Austrian Book w/ Signed Portrait of Emperor Franz Josef I, This book is titled "An Ehren und an Siegen Reich Bilder aus Oster Reichs Geschichte" in German, which means "Pictures from Austria's History Rich in Honors and Victories", It was published by Max Herzig around 1910 and highlights the life of Emperor Franz Joseph I, and has a signed portrait of the emperor near the beginning of the book. Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I (1830 - 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the ruler of all the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from December,1848 until his death in November, 1916. In the early part of his reign, his realms and territories were referred to as the Austrian Empire, but were reconstituted as the dual monarchy of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1867. From May, 1850 to August, 1866, he was also president of the German Confederation. Franz Joseph, aka Franz Joseph Karl in German and Ferenc József Károly in Hungarian, faced the specter of nationalism during his entire reign. He signed the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, which granted greater autonomy to Hungary within the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary. He ruled peacefully for the next 45 years, which was the longest reign of a ruler in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but suffered personal tragedies with the execution of his brother Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico in 1867, the suicide of his son Crown Prince Rudolf in 1889, the assassination of his wife Empress Elisabeth ("Sisi") in 1898, and the assassination of his nephew and presumptive heir, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, in Sarajevo in 1914, which triggered a bunch of alliances and some countries declaring war on each other, which led to World War I. The book is about the Austrian monarchy in words and pictures and has elaborate gilt decorations on the spine, an exquisite cover decorated and titled in gilt, featuring the crown of the Emperor in gilt at the center of the cover, decorated endpapers which show the lineage of Franz Joseph, followed by blank endpapers, a beautiful paste-down colored chromolithograph which reads "Unter Dem Aller Hochsten, Protectorate, Seiner, Kaiserbichen und Konigbich Apostobichen, Majestat Franz Joseph I" - which means "under his Most High, Protectorate of the Kaiser and King, his Majesty Franz Joseph I" - with the royal seal impressed in the lower right corner of the page, then the title page, which reads "An Ehren und an Siegen Reich Bilder aus Oster Reichs Geschichte, unter Der Literarischen Leitung Von Dr Joseph Alexander Freiherrn" - "under the literary direction of Dr. Joseph Alexander Freiherrn", and the book was edited by Helfert and published by Max Herzig. The portrait of the emperor after the title page is signed by the emperor at the bottom of the portrait - you can feel the ink on the surface of the paper with your fingers - followed by a colored chromolithograph of the family crests, with the royal seal at the bottom of the chromolithograph, two pages describing the contents of the text, four pages listing the illustrations in the book - there are fifty beautiful engravings and chromolithographs all told - then two pages listing the artists for the book, an art-nouveau piece in the style of Maxfield Parrish, the engravings have paper guards with explanatory notes, the book is 392 page long, and the last page of text is also signed by Dr. Joesph Alexander Freiherrn - you can feel the ink on the surface of the page here too. The book is large and heavy and measures 18 1/8 x 15 in. wide x 3 in. deep, with the cloth split along the edge of the spine and the spine is exposed, a loose hinge in the front, a four-inch tear in the margin on one page, a couple of pages open up and you can see the exposed binding, a light brown spot in the margin on one engraving, otherwise exceptionally clean pages and text, and very clean pictures and engravings. Some of the engravings are reminiscent of Rembrandt and other Dutch painters and are just of the highest quality, and the book is rare: we found only four offered for sale on the rare book website we used, and none of them mentioned the signature of the emperor on the portrait page or the signature of the literary director at the end of the text. We've been told by the consignor that Robert Lauder, Estee Lauder's son, bought one copy and paid a King's ransom for it, then gifted it to the Austrian embassy in New York, but we haven't been able to confirm that yet. The Emperor's signature should also raise the value of the book. #7052