Rare Books Berlin - Internationale Messe für Bücher und Graphik

Korolev, Boris [Boris Korolyov]. Russische Plastik (Russian Sculpture) [UNIQUE COLLECTION OF 26 ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPHS OF WORKS EXHIBITED AT THE ERSTE RUSSISCHE KUNSTAUSSTELLUNG] [SIGNED]

Berlin. [1922]. Small folio. 14 leaves, unpaginated. Hand-made string-bound paper portfolio, in paper wrappers, with calligraphic black German text on the front cover. Housed in a custom tan cloth clamshell box, with a dark brown leather label lettered in gilt on the spine. Signed by the artist on the first leaf. This unique collection is comprised of 26 mounted silver gelatin photographs, showing 20 works by acclaimed Russian sculptor Boris Korolev (Boris Korolyov, 1884-1963), 19 of which he would be exhibiting at the Erste Russische Kunstaustellung (The First Russian Art Exhibition) in Berlin in 1922. The exhibition was historically important in that it was first show devoted to Russian art to be presented in Western Europe in the years since the Russian revolution. The exhibition opened on Sunday, October 15, 1922, at the Gallery van Diemen, showing more than 700 works by 167 artists. The show was organized by the International Bureau of the Soviet People's Commissariat for Education under the auspices of David Sterenberg, Naum Gabo, and Nathan Altman, and was scheduled to run for one month, but due to the positive response by press and a large number of visitors was extended until the end of the year. The architect Adolf Behne described it as the "boldest and most extensive exhibition of creative production" that has been seen in Berlin in years. While it was originally scheduled to travel to various European capitols, the French government refused to give permission for an exhibition in Paris. Subsequently the exhibition was only shown in the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam in the Spring of the following year. Retrospectively the event has been seen as an important moment in the history 20th century art, which highlighted the significant Russian contributions to modern art. The first photograph is a portrait of the sculptor, with his signature below. Most of the heavy stock paper leaves contain a photograph mounted on both the rector and the verso (a few leaves are single sided only). All of the photographs, which range in size from 5 1/2 x 3 1/2 to 7 x 9 1/2", are captioned below in hand-written Cyrillic text in ink. The captions contain the title of the piece, the year of it's completion, medium used, and in some cases the name of the museum where the work was held at the time. All of the 20 individual works shown here, mostly sculpture and few sketches, were produced by the artist between 1915 and 1920. Some prints are mat, and some are glossy (some with oxidation to corners). This collection of images is significant in that it documents, in-part, Korolev's short-lived but notable cubist period (ca.1918-1923). Many of these early works in Korolev's career no longer survive, including his notorious monument to revolutionary Mikhail Bakunin, which stood for only a few months in Moscow's Turgenev Square before it was officially removed. Images of both his small scale mockup design sculpture, and the full scale monument standing in Moscow are included. This controversial design has since been acclaimed as an important moment in the history of Russian sculpture. Also shown is Korolev's even more radical cubist design for a proposed statue of Karl Marx, which was ultimately rejected in favor of a more traditional design by Georghe Lavrov (1895-1991), and erected in 1919. The final three photographs included show cubist drawings and sketches, including the artist's interesting design for the facade of the Project of the Central City Public Building, in Moscow. These and many of Korolev's other works from this period were ultimately deemed to be too experimental for even Soviet sensibilities during this early period, which was concerned with defining a new Soviet artistic identity. After the negative reception and controversy surrounding many of these works, he switched to a more realistic style, which was in line with Soviet authorities. Wrappers with minor to light stains, age toning and creasing, as well as some light rubbing to extremities. Spine of the wrappers has been re-backed and restored. Interior relatively clean, save for some minor age toning to leaves, and some oxidizing to the edges of some of the photographs. String-tied binding still holding tight. In very good- condition all things considered. #53840

