Description

The satirical poem L’Or (The Gold) was written in French language in Thessaloniki by Lucien Sciuto (1868–1947), an Ottoman author of Jewish origins, and was dedicated to a certain Jacques Cohen. The work was allegedly published in Paris by the Masonic Press.

Lucien Sciuto was an editor and author, active in Thessaloniki, Istanbul and Cairo and especially known for his editing of the pro-Zionist French-language Jewish weekly L’Aurore and French-language Sephardi periodical Le Journal de Salonique.

The circumstances regarding the production of the work at a seemingly unrecorded Masonic Press (Libraire maçonnique) in Paris remain somewhat mysterious. It is possible, that the book was printed in the Ottoman Empire and the false imprint was made to add the importance and mystique to the publication. This is perhaps a subject for further research.

The book is exceedingly rare. It is mentioned in: D Gershon Lewental, “Sciuto, Lucien” (in: Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World, Executive Editor Norman A. Stillman. Consulted online on 20 July 2022) without the year of publication. We could not find any institutional examples.