Eric Chaim Kline, Bookseller

Einsame Stimme: Ein Buch Gedichte [SIGNED]

Herrmann, Max (Poems by); George Grosz (Original lithograph by)

Berlin: Martin Wasservogel, 1927. Limited First edition. Hardcover. Signed Max Hermann on colophon. 1/20. Quarto. [6], 173, [3]pp. Uncut. Original black full calf, with gilt lettering and ruling on spine. Raised bands. Top edge gilt. Tissue-guarded original lithograph with in the plate signature by George Grosz.

Collection of poems by the famous German Expressionist poet Max Herrmann. The frontispiece is an original lithograph by George Grosz in which he details the lines, bumps, veins, and ruddiness of his friend Max Herrmann-Neisse’s head and hands in this portrait, picturing him almost within arm’s reach. Though Grosz was known for his harshly critical caricatures of corrupt figures, this portrait reveals a different side of the artist, capable of portraying his friend with sympathy. Grosz renders his friend’s face with a contemplative expression that perhaps reflects Herrmann-Neisse’s description of feeling “completely at home” in Grosz’s studio. Grosz represents his friend’s distinctive features - his hunched back and bald head - without the distortion so typical of the Expressionists. One of 20 copies numbered in Roman numerals, untrimmed, signed, and bound in full leather, of which this is No. IX (of a total edition of 900).

Binding rubbed on raised bands and along edges. Text in German, gothic script. Binding in overall good- to good, interior in very good condition. g to vg. Item #38984

About the author: Herrmann-Neisse, Max (1886-1941), was in reality Max Herrmann, to which he added the name of his birthplace. He studied literature and history of art in Munich and Breslau, then turned to journalism and writing, first in his Silesian native city, and from 1917 in Berlin. He wrote mainly poetry and, influenced by Expressionism, contributed to "Die Aktion" and other periodicals including R. Schickele's "Die weißen Blätter." His poetry reflects his own sense of isolation, most poignantly after his emigration in 1933. He showed a preference for traditional forms and rhymed verse. He settled in London and, deprived of his German citizenship in 1938, wrote the defiant poem ‘Ewige Heimat’, for the homeland will live on ‘in the song of its banished sons’ (‘in dem Lied verstoßner Söhne’). His poetry appeared in about 12 collections, including "Empörung," "Andacht," "Ewigkeit" (1918), appealing for the brotherhood of man, "Im Stern des Schmerzes" (1924), "Einsame Stimme" (1927), and "Um uns die Fremde" (1936). Other volumes include "Letzte Gedichte," ed. Leni Herrmann (posth. 1941), and select editions, "Erinnerung und Exil" (1946), "Im Fremden ungewollt zuhaus," ed. H. Hupka (1956), and "Lied der Einsamkeit." "Gedichte von 1914-1941," ed. F. Grieger (1961). Of his three plays, the comedy "Joseph der Sieger" (1919) achieved success. He also wrote two novels, "Cajetan Schaltermann" (1920) and "Der Flüchtling" (1921), and a number of stories which appeared in the collections "Hilflose Augen" (1920) and "Die Begegnung" (1925). Gesammelte Werke (9 vols.), ed. K. Völker, appeared 1986 ff. In 1927 Herrmann-Neiße received the Eichendorff Prize, in 1933 the Hauptmann Prize.

Price: $1,650.00