Remarkable stories for € 34 000*
Chronicle of a century by Matthias Merian achieves top sale price at Ketterer Kunst
Hamburg, 20 May 2009, (kk) - With 85 per cent of all lots sold, the evening Rare Books auction at Ketterer Kunst in Hamburg was a complete success. The overall proceeds for the auctions on 18/19 May 2009 amounted to € 1.2* million, which matches the results of the 2008 spring auction.


Merian Matthias Merian
Merian Maria Sibylla Merian
The Top 5

€ 34 000* called at: €15 000
Nr. 73: Matthias Merian
Theatrum Europaeum.1662-1764.

€ 31 000* called at: €26 000
Nr. 28: Leonhard Fuchs
De historia stirpium commentarii.1542.

€ 31 000* called at: €27 000
Nr. 44: Isaac Commelin. Begin ende voortgangh, ... 1645-46.

€ 24 000* called at: €20 000
Nr. 33: Maria Sibylla Merian Over de ... Surinaamsche insecten. 1730.

€ 22 000* called at: €18 000
Nr. 5: Jacobus Magni
Sophologium. 1474.

That outstanding rises over estimates are possible even in times of economic turbulence was shown, to take just one example, by the "Revelationes" of St Bridget of Sweden. Called at € 10 000, the second Latin edition of the Revelations of St. Bridget (first published in 1492) was acquired by a European private collection for € 18 000*.

The rare first edition of Euclid’s "Elements, "Elementorum geometricorum", more than doubled the estimate of € 6 000. An Italian dealer bidding in the auction room was able to top an order book full of sealed bids and a telephone bidder representing the London rare books market with € 13 200*.

The German-speaking countries especially were responsible for sparking off fierce bidding skirmishes in the early literature division, notably for "Wirtembergisches Repertorium der Litteratur", the literary journal edited by Friedrich von Schiller, to which the dramatist contributed numerous essays. This literary quarterly climbed from € 1 400 to achieve the more than respectable sale price of € 9 800*. A Hamburg private collection outstripped numerous dealers and institutions to secure it.

Highly successful in the field of modern literature was the Gustav Schiefler book "Die Graphik Ernst Ludwig Kirchners", which nearly trebled an estimate of € 3 500 to go to a Hamburg dealer for € 9 000*.

The following were also well worth a mention:

Lot Nr. Author / Publisher Title Called Achieved
886 Genossenschaft Pan Pan (10 vols) € 17 000 € 20 000*
103 Salvador Dalí Dante Alighieri - La Divina Commedia € 17 000 € 19 000*
27 Leonhard Fuchs New Kreüterbuch € 12 000 € 17 000*
72 Emanuel v. Meteren Meteranus novus... € 13 000 € 16 000*
691 L. zu Anhalt-Köthen Der Fruchtbringenden Geselschafft... € 13 000 € 16 000*
29 Emanuel Sweertius Florilegium € 12 000 € 15 000*

To date at home in the Old Masters and Art of the 19th Century auction, a Rare Books auction first was the sale of Marine and North German Art. Here outstanding results were achieved by the Johann Georg Haeselich's oil painting "Bauernhof am See" ["Farmstead by a Lake"] (called at: € 2 800; sale price: € 4 100*) as well as by "Viermastbark 'Padua' auf hoher See" ["The Four-Masted Barque 'Padua' "] (called at: € 3 000; sale price: € 4 600*), painted by Johannes Holst in oils in 1944.

There are still some exciting objects to be had at the post-auction sales until 10 June 2009.
* The sale price equals hammer price + 20 per cent buyer’s premium.

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