The Roerich Pact and The Banner Of Peace 1947 [ Nicholas Roerich , Agni Yoga Society ]

Description

Promotional pamphlet The Roerich Pact and Banner of Peace, an anti-war international compact created by artist and Agni Yoga founder Nicholas Roerich

 

 

The Roerich Pact and The Banner of Peace. The Roerich Pact and Banner of Peace Committee : New York, NY. 1947. First edition.

 

 

This original 1947 pamphlet from The Roerich Pact and Banner of Peace Committee laid out the aims of the artist and philosopher Nicholas Roerich for his “Red Cross of Culture” in the same year as his death in India that December. Originally proposed by Roerich in 1929 as a means to protect culturally significant art objects and educational and scientific institutions from war, the pact was met with mild approval from President Franklin Roosevelt who said, “This treaty possesses a spiritual signifi­cance far deeper than the text of the instrument itself.” Roosevelt would allow his running mate (and Roerich’s disciple) Henry Wallace to sign an Inter-American version of the pact in 1935, but never progressed to the full international version as envisioned.

Roerich’s aim to preserve human culture for posterity was prescient when first proposed and feels almost desperate in this presentation. Written amid the “enormity of World War II and its global devastation”, the authors warn that “Time is short” and that World peace and the preservation of civilization must be global rather than national efforts.

 

8vo, 55pp, staple bound yellow printed card wraps. Small mark to front spine hinge. Top back edge worn with small tear near spine hinge. Pages clean. Includes two portrait photo plates and various newspaper reproductions. Near fine.

 

 

If you liked this book you might also enjoy this second edition of Helena Roerich’s Foundations of Buddhism