The Time Is Coming

Bolmer, W. B.

Published by G. W. Dillingham, 1896

About this Item

Bolmer, W. B. The Time Is Coming. New York: G. W. Dillingham Co., Publishers, 1896. First edition. Octavo, pp. [3-4] 5 vi 7-282 [note: text complete despite initial gap]. Original pictorial olive green cloth, front panel stamped in black and gold, spine panel stamped in gold. A fine copy. #1691. $225. A philo-semitic fantasy set in the near future about the founding in Palestine of a Jewish state, helped to a healthy birth by the return of the prophet Elijah. The Western nations agree to the Zionist ideal -- essentially to get the Jews off their hands -- and hand an ultimatum to Turkey (then in control of the region). A naval flotilla is dispatched to Constantinople to deal with the Sultan's refusal but retires in the face of opposition. The lone American ship, the Farragut, sends up a balloon with a special cannon that demolishes, from a distance of 30 miles, a city block adjacent to the palace. The Farragut then approaches the city and its cannon "tore up from their roots four of the finest blocks in the city," rammed other vessels at 40 mph, and secured the Sultan's capitulation to terms. At an initial gathering of Jewish leaders in Palestine, a stranger rises and speaks impressively. We soon understand that he is Elijah. Among other things, he laments the failure of Jews to embrace Jesus as the true Messiah, saying that a union of the two religions would have aided both groups, which, in separation, have gone astray. That takes the reader up through chapter 2. A rather interesting book, dealing chiefly with religion to be sure, but free of the cheap pietism so often found in such things (and mercifully free of the anachronistic Elizabethan pronouns that writers of anything remotely Biblical seem unable to resist). A restrained, knowledgeable and occasionally ironic tone adds to the book's appeal, as do flashes of eccentricity (e.g., consumption is caused by drinking cow's milk), and its longing for a union of Judaism and Christianity will surely alienate orthodox adherents of each! Its concern with Zionism and matters of reformation and idealism would seem to bring it within the sphere of utopian literature. Bleiler (1978), p. 27. Reginald 01596. Wright (III) 588. "The novel focuses on the struggle for a reformed Christianity, and is mostly a critique of the Christianity as it existed at the time. . A religious revival led by the returned prophet Elijah that aims at the fusion of Judaism and Christianity and a Jewish state in Palestine. There have been technological advances, but these are incidental to the novel. Within the novel, reform is defeated but hope is held out for the future." -- Sargent, online database of utopian literature. Seller Inventory # 1691

Bibliographic Details

Title: The Time Is Coming

Publisher: G. W. Dillingham

Publication Date: 1896

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Fine

Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket

Edition: 1st Edition