Our list for the 51. Stuttgarter Antiquariatsmesse (January 27-29)

“God help us, here it is nothing but profit, profit, and whoever does not use his time profitably, is declared mad. Everyone strives after his advantage as hard as he can.” In Hendrik Smeeks’ utopia, the kingdom of Krinke Kesmes, things are clearly not as utopian as they should be. A German translation of Smeeks' important utopian novel is one of over seventy works on display in our booth at the 51. Stuttgarter Antiquariatsmesse (January 27-29). Click here for a complete list of items, including many recent acquisitions!

“Alas! Foolish Southlanders, I said, in Europe there is quite a different state of affairs; there we live as Christians ought to, in love, peace and unity”, protagonist Juan de Posos explained to his guide, ironically transforming Europe in a Utopia for the utopians. De Posos was a Dutch soldier of Spanish descent, shipwrecked on the shore of the Southland in the late 17th century, while searching for the lost VOC-ship De Vergulde Draeck. Incorporated in his narrative is the story of Heinrich Texel, a Dutch castaway who survived 30 years in the Unknown Southland after a shipwreck in 1655.
“The dominance of classics like Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe has tended to obscure many such works, but they can be better appreciated today as a result of changing views about literary genres. Defoe, in particular, built on an earlier tradition in which Krinke Kesmes played a vital role”, it is stated on the back cover of the first English translation (1994). Click here for a full description of our copy of the first German translation (1776).
Hendrik Smeeks was a surgeon from Zwolle who, after the publication of his novel, was accused of Spinozism and consequently suspended from the Lord’s Supper.

Just as colourful as Smeeks’ narrative is a series of spectacular plates showing various types of fashionable four-wheeled carriages, published in Vienna around 1840. Most plates have moveable parts, allowing the viewer to see the carriage with and without hood, box or other accessories. From the 1830’s, Müller published the series in issues with 8 numbered plates, probably with a total of 130 plates. The present collection contains the numbers 86-130 and includes types of carriages such as barouches, calashes, and berlins. The series is very rare and forms an important visual record of elegant 19th-century Viennese carriages. Click here for more information.

Stand 73 at the Württembergischer Kunstverein will be quite colourful indeed, as we will also exhibit a beautifully illustrated work on the orchids of the Dutch East Indies and Japan, by Carl Ludwig Blume, director of the Botanical Garden of Bogor, Java. In addition to this, the butterflies of Java are strikingly depicted in Julius Leopold Zincken’s Beitrag zur Insecten-Fauna von Java. Also on display will be a beautiful manuscript music album containing French songs with guitar accompaniment composed by the French composer Jean Benjamin de Laborde (1734-1794). A definite highlight is a finely coloured copy of the first edition of the famous first illustrated description (1567) of the Low Countries, by Ludovico Guicciardini.

In celebration of our first fair of the year, we have selected a large amount of recent acquisitions. Click here for a full list of the items we will bring to Stuttgart. If you prefer a short title list in pdf-format, click the link below to download. Highlights include the only edition of an early illustrated work on the famous Kiev Cave Monastery by Johannes Herbinus, an account of Napoleon's Russian campaign in a scarce Portuguese edition, a first Japanese edition of an important and monumental Chinese herbal, a 19th-century German perpetual wall calendar, and Appier’s immensely influential pyrotechnic manual. Enjoy exploring and do visit us if you are in Stuttgart!