Having successfully offered the first part of the History of Discovery and Exploration in the spring, the second part is now being put up for auction in our autumn sales.
In addition to significant travel accounts, colonial history and primary sources from the most renowned explorers and discoverers of the past few centuries, our range has been expanded to include globes, maps and views.
Am ersten Tag kommt Reise- und Forschungsliteratur vorwiegend aus dem 19. und 20. Jahrhundert zum Aufruf. In diesen Jahren wurden die letzten unerforschten Gegenden der Erde oft erstmals betreten und beschrieben. Ein Schwerpunkt bei den angebotenen Büchern liegt auch auf ethnographischer Literatur und Werken zu Kunst und Kultur der besuchten Gebiete. Höhepunkte des Angebots sind ein privates Fotoalbum mit Motiven aus Japan um 1878 - Los 329 (Taxe 10.000 €); ein Album mit Ansichten aus Caracas in Lithographie - Los 231 (4000 €) und weitere Darstellungen aus allen Gegenden der Erde in 385 Katalognummern.
Daran anschließend wird eine Sammlung mit Erdgloben, Landkarten und Ansichten aufgerufen, die teils die Bibliotheksräume der Reisebibliothek zierten. Ein Schwerpunkt liegt hier auf großformatigen und meist farbigen Ansichten aus Süddeutschland u-a. von J. H. Bleuler, E. Emminger.
On the second day of the auction, books from the fields of natural sciences, history, literature, rare books, geography and book and writing history will be offered for sale.
In addition, autographs, manuscripts and prints from the 15th to the 19th centuries will go under the hammer.
The second day of the auction begins with geographical works and view books depicting European countries and cities. A collection from the Lower Rhine region includes valuable illustrated works on orders and decorations. A complete and uniformly bound copy of H. Helyot’s Ausführliche Geschichte aller geistlichen und weltlichen Kloster und Ritterorden in 8 volumes (1753–56), featuring 812 coloured copperplate engravings, is estimated at €4,000.
A fine copy of Sebastian Münster’s ‘Cosmographia’ in the 1550 edition is a highlight among the old prints. Also on offer is Olaus Magnus’s famous ‘Description of the Northern Lands’ from 1555 (4,000), and an anthology comprising four early Cologne prints of religious literature dating from around 1500 (3,000).
An album containing entries, drawings and watercolours from Berlin’s artistic and intellectual circles of the early 20th century documents connections within the Berlin Secession milieu (10,000). Numerous typescripts, letters and photographs from the estate of Curt Corrinth, which have been preserved by a relative, offer a unique opportunity to acquire such material, as much of it was lost due to the circumstances of Corrinth’s life.
From the Old Masters Prints department, highlights include an early print of Albrecht Dürer’s woodcut ‘Saint Jerome in the Rock Grotto’ from 1512 (estimate: €5,000) and Rembrandt’s etching ‘Joseph Interpreting his Dreams’ from 1638 (€12,000). The latter is presented as a beautiful, clear print of the third state of printing completed by Rembrandt himself, predating the later revisions made by the workshops of Watelet and Basan. Alongside well-known vedute by Giovanni Battista Piranesi and the works of James Ensor and Francisco de Goya – ranging from sombre to humorously bizarre – it is primarily 19th-century French artists who dominate the rest of the print selection at the Friday auction. Numerous prints from Toulouse-Lautrec’s oeuvre, including the complete ‘Café Concert’ portfolio with a personal dedication by the artist (9,000) and a special print of the etching of Jean-François Millet’s famous motif ‘Les Glaneuses’ (5,000), are further highlights of the auction.
S. Boisserée’s major work on Cologne Cathedral, which included the publication (1821–31) of plans and views that had only recently been discovered, provided the decisive impetus and the opportunity to continue the construction of Cologne Cathedral (3,000). From the personal library of a gallery owner specialising in carpet literature, who has also made a name for himself as a bibliographer, around 50 catalogue lots of valuable and often large-format standard works on the subject are on offer. Children’s books and literature from the 17th to the 19th centuries round off the day’s proceedings.
