Four Handwritten Letters from the "Hebrew Language Committee" - Signed by Eliezer Ben-Yehuda and David Yellin - ...

Four Handwritten Letters from the "Hebrew Language Committee" - Signed by Eliezer Ben-Yehuda and David Yellin - Jerusalem, 1912
Four handwritten letters from the Hebrew Language Committee in Jerusalem, addressed to Hillel Zlatopolsky. Three of the letters are signed by Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, David Yellin and Aryeh Zuta. Shevat-Nissan 1912.
The letters concern the ongoing activities of the committee, among other things, the efforts by Ben-Yehuda to obtain financial support for its activity, plans for printing a booklet with essays and linguistic terms, and more. Three of the letters are stamped with the stamp of the "Jerusalem Hebrew Language Committee" and signed by the committee's presidents, Eliezer Ben-Yehuda and David Yellin, and its secretary, Chaim Aryeh Zuta.
The "Hebrew Language Committee" was founded in 1904 in response to the difficulties faced by teachers in Palestine regarding the use of the Hebrew language for teaching purposes. Its activity focused mostly on creating norms in Hebrew grammar, pronunciation and terminology. The committee's first members were Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, David Yellin, Dr. Aharon Meir Mazia, Yosef Meyuhas, Eliyahu Sapir, Yehiel Michal Pines and Chaim Aryeh Zuta. For most of its existence the committee suffered from a lack of funding, and its activities were performed on a volunteer basis. Among the philanthropists supporting the committee was the businessman and Zionist activist Hillel Zlatopolsky, to whom the present letters are addressed.
Shortly before the establishment of the State of Israel, the Hebrew Language Committee began to promote the establishment of an Academy of the Hebrew Language - an idea that was finally realized in 1953, when the Knesset legislated the "Law of the Supreme Institution of the Hebrew Language", which led to the establishment of the "Academy of the Hebrew Language".
Four letters (six written pages), 28 cm. Good overall condition. Folding marks and light creases. Stains. Holes and small tears to several leaves.
Provenance: Collection of Ben Zion Kahana.