Bruce Lee's Personal 'The Way of Response' Philosophy Book

We are pleased to offer this rare opportunity to own a prized reference book from Bruce Lee’s personal library.

Bruce was an avid reader and curated a personal library containing hundreds of books, which collectively covered a rich and diverse educational spectrum, including volumes on the martial arts, western boxing, fencing, exercise, philosophy and filmmaking - to name but a few.

This volume, ‘The Way of Response’, features a selection of writings by celebrated Jewish existential philosopher, Martin Buber, as edited by Ukrainian historian and philosopher, Nahum N. Glatzer, and was published by Schocken Books of New York in 1966.

For the collector of Bruce Lee autographs and annotations, this volume showcases two exciting features. Firstly, on the inside cover, Bruce has inscribed ‘Property of Bruce Lee’ in his own distinctive handwriting and added the Chinese characters that make up his name directly below. Secondly, on the contents page, we find a very rare and highly sought-after variation of Bruce Lee’s personal signature. It includes the full English transliteration of his Chinese name, together with the familiar form, as follows: ‘Bruce Lee Siu Loong’. This signature variant has been further embellished with Bruce’s personal hand-drawn illustration of a kinetic fist shattering a block or board.

Buber most commonly wrote on topics like religious consciousness, ethics, Biblical hermeneutics and modernity. His book, ‘I and Thou’ - a thesis of dialogical existence - is regarded as a seminal work. Bruce, famously, read philosophy at The University of Washington, and his passion and interest in the subject continued throughout his lifetime.

This book - a treasure for any discerning collector of Bruce Lee memorabilia - shows some surface-chipping and creasing on the cover and spine, along with more significant edge erosion on a portion of the lower spine. The book also exhibits mild creasing on a few of the internal pages but is generally in good condition.