Sachgebiete: Kunstgeschichte, Moderne Kunst, Photographie, Russland, Bildhauerei

01.08.2026 - 00:52

39500,- EUR

Eric Chaim Kline Bookseller

Munster, Sebastian. Arukh: Dictionarium Chaldaicum

Basel. Johann Froben. 1527. First edition. Small quarto: a-z, A-2H4, 2I6 (=222 leaves). [8], 434, [2]pp. Recent wrappers. Mild embrowning at margins, light dampstain at final leaves, else a fresh, clean copy. First edition of Sebastian Münster's Aramaic-Latin dictionary to the Targumim and Rabbinic literature. The first Aramaic dictionary edited by a Christian scholar, it is based primarily on the Arukh of Nathan ben Jehiel of Rome (1035-c.1110). "Through quotes and commentaries it explains the myriad of difficult terms and concepts in the Talmud and the Midrash collections. It is a work for advanced Talmudists and was widely used. The sizeable Aruch was also one of the first Hebrew works to be printed (Rome, c. 1470) and Christian Hebraists made use of it in their study of rabbinical literature" (Heb. Veritas Cat., 37). The celebrated polymath, cosmographer, astronomer, and Semitic language scholar Sebastian Münster (1489-1552) was born in Niederingelheim, Hesse, the son of a hospital master. Apart from some private instruction in Latin and later studies at Freiberg, along with attendance at lectures given by the Franciscans, he had no university education. After entering the Minorite order in 1506 was sent to study in Rufach under Konrad Pellikan. Münster assisted Pellikan in teaching at Pforzheim and occupied the chair of Hebrew at the University of Heidelberg from 1524 to 1529. After converting to Protestantism in 1529, he moved to Basel where he would occupy the chair of Hebrew for twenty-three years. "Sebastian Muenster was one of the first Hebraists who, by his numerous publications, firmly embedded Hebrew in protestant theology. Although he did not travel as widely as Reuchlin, Widmanstetter and, later, Masius, his unremitting industry in his home town Basle produced an astounding series of publications which provide a good view of the breadth over which the subject manifested itself" (Heide). "From about 1525, Muenster was a student of Elijah Levita, translating and editing his grammatical works. Muenster also translated a number of other Hebrew works into Latin... His jewish oeuvre, more than three-score publications, covered all aspects of Judaica, excepting Kabbalistic studies..." (Heller). Apart from his grammar books, Münster was the author of no fewer than five dictionaries in which Biblical Hebrew is usually combined with Aramaic and post-biblical Hebrew. Münster dedicates the Dictionary to the Bishop of Rochester in Kent, for his appreciation of the theological sciences. The foreword emphasizes the value of the grammatical and lexicographical writings of Elijah Levita and the Arukh from which he takes the title. Not having access to the earlier editions of Nathan ben Yehiel's rabbinic lexicon printed at Rome and Pisarro, Münster mistakenly believed the Arukh to be the work of a German Jew. J. Perles was later able to identify the German manuscript from which Münster worked (Prijs). In addition to this Latin adaptation of ben Yehiel's rabbinic lexicon, Münster's and accompanying Aramaic Grammar in the same year. The woodcut title border of cherubim cut by Hans Holbein is here reused after its appearance in De optimo reipublicae (Thomas More's Utopia; 1518) and Martin van Dorp's commentary on St. Paul's Epistles (1516). Provenance: Entry at colophon, “Calend. Januarij 1570 dono accepi hunc librum cum paraphrasi Campensis in Psalmos, ab adolescente amico L.C.G. in nominis ipsius memorium”; old owner’s entry in different hand and ink, “David Dasmeres/Dasnières [?]" #48853

Sachgebiete: Bibeln, Judaica, Judentum, Religion, Renaissance

01.08.2026 - 00:48

3250,- EUR

Eric Chaim Kline Bookseller

Khazin, S. B. (Engraver); Maxim Petrovich Dmitriev (Photographer). M. Gor'kii. Rasskazy "Mal'va" T. III-II [Folio Cyrillic Micrographic script portrait of Maxim Gorky]

Kiev. NP. 1903. First edition. Folio. Size approx. 28 x 20 inches (50 x 70 cm). Rare micrographic portrait of Maxim Gorky composed from the letters of his short story Malva. The portrait was engraved by S. B. Khazin based on a photograph of the famous Russian author taken in Nizhny Novgorod by the Russian photographer Maxim Petrovich Dmitriev and printed by S. V. Kul'zhenko. Portrait passed by the censor in Kiev, 23 February 1903. The technique of portraiture using words and letters first appears in Russia in 1900 with Khazin's portrait of Count Leo Tolstoy which used 4700 characters to form the work. His second portrait in this style was the present work, that of Gorky, which used the approximately 82,000 cha33059 lume of Gorky's story, as identified in the title. Little is known of Khazin except that he was mostly likely born near the town of Yarysheva Mogilev-Podolsk in the Ukraine, and that he had his portraits printed in Kiev. His technique consisted of using a well-known photograph, leaving the face untouched but washing away everything else except for an outline of the original. He then drew the portrait using the handwritten text, with the individual letters usually less than a millimeter in height, all of which needed to be engraved in mirror image so that it could be read once the print was struck. Not found in OCLC or any major European libraries. There is a copy at Centraljnaya Gorodskaya Biblioteka im. A.M. Gorjkogo, Krasnoyarsk, Russia. Sporadic and minor closed tears along edges (not affecting portrait). Moderate age-toning along edges (not affecting image). Print in overall very good condition.

