Hamburg, 19 October, 2012 (kk) – With the travelogue by Maximilian, Prince of Wied-Neuwied, one of the most detailled and vivid work on North America from the 1830s will be called up in Ketterer Kunst's auction of Rare Books in Hamburg on 21/22 November.

Those interested in customs and habits of Native Americans, their way of life and languages, are well-advised with this first edition, for it is the only with the complete text, which also covers various Indian languages as well as their sign language. The 48 aquatint plates and 33 vignettes, all in splendid coloring and executed after drawings by Carl Bodmer, who had accompanied the author, have a particularly charming appeal. The estimate is at € 90.000.

Another estimate of € 90.000 has been tagged to the extremely rare and much sought-after copy of "Rerum per octennium in Brasilia" by Caspar Barlaeus. Not only is it one of the most valuable printed works on Brazil in the 17th century, but also one of the most important sources for this epoch.

One of the finest works from the renowned print shop of Nicolaus Jenson, a student of Johannes Gutenberg is Plutarchs "Vitae parallelae". Without Plutarch, who was one of most popular ancient authors, and his impressive biographies, there would be neither Shakespeare's "Antony and Cleopatra" nor "Julius Caesar", since his knowledge of ancient Rome was almost exclusively based on Plutarch's works. In his most famous work, the parallel biographies, he compares the lives of each a Greek and a Roman person. This way he did not only underline character similarities of famous figures, at the same time he emphasized the equivalence of Greek and Roman culture. This copy from the third and best edition comes from the possession of the Florentine family Pietro Ginori de Riparbello and will enter the bidding race with an estimate of € 85.000.

With € 60.000 Maria Sibylla Merian's "Histoire générale des insectes de Surinam et de toute l'Europe" will be called up. This second French-Latin and all in all last edition of the renowned zoological-botanical work by the acknowledged natural scientist and artist, does not only count among the best old natural scientific works, moreover, it is one of the most beautifully illustrated books ever made.

The section of manuscripts is well-appointed with a Latin and French Book of Hours from the 15th century (estimate: € 40.000) and the Biblia latina, a Latin manuscript on fine parchment from the 13th century. The richly illuminated, complete and highly filigree copy in so-called pearl writing will be called up with an estimate of € 50.000.

A catalog for an exhibition of the artist group "Die Brücke" is definitely going to make for excitement in the auction room. The extraordinarily rare copy was last offered on the German auction market some 30 years ago, it is an outstanding document of early German Expressionism in general, and of the important artist group in particular. (Find details on this flea-market discovery in the separate press release). The estimate is at € 18.000.

Besides the fifth edition of "Opera" by Lactantius, made in Venice's first print shop and estimated at € 18.000, William Turner makes for another highlight with his "Avium praecipuarum, quarum apud Plinium et Aristotelem mentio est, brevis et succincta historia". This book rarity, estimated at € 16.000, is both the only and accordingly extremely rare edition, as well as the first printed book exclusively dealing with birds.

Hermann Hesse dedicated his fairy tale "Piktors Verwandlungen" to the baron Dr. Rudolf Parisi in Triest. On and off the author copied his manuscripts by hand and endowed his texts with charming illustrations, which he then gave to friends and admirers. This work from 1930 was made eight years after the first manuscript and 24 years before the first facsimile edition. It carries and estimate of € 10.000.

A slightly lower amount of € 8.000 has been tagged to a collection of photographs and documents from the early days of blimp aviation by Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin. This documentation, not only interesting in terms of the history of German aviation with its prototypes of blimps, also contains the first detail photos of blimps and footage of the legendary maiden voyage in July 1900 – from its widely noticed start to the ditching a few minutes later.

Along with many incunabulas – among them a magnificent print from the print shop of Peter Schöffer, the founding father of book printing and former Gutenberg colleague – some twenty classics by the famous printer Aldus Manutius will be called up in the section of Old Prints. They come from the so-called Aldine edition, which, due to their small size, are regarded precursors of pocketbooks. They are much sought-after by collectors for the exact text edition in combination with an elegant and aesthetic design.

The auction will comprise Rare Books, Manuscripts, Autographs and Decorative Prints, as well as Maritime and Northern Germany. While the latter has works by Ernst Eitner ("Self Portrait With Hat", estimate: 5.000-6.000) and Hans Peter Feddersen the Younger to offer, the section of Maritime Art includes works by, among others, Fred Pansing and Joseph Walter of Bristol.

07-09 November from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
12.-16. November from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
18 Novemberby appointment

Rare Books – Manuscripts – Autographs – Decorative Graphic Art as well as Maritime and Northern German Art on November19th/20th, 2012

Since it was founded in 1954, Ketterer Kunst has been firmly established in the front ranks of auction houses dealing in art and rare books, with its headquarters in Munich and a branch in Hamburg. Gallery rooms in Berlin as well as representatives in Heidelberg, Modena (Italy) and Düsseldorf have contributed substantially to the company's success. In addition, exhibitions, special theme and charity auctions as well as online auctions are regular events at Ketterer Kunst.