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Hermann Hesse

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:40,000.00 - 50,000.00 USD
Hermann Hesse

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Auction Date:2018 May 09 @ 18:00 (UTC-5 : EST/CDT)
Location:236 Commercial St., Suite 100, Boston, Massachusetts, 02109, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
Incredible illustrated autograph manuscript in German by Hesse of his fairy tale "Piktor's Verwandlungen," 19 pages, beautifully presented in a dark green 7 x 8.75 slipcased full leather volume, bound by Werkstatt Hugo Peller in Solothurn. The first page has a beautiful watercolor vignette, titled and signed in the center, "Piktor's Verwandlungen, Ein Marchen von Hermann Hesse [Piktor's Transformations, a fairy tale by Hermann Hesse]." The next page is signed and inscribed by Hesse (translated), "Written and painted for Mr. W. Matheson in Olten. H. Hesse, 1939," below which is a quote from Novalis. The handwritten story comprises 14 pages, and the text is interspersed with a total of 16 different watercolor decorations and vignettes done by Hesse, two of which are full-page illustrations. In fine condition.

Hesse first wrote the wonderful fairy tale of Piktor's Verwandlungen in 1922 as a love story for Ruth Wenger, who was his second wife from 1924–1927. Only in 1954 did it appear in print, as a facsimile edition after a manuscript; in the epilogue, Hesse remembers: ‘The Piktor fairy tale was written and drawn for a beloved wife more than thirty years ago. To date, it was only for sale as a manuscript. I wrote it down a few times in previous years and painted pictures, each time something different. Along with the Twelve Poems, which I occasionally write by hand and decorate with small landscapes, it has enabled me many years to help friends in need…Now that I can not write and illustrate Piktor with my own hand, I have nothing against seeing it duplicated.’ A beautiful, remarkable piece that intertwines art and literature.