Editing Unua Libro (section)

==Content==
The book consists of three parts, an introduction, a grammar section, and a dictionary.

Zamenhof begins by renouncing all rights to the language, putting it in the [[public domain]].

In the introduction, Zamenhof lays out his case for the need for an [[international auxiliary language]] (IAL). He states that previous attempts, such as [[Volapük]], have failed because they have not overcome the three main difficulties an IAL must overcome in order to succeed. Those difficulties are:<ref name="genekeyes"/>

{{blockquote|1. To render the study of the language so easy as to make its acquisition mere play to the learner.<br />
2. To enable the learner to make direct use of his knowledge with persons of any nationality, whether the language be universally accepted or not; in other words, the language is to be directly a means of international communication.<br />
3. To find some means of overcoming the natural indifference of mankind, and disposing them, in the quickest manner possible, and en masse, to learn and use the proposed language as a living one, and not only in last extremities, and with the key at hand. | L. L. Zamenhof, ''Unua Libro''}}

In the next three parts, he addresses each difficulty specifically and explains why he believes Esperanto is fit to overcome them.

[[File:Promeso lerni esperanton.png|thumb|left|150px|Slip for the universal vote campaign]]
In part I, he explains the simplicity and flexibility of [[Esperanto grammar]], particularly due to its regularity and use of [[affix]]es.

In part II, he demonstrates the ease of using [[Esperanto]] for international communication due to a simple and clear vocabulary. To demonstrate this, he translates the [[Lord's Prayer|Our Father]] and [[Genesis creation narrative|Genesis 1:1–9]] and presents a fictional letter and a few poems in Esperanto—"El Heine'", a translation, and "Mia penso" and "[[Ho, mia kor']]", both original.<ref>{{harvnb|Schor|2016|p=71}}</ref>

In part III, he presents an idea called the "universal vote", which is a campaign to allot 10 million signatures of people making the following pledge: "I, the undersigned, promise to learn the international language, proposed by Dr. Esperanto, if it shall be shown that ten million similar promises have been publicly given." He argues that this will prevent anyone from wasting time on learning the language since, once 10 million signatures have been gathered, there will be a significant population obliged to learn the language, rendering the language useful. He also welcomes critical feedback for the next year and promises to consider criticism before publishing a special booklet that will give definitive form to the language the following year (which was to be ''Aldono al la Dua Libro''). Additionally, he lays out guidelines for a language academy to guide the [[Modern evolution of Esperanto|evolution of the language]] in the future (which was to be the [[Akademio de Esperanto]]).<ref>{{harvnb|Schor|2016|p=72}}</ref>

In the grammar section, he explains the [[Esperanto orthography|Esperanto alphabet]] and sixteen grammar rules.

In the dictionary section, he presents a dictionary with 917 roots of vocabulary.<ref name="genekeyes"/>