Handwritten Contract about the Printing of the First Hebrew Calendar in the World - Rare Signature of the Publisher ...

Handwritten Contract about the Printing of the First Hebrew Calendar in the World - Rare Signature of the Publisher Eliezer ben Yehuda, from the First Days in the Land of Israel - 1884
Until the days of ben Yehuda, Hebrew calendars were printed in books and booklets. Ben Yehuda wanted to print a totally different calendar: a daily calendar, with a complete page dedicated to each separate day. The calendar was to be hung on the wall and each day, the pervious page was to be torn off from the calendar (as is customary with today's daily calendars). Such a calendar would be more useful than a calendar printed as a booklet. The calendar that was printed by Ben Yehuda was the first Hebrew calendar in the world of this type and in this format!
Ben Yehuda's goal in printing the Hebrew wall-calendar was to strengthen the national, historical consciousness, which was the focus of his enterprises. Jewish historical events were noted on the calendar's pages, while non-Jewish historical events were deliberately not noted. Ben Yehuda explained that the goal of the calendar was to "remind the Jew his history every day … which is the source of life of the Jewish people".
In Kislev 1884, Eliezer Ben Yehuda started working on the printing of the Hebrew wall-calendar, which was one of his first enterprises after his immigration to the Land of Israel. The signature on the contract before us is very early - dozens of years before the signatures of Ben Yehuda that can be found today. Such an early signature of Ben Yehuda has never been seen in auctions!
The calendar was first printed toward the Jewish year 5645 (1885), in the month of Av "a thousand eight hundred and sixteen years to the destruction of the Temple" - 5644 (1884). (This Hebrew calendar was also a means for disseminating Ben Yehuda's idea about changing the date to match the years that have passed since the destruction of the Temple).
The calendar was of a small format. The pages of the weekdays were printed on white paper and those of the Sabbath, on red paper. The title page mentions the three partners: Ben Yehuda, Lifshitz and Rivlin. The calendar was printed by Reb Avraham Gagin and his partner Shmuel Zuckerman.
The few copies of the calendar that had been printed have been lost over the years. A single copy is owned by the Rivlin family, the descendants of the partner to the printing, Reuben Rivlin. Based on this copy, researches on the subject have been written.
Before us is the original contract from 25.7.1884 written towards the printing of the calendar. The contract was written by Rivlin and signed by Ben Yehuda and Lifshitz, who confirm that they have received from Rivlin Ten Gold Napoleons in cash for the costs of printing the calendar and in return they will make an effort to sell the calendars. "And if God helps us and we are successful, then we must give Reuben 15 percent of the profits from the sale of the calendars…"

Eliezer Ben Yehuda (1858-1922) was born as Eliezer Perlman. In his youth he studied in a yeshiva in Plock, there he was exposed to the Enlightenment. In 1891, he immigrated to the Land of Israel. He wrote articles for the Chavatzelet newspaper, signing them as "Ben Yehuda". He was known as the reviver of the Hebrew language. He founded and edited various newspapers (Ha'Zvi was one of them) for disseminating his special Hebrew and national ideas.
Reb Reuben Rivlin (1863-1928), the friend of Reb Ozer Dov Lifshitz and other Biluyim. Since 1891, he assisted in managing "Ha'Va'ad Ha'Klali" of Jerusalem, which was headed by his relative, Rabbi Yosef Rivlin. He was one of the builders of the new neighborhoods of Jerusalem. After Rabbi Yosef Rivlin's death in 1896, he was appointed head of Ha'Va'ad Ha'Klali Knesset Yisrael. The Rivlin family was friends with the Ben Yehuda family and supported it. Reuben Rivlin's grandson is President Reuben Rivlin, who is named after him.
Ozer Dov Lifshitz, one of the first Biluyim and the secretary of the movement. He immigrated to the Land of Israel in 1883. He lived in Jerusalem in the Nachalat Shiva neighborhood. He was the secretary of the "Tchiyat Yisrael" Association, whom Ben Yehuda was a member of. One of the goals of the Association was to spread the Hebrew language among the Jews in the Land of Israel. The meetings of the Association were held in the house of Rabbi Yechiel Michel Pines in Nachalat Shiva. Reuben Rivlin and Ben Yehuda also attended these meetings. Lifshitz was a journalist who worked for the two newspapers: Mevaseret Zion and Ha'Zvi - the two newspapers that were founded and edited by Ben Yehuda.

An important historical item - one of a kind. With a signature of Ben Yehuda from an early time.
Folded graph paper. Size of written page: 20 cm.
Condition: Excellent. Folding marks. It is possible that single words at the beginning of the contract are missing.