Collection of Four Poetry Publications: Wort aus der Leere (Word from the Void) [WITH] Gedichte II (Poems II) [WITH] Gedichte III (Poems III) [WITH] Das sterbende Gedicht (The Dying Poem) [TWO TITLES INSCRIBED]; Corvus Verlag; Palestine Literary Guild; Manfred Rothschild Verlag
Frankfurt, Jerusalem: Manfred Rothschild Verlag; Published by the Author; Palestine Literary Guild; Corvus Verlag, 1937, 1938, 1946, 1976. First editions. Softcovers. The collection is housed in a gray cloth clamshell box in fine condition.
Werner Kraft (1896-1991) was a German-Israeli literary scholar and writer. Born in Braunschweig to Jewish parents Kraft was interested in literature early in his teens. At fifteen he showed interest in the works of Rudolf Borchardt, Karl Kraus, Stefan George, Goethe and other luminaries of the literary pantheon. Meeting Theodor Lessing, a German Jewish philosopher, in 1913 started a relation that continued until Lessing's death in 1933. It was Lessing who managed to make the connection for Kraft's first publication in the renowned German periodical "Die Aktion," a review of Rudolf Borchardt's and Stefan George's poetry. In 1933 Kraft emigrated to Sweden and eventually to Israel.
1. Wort aus der Leere. Jerusalem. Manfred Rothschild Verlag. 1937. Octavo. 24pp. Original tan wraps with black lettering on cover. laid in a scrap of paper with Kraft's handwriting indicating the sponsor of this publication Ernst Simon.
Lightly sunned along edges of wraps. Block lightly age-toned. Very good condition.
2. Gedichte II. Jerusalem. Published by the author. 1938. Octavo. 42pp. Original stiff anthracite wraps with black lettering and ruling on cream paper label on cover. Inscribed "Herzlichst Werner Kraft Jerusalem, 5. April 1940" with a line in Greek (Dosis drive snakes)?. Minor sunning to spine and very light wear to wraps. Very good condition.
3. Gedichte III. Jerusalem. Palestine Literary Guild. 1946. Octavo. 52pp. Original dark brown stiff wraps with black lettering and ruling on cream paper label on cover. Very light wear of wraps. Very good+ condition.
4. Das sterbende Gedicht. Frankfurt. Corvus Verlag. 1976. Small Octavo. 40 [2]pp. Original brown warps with black lettering and ruling on red paper label of cover. Red endpapers. Inscribed on front free endpapers: "Was lange währt, währt gut Zuletzt in guter Hut. Für Ernst Schönwies. Jerusalem 24. 2. 1982" on front free endpaper. Majority of poems with light pencil lines in margins. Near fine condition.
All texts in German. The collection is housed in a gray cloth clamshell box in fine condition. Very good to fine condition. Item #54293
Price: $950.00