Sachgebiete: Deutschland, Moderne Kunst, Nationalsozialismus, Photographie, Plastik

01.08.2026 - 00:46

4500,- EUR

Eric Chaim Kline Bookseller

Beckmann, Max. Kreuzabnahme [PRINTED PHOTO-POSTCARD FROM THE ENTARTETE KUNST EXHIBITION, SIGNED BY MAX BECKMANN]

München. NP. 1937. Postcard (5 1/2 x 3 5/8"). Original sepia toned photo-postcard (original photograph) featuring a reproduction of Max Beckmann's painting "Kreuzabnahme", protected in mylar sleeve and taped to cream color mat. Text on verso of the postcard is visible. Printed "Ausstellung Entartete Kunst" on verso with handwritten description of camera movements for a film shoot. Exhibition organized by Adolf Ziegler and the Nazi Party opening on July 19,1937 in Munich. The original painting was rendered in oil on canvas, in 1917. Signed in pencil by Max Beckmann at the bottom of the "Max Beckmann, 1917". Verso of postcard with penciled text: "Kamera geht weiter vom Knaben weg (andere Seite) Pflanzen Ornam. Tiere fantastische Formen feuerwerkartig übersteigert, wie Anfang nur gesteigerter. Kamera geht ab zurück zum Knaben (Knabe wirkt größer. Ein ...(B or Rab?) kommt ins Bild Knabe pflückt ein Blatt, gibt es ihm. Kamera geht vom Knaben weg. Absolute Filmszene noch gesteigerter als die beiden ersten. Kamera schwenkt zurück zum Knaben. Knabe erwachsen Jüngling. Er wendet sich ab von den ... (Dl?) Tieren Formen (abweichende Bewegungen). Die Blumen verdorren und verschwinden die Tiere und Ornamente verschwinden. Eine weite unendlich weite Ferne entsteht. Er geht weg. ... (Scene?erte?) wird öde und leer ... (d(t)rocken) verlassen. TZ" #48271

Sachgebiete: Germanistik, Graphik, Kunstgeschichte, Moderne Kunst, Nationalsozialismus

01.08.2026 - 00:44

2750,- EUR

Eric Chaim Kline Bookseller

n/a. 更紗帖 Sarasa-jo (Chintz Book) [24 FABRIC SAMPLES]

[ca. late 19th century?]. Quarto. Unpaginated. Leporello binding. Tan cloth boards with a calligraphic paper label pasted on the front cover. A Japanese sample book of 24 imported sarasa (chintz) designs, likely originating in South and Southeast Asia. This style of calico fabric designs had long been enjoyed in Japan (and other East Asian countries) as decorative fabric. By the Meiji era had continued to be popular, and we believe this book can be dated to that period. The designs included here are printed on mounted paper, all based on hues of red, combined with other color accents, in the patterns displaying primarily geometric and botanical forms. Binding with some light rubbing and stains to the covers. Interior clean, with all samples vibrant. Binding in good+, interior in very good condition overall. #55167

Sachgebiete: China, Design, Mode, Orient, Textilien

01.08.2026 - 00:40

1250,- EUR

Eric Chaim Kline Bookseller

MELLIN, AUGUST WILHELM VON (anonym):

Versuch einer Anweisung zur Anlegung, Verbesserung und Nutzung der Wildbahnen so wohl im Freyen als in Thiergärten. Berlin und Stettin, Pauli, 1779. Koloriertes Frontispiz, XXI Seiten mit kolorierter Titelvignette und koloriertem Wappenkupfer, eine ungezählte Seite, 356 Seiten mit 115 Kupferstichen im Text (davon 114 koloriert). Einfacher blauer Pappband der Zeit (stellenweise berieben, Bezug mit Fehlstellen), 26,7 x 22 cm. Erste Ausgabe.

Sachgebiete: Brandenburg, Jagd, Preußen

01.08.2026 - 00:36

3600,- EUR

Antiquariat Elvira Tasbach

Fischinger, Oskar. 23 Original Tempera on Paper for the Abstract Animation Film "Quadrate / Squares"

