Autograph letter in French to Henri La Fontaine,

Accompanying an inscribed presentation copy of his work “Solidarismus. Natürliche wirtschaftliche Erlösung des Menschen”. München-Berlin, R. Oldenbourg, 1903, vii-124 pp.,dated December 1903 (folded, with sm. tear in fold, toned and sl. thumbed, tail def.).

Orig. printed wr. In good condition.

The German engineer Diesel (1858-1913) is famous for the invention of the diesel engine. “He had, however, a larger vision for his engine than just making it more efficient. He thought that his engine could transform society. Since his engines worked on a smaller scale than the steam engines, they could be used by small craftsmen and help to counteract that increase in the scale of manufacturing resulting from the industrial revolution. Diesel was part of a movement that believed that technology could save the world. Rather than having the workers rise up as Marxism called for, he believed that technology could better the lot of workers and narrow the class divide, so such a revolution would not be necessary. He did, however, believe in a form of communism in which workers would pool their resources for the greater common good. He presented his ideas in his 1903 book entitled “Solidarismus (Solidarity: the rational economic salvation of mankind)” (http://historyofsci.blogspot.com/2012/02/). Henri La Fontaine (1854-1943) was a Belgian international lawyer and president of the International Peace Bureau. In 1913 he received the Nobel Prize for Peace.