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PUBLISHER'S PREFACE

not strictly the Einzige, for uniqueness connotes not only single-
ness but an admirable singleness, while Stirner's Einzigkeit is ad-
mirable in his eyes only as such, it being no part of the purpose
of his book to distinguish a particular Einzigkeit as more excel-
lent than another. Moreover, " The Unique One and His Prop-
erty " has no graces to compel our forgiveness of its slight inac-
curacy. It is clumsy and unattractive. And the same objections
may be urged with still greater force against all the other render-
ings that have been suggested,--" The Single One and His
Property," " The Only One and His Property," " The Lone One
and His Property," " The Unit and His Property," and, last
and least and worst, " The Individual and His Prerogative."
" The Ego and His Own," on the other hand, if not a precise
rendering, is at least an excellent title in itself; excellent by its
euphony, its monosyllabic incisiveness, and its telling--Einzigkeit.
Another strong argument in its favor is the emphatic correspond-
ence of the phrase " his own " with Mr. Byington's renderings
of the kindred words, Eigenheit and Eigner. Moreover, no
reader will be led astray who bears in mind Stirner's distinction:
" I am not an ego along with other egos, but the sole ego;
I am unique." And, to help the reader to bear this in mind, the
various renderings of the word Einzige that occur through the
volume are often accompanied by foot-notes showing that, in the
German, one and the same word does duty for all.

If the reader finds the first quarter of this book somewhat

forbidding and obscure, he is advised nevertheless not to
falter. Close attention will master almost every difficulty,
and, if he will but give it, he will find abundant reward in what
follows. For his guidance I may specify one defect in the
author's style. When controverting a view opposite to his own,
he seldom distinguishes with sufficient clearness his statement of
his own view from his re-statement of the antagonistic view.
As a result, the reader is plunged into deeper and deeper mystifi-
cation, until something suddenly reveals the cause of his mis-
understanding, after which he must go back and read again, I

PUBLISHER'S PREFACE

therefore put him on his guard. The other difficulties lie, as a
rule, in the structure of the work. As to these I can hardly do
better than translate the following passage from Prof. Basch's
book, alluded to above: " There is nothing more disconcerting
than the first approach to this strange work. Stirner does not
condescend to inform us as to the architecture of his edifice, or
furnish us the slightest guiding thread. The apparent divisions
of the book are few and misleading. From the first page to the
last a unique thought circulates, but it divides itself among an
infinity of vessels and arteries in each of which runs a blood so
rich in ferments that one is tempted to describe them all. There
is no progress in the development, and the repetitions are in-
numerable. ............... The reader who is not de-
terred by this oddity, or rather absence, of composition gives
proof of genuine intellectual courage. At first one seems to be
confronted with a collection of essays strung together, with a
throng of aphorisms. .............. But, if you read this

book several times; if, after having penetrated the intimacy of
each of its parts, you then traverse it as a whole,--gradually
the fragments weld themselves together, and Stirner's thought
is revealed in all its unity, in all its force, and in all its depth."

A word about the dedication. Mackay's investigations have

brought to light that Marie Daehnhardt had nothing whatever
in common with Stirner, and so was unworthy of the honor con-
ferred upon her. She was no

Eigene.

I therefore reproduce the

dedication merely in the interest of historical accuracy.

Happy as I am in the appearance of this book, my joy is not

unmixed with sorrow. The cherished project was as dear to the
heart of Dr. Walker as to mine, and I deeply grieve that he is
no longer with us to share our delight in the fruition. Nothing,
however, can rob us of the masterly introduction that he wrote
for this volume (in 1903, or perhaps earlier), from which I will
not longer keep the reader. This introduction, no more than
the book itself, shall that Einzige, Death, make his Eigentum.

February, 1907.

B. R. T.