Berlin. 1934. Original artwork (12 1/8 x 11 5/8"). Twenty-three paintings representing a substantial part of Oskar Fischinger's short film "Quadrate (Squares)," a four minute silent 35mm abstract animation film in color. The 271 separate "frames" for this film were painted in tempera on paper by Oskar Fischinger in July 1934, as cited by William Moritz, in "Optical Poetry The Life and Work of Oskar Fischinger," 2004. Moritz further suggests that some of these paintings may have been done a little earlier. "The drawings are numbered 1-2505 to 1-2776, indicating perhaps that they were once planned as part of a larger film... Fischinger had these 271 drawings photographed and loop-printed so that they appeared several times in the same and different colour combinations, positive and negative (which was easily possible by manipulating the filters used to print out the three-color separation master)... the serene flow of squares shaped in different colours is one of Fischinger's most striking, interesting and important compositions, prefiguring 'Radio Dynamics.' The animation paintings, like those of Kreise, are each artworks in themselves, prefiguring the balancing squares of Josef Albers." (William Moritz, as above, pages 221/2) Our 23 tempera paintings are not framed and are all stamped "Nachlass Oskar Fischinger" in the top margin. Thirteen paintings are in fine condition, incl. ## 2510, 2517, 2518, 2525, 2543, 2546, 2570, 2573, 2606, 2608, 2610, 2694, 2698. The following paintins with minor to medium blemishes as described: #2547 (1/2 x 1" light water stain at bottom edge right corner), 2567 (minor 1 x 1/8" water exposure at right lower corner), 2584 (minor, less than 1/8" wide border due to water exposure along most of bottom edge, and small water stains in orange), 2597 (1/2 x 3" water exposure), 2612 (small water stain 3/4" in diameter in blue-green square), 2679 (light 1/2" minor surface crack at upper left corner), 2688 (small area with minor ruffling, and 1/2 inch closed tear at right edge), 2691 (minor fraying along left edge), 2716 (minor blemish at bottom right, red edge), and 2724 (small water stain in blue square). Inspired when viewing Lichtspiel Opus (Play of Light), a 13 minute film of nonobjective color effects by Walter Ruttmann in 1921, Oskar Fischinger embarked on a most illustrious career as a filmmaker. Using skills from his background as an engineer he invented the so-called "Wax-Slicing Machine" to create abstract imagery for film. Fischinger also produced several films for advertising purposes using abstract animation techniques, particularly after the Nazis had taken power. Best known is his cigarette commercial "Muratti greift ein (Muratti Intervenes)." Oskar continued to produce numerous abstract animation films, now often referred to as "Optical Poetry" or "Visual Music," many times synchronizing the abstract imagery of his films with classical music. His 1934 film "Quadrate, one of Oskar's most daring experiments... was designed specifically for the GasparColor process, which used a three-color separation negative." (William Moritz. Optical Poetry, pp. 54,55). Fischinger's manipulation of filters, combined with loop printing allowed for the imagery to appear in variant sequences. Life under the Nazis regime became more and more difficult for the Fischingers. Oskar was arrested twice but, with the help of friends, was released within days. Anonymously his film "Komposition in Blau" (Composition in Blue) had been admitted to the 1935 Venice Film Festival. Despite its popularity it did not win due to the fact that Reichsfilmkammer President Fritz Scheuermann was a member of the jury. Later in 1935, an MGM agent had brought two of Oskar's films, "Composition in Blue" and "Muratti greift ein," to the attention of Ernst Lubitsch. As a result Lubitsch sent the agent back to Berlin to hire Oskar to work for him. Arrangements were made for Oskar to leave for Hollywood immediately, and Elfriede and their sons followed two month later. While working for several studios in Hollywood, Fischinger kept producing "Optical Poetry" and gradually turned to nonobjective painting. Fischinger is considered by some as a man ahead of his time. Among other capacities he is credited to be "an inventor of the music video, and prophet of Op Art as well as contemporary computer-generated motion graphics." (Nathan Vonk) His film "Composition in Blue" was awarded the King's Price at the Brussels International Exposition in 1935. In 1938 MGM released Fischinger's "Optical Poem." It was shown all across the world. His 1947 "Motion Painting No. 1" won the International Film Competition in Brussels in 1949. Fischinger's extensive work as a filmmaker is documented superbly in publications by William Morris, see above, and Cindy Keefer and Jaap Guldemond in "Oskar Fischinger 1900-1967. Experiments in Cinematic Abstractions."

Sachgebiete: Film, Kunstgeschichte, Moderne Kunst, Ornamentik, Aquarelle

01.08.2026 - 00:34

100000,- EUR

Eric Chaim Kline Bookseller

VEDUTEN AUS POTSDAM -

Bemerkenswertes Sammelalbum mit dekorativen Veduten aus Potsdam, Babelsberg und Berlin, zusammengestellt wohl von einem jungen Mädchen (Decke mit dem goldgeprägten Besitzvermerk 'Anna'), enthält 56 montierte Aquarelle, Zeichnungen, Graphiken und 17 frühe Photographien von Gemälden oder Stichen, größtenteils mit Tuscherahmen versehen, sowie zwei handschriftliche Einträge, wohl Mühlenbeck in Brandenburg, um 1851 bis 1855. 36 Blatt, meist beidseitig beklebt, Fadenheftung, Blattgröße des Albums 24 x 20 cm. Brauner, blindgeprägter Pappband der Zeit mit Goldschnitt (Kanten deutlich berieben), 4to.

Sachgebiete: Aquarelle, Brandenburg, Preußen, Stammbücher, Zeichnungen

01.08.2026 - 00:24

3600,- EUR

Antiquariat Elvira Tasbach