Das Blumenbuch

Rudolf Koch started to draw wild flowers in 1922. He explains that he ‘collected [flowers] at random and without any particular aim. I sketched only the ones which grew in and around Offenbach … This collection is intended to give people a taste of summer while it is winter.' One member of Koch's ‘Werkstatt', the young Fritz Kredel, engraved most of the 250 drawings. The flowers were woodcut printed and entirely hand coloured. The remarkable edition of Das Blumenbuch [The flower book] was published several times between 1929 and 1942, from pocket book editions to precious volumes and portfolios, involving many collaborators, printers and publishers like Mainzer Presse, Ernst-Ludwig-Presse in Darmstadt and Insel-Verlag, Leipzig.

Poem has tracked the best antiquarian copies. They are all in excellent condition, fully intact, they have only slight signs of wear, no stamps nor ownermarks, no written mentions. From top to bottom:

Das kleine Blumenbuch [the little flower book] 58 flowers, index. Pocket-book edition by Insel-Verlag Leipzig. Original edition 1933. 66 pages, 12×18,5 cm

Das kleine Blumenbuch [Reprint] [the little flower book] 58 flowers, index. Pocket-book edition by Insel-Verlag Leipzig. Reprint of 1958, identical to the 1933 edition (the covers are slightly different). 68 pages, 12×18,5 cm

Sieben Blätter aus dem Blumenbuch [Portfolio] [seven leaves from the book of flowers] 7 flowers. Very rare portfolio. Woodcut print, hand coloured. Bärenreiter Verlag Kassel, c. 1940. 7 leaves, 22,5×30 cm

Das Blumenbuch. Achtzig Zeichnungen [the flower book. 80 drawings] 80 drawings, poem by Clemens Brentano, postface, index. Insel-Verlag, 1942. Woodcut print, hand coloured. Titles gold embossed. Standard binding or cloth & parchment (on spine). 176 pages, 23,5×31,5 cm

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