(3) German Books from the Early 20th Century. 

Size: (largest) 10 X 8 X 1 in. 

This lot consists of three books, all in the original German, and they have great graphics. The first book is Der Struwwelpeter by Heinrich Hoffman, the second is Altchinesische Liebes Komodien translated by Hans Rudelsberger, and the third book is Der Anilindruck by Hans Robert Steinhauer. 

The full title of Der Struwwelpeter is Der Struwwelpeter oder lustige Geschicten und drollige Bilder fur Kinder von 3 - 6 Jahren, which means The Shock-haired Peter, or Funny Stories and Funny Pictures for Children from 3 to 6 Years Old. It is a children’s book written and illustrated by Heinrich Hoffman that first came out in 1845 and was made up of ten illustrated and rhymed stories. Hoffman was a German physician who originally wrote the collection for his three-year-old son - he wanted his son to have something to read that was more light-hearted and humorous than other books available at the time, but the stories were so gruesome or brutal that they outdid the Brothers Grimm. From what we can tell, the book here is a jubilee edition of the 1845 first edition, which means this edition came out in 1895, but it is dated 1876 on the the first page of text. It has black lettering and graphics on the front cover, with blank endpapers that are inscribed and dated 1915 on the front flyleaf, then a biography of Heinrich Hoffman, there are 24 pages of illustrated tales on thick boards, and ads for picture books on the back cover. After the first edition of 1845, three other editions of the book came out in 1846. The second edition had 5,000 copies produced and Hoffmann's name was only partially revealed in that edition, where he used the pseudonym "Hoffmann Kinderslieb". His authorship of the book was finally revealed to the public, however, in an advertisement featured in a publication that came out in December 1846, and his real name was only fully displayed in the fifth edition, which was published in 1847. The stories are short and shocking and have left a surprisingly deep mark on culture, even though most Americans have never read them, and the influence of the book can still be seen   in movies, cartoons, and tv shows. Shock-haired Peter has a grotesque appearance and bears a strong resemblance to Johnny Depp as Edward Scissorhands, and the book has influenced writers such as Edward Gorey, Roald Dahl, and Maurice Sendak; the the combination of visual and verbal narratives in book format is also considered a precursor to comic books. Each tale has a clear moral lesson - naughty boys and girls are punished and face severe consequences when they misbehave. For instance, the tales feature characters such as Shock-Headed Peter, Cruel Frederick, Little Suck-a-Thumb, and the Inky Boys. The Dreadful Story of Harriet and the Matches is about a girl who accidentally sets herself on fire and burns to death while her pet cats watch. Little Suck-a-Thumb is about a boy named Conrad who refuses to stop sucking his thumbs and subsequently watches them both severed by a creepy, long-legged home invader. The Inky Boys is about racial harassment, and another story is about a little boy who insists on going out for a walk in the rain and flies away in a storm, never to be seen again. The book has come out in 35 translations, and even Mark Twain gave it a shot - he wrote his own version in 1891, even though it wasn’t published till 1935 for copyright reasons. The book measures 10 x 8 inches wide and is in modest condition, with red tape on the spine, soiling and wear on the covers, loose hinges, wear and brown spots on some of the pages, and the illustrations are still in surprisingly good condition - the colors are bright and all the pages and illustrations are here. 

Altchinesische Liebes Komodien were ancient Chinese love comedies selected from the original Chinese texts and translated by Hans Rudelsberger and published by Anton Schroll & Co. in Vienna in 1923. The book is a first edition, with black lettering on the spine, an attractive  color illustration on the front cover, beautifully colored endpapers, it is inscribed and dated 1926 on a blank flyleaf before the frontis page, with a tipped-in plate mounted on the frontis page, it is dated 1923 on the copyright page, followed by a Table of Contents (Inhaltsubersicht) and 114 pages of text, the epilogue (Nachwort) is dated December (Dezember) 1922 by Hans Rudelsberger, followed by Sources and Notes (Quellen und Noten) on 115 to 116, and there are fourteen illustrations, including four tipped-in color plates. The book measures 9 1/2 x 8 inches wide and is in very good condition, with a tight binding and clean pages and text, and just light rubbing on the heel and light fading around the edges of the covers. 

Der Anilindruck was written by Hans Robert Steinhauer and is the second revised edition (Zweite neubearbeitete Auslage) published by Polygraph Publishing House GMBH in Frankfurt  and Mainz in 1949 (Polygraph Verlag GMBH Frankfurt am Main) and it is about techniques for aniline printing, with 98 pages of text, a keyword register (Stichwortregister) on 100 - 101, a list of illustrations (Verzeichnis der Abbildungen) on 102 and 103, a list of attachments (Verzeichnis der Beilagen) on 104, and beautiful color proofs. The book measures 8 1.2 x 6 1/8 inches wide and is in great condition, with a tight binding and clean pages and text, knock-your-socks off color proofs, and just wisps of rubbing at two tips.