Stirner's concept used to be basically expounded and vigorously championed by means of Dr. James L. Walker, who followed for this dialogue the pseudonym " Tak Kak." at the moment Dr. Walker was once the executive editorial author for the Galveston " News." a few years later he grew to become a practicing surgeon in Mexico, the place he died in 1904. a sequence of essays which he all started in an Anarchist periodical, " Egoism," and which he lived to accomplish, used to be released after his demise in a small quantity, " The Philosophy of Egoism." it's a very capable and convincing exposition of Stirner's teachings, and nearly the single one who exists within the English language. however the leader device within the revival of Stirnerism was once and is the German poet, John Henry Mackay. Very early in his profession he met Stirner's identify in Lange's " historical past of Materialism," and used to be moved thereby to learn his ebook. The paintings made such an influence on him that he resolved to dedicate a component to his lifestyles to the rediscovery and rehabilitation of the misplaced and forgotten genius. via years of toil and correspondence and commute, and winning over great hindrances, he carried his job to of completion, and his biography of Stirner seemed in Berlin in 1898. it's a tribute to the thoroughness of Mackay's paintings that given that its ebook now not one very important truth approximately Stirner has been came upon by way of anyone. in the course of his years of research Mackay's advertisements for info had created a brand new curiosity in Stimer, which used to be more desirable via the surprising popularity of the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche, an writer whose highbrow kinship with Stirner has been a subject matter of a lot controversy. " Der Einzige," formerly accessible in simple terms in a pricey shape, was once integrated in Philipp Reclam's Uni-versal-Bibliothek, and this reasonable variation has loved a large and ever-increasing move. over the last dozen years the e-book has been translated two times into French, as soon as into Italian, as soon as into Russian, and probably into different languages. The Scandinavian critic, Brandes, has written on Stirner. a wide and appreciative quantity, entitled " L'' Individnalisme Anar-chiste: Max Stirner" from the pen of Prof. Victor Basch, of the collage of Rennes, has seemed in Paris. one other huge and sympathetic quantity, " Max Stirner," written by way of Dr. Anselm Ruest, has been released very lately in Berlin. Dr. Paul Eltzbacher, in his paintings, " Der Anarchismus," offers a bankruptcy to Stirner, making him one of many seven standard Anarchists, starting with William Godwin and finishing with Tolstoi, of whom his ebook treats. there's rarely a remarkable journal or a overview at the Continent that has now not given no less than one best article to the topic of Stirner. Upon the initiative of Mackay and via different admirers an appropriate stone has been positioned above the philosopher's previously-neglected grave, and a memorial pill upon the home in Berlin the place he died in 1856; and this spring one other is to be put upon the home in Bayreuth the place he was once bom in 1806. due to those quite a few efforts, and notwithstanding yet little has been written approximately Stirner within the English language, his identify is referred to now at the very least to millions in the USA and England the place previously it used to be identified simply to hundreds.