On the third day of the auction, we will be auctioning modern and contemporary prints and art.
As a special highlight, we are delighted to present the first part of the collection From the inventory of Galerie Der Spiegel.
The final section to go under the hammer will be illustrated books from the 20th and 21st centuries.
On Saturday 26 September, modern and contemporary prints and books will be auctioned from 10.00 am. A small collection of early prints by the two leading figures of the Cologne Progressive movement, Franz Wilhelm Seiwert and Gerd Arntz, will be offered for auction, including Seiwert’s linocuts ‘Die Fabrik’ and ‘Profit I’ from 1923 (5,000 each). The works we are offering come from the collections of Tristan Rémy, Mériel and Edda Maillet in Paris and were on display in 1993 at the exhibition ‘Otto Freundlich et ses amis’ at the Musée Tavet in Pontoise.
Walter Dexel, a key figure in 1920s Constructivism, is represented by a work on paper executed in pencil, gouache and collage (5,000).
Among the works of classical modernism, alongside prints by Emil Nolde, Max Pechstein, Georges Braque, Joan Miró and Marc Chagall, several drawings and lithographs by Otto Dix stand out, including a silver-point drawing of a ‘Bruchwald’ (3,500) and a ‘Nude with Stockings’ in red chalk with white highlights (4,000).
The rare portfolio ‘Fotografien und Fotomontagen’, of which only 20 copies were produced, featuring 24 bromide-silver gelatine prints from 1979 based on works by Alexander Rodchenko, is expected to fetch €6,000.
Oskar Kokoschka’s two-part portfolio ‘Bekenntnis zu Hellas’ (A Declaration of Allegiance to Hellas), published in 1964 and comprising 24 lithographs, was created following the artist’s trip to Greece in 1961 and documents his keen interest in the culture of ancient Greece (8,000).
Highlights among the works by contemporary artists include the lacquered, vacuum-formed plastic panel ‘Le Drapeau noir, tirage illimité’ from 1968 by Marcel Broodthaers (15,000), two watercolours by Gotthard Graubner, created in 1978 (7,000 each), and five large-format colour silkscreen prints by Heinz Mack from the series ‘12 Monate’ (3,500 and 4,000 each). Works by Sigmar Polke on offer include photographs and drawings, as well as an extensive collection of prints, including a copy of his consumer-critical offset lithograph ‘Preisvergleich’ (4,000).
In the afternoon, we are offering the first part of works from the holdings of the Cologne-based gallery Der Spiegel across more than 120 lots, including the portfolios ‘Spiegel 70’ (8,000), ‘Kölner Kunstmarkt 70’ (9,000) and ‘Colour in the round’ by Rupprecht Geiger (8,000). Our extensive and exciting selection of prints from the gallery, some of which are inscribed to the founders Eva and Hein Stünke, is complemented by numerous unique pieces by various artists such as Markus Lüpertz, Wolfgang Hollegha and Raimund Girke.
In the last two sections, featuring illustrated books from the 20th century, a total of just under 200 items have been catalogued. From the former J. Matarasso collection, a work by Tristan Tzara, Mouchoir de nuages (1925), featuring 9 etchings by Juan Gris, is listed (9000). Poems by C.P. Cavafy were illustrated by D. Hockney with 12 etchings. This rare edition was beautifully bound in soft calfskin by master bookbinder Mechthild Lobisch (10,000). The Cologne-based photographer Chargesheimer not only photographed contemporaries and locations in his home city, but also engaged in experimental photography. In 1961, his portfolio ‘lichtgrafik.monoskripturen’ was published in a run of just 25 copies. Each contains 10 unique photographic works (9,000). Sonja Dekaunay-Terk illustrated a text by Tristan Tzara, ‘Juste présent’, with 8 colour etchings in 1961 (3,000).
The final two sections feature further illustrated books by M. Chagall, J. Miró, Otto Piene, Ed Ruscha and others.
