Hand Illustrated Brehms Tierleben

[Ronfar]

I have two volumes of these the frist has writing on it as seen in the pictures it is all in german. The rest of it is hand illustrated drawings and detailed writings of different animals and insects and sea creatures. Does anyone have information on this I have more pictures but it only allows me to post 4. I took pictures of all the writing and they are readable so I can provide more of those if needed. Thank you guys so much for your help.

[mariok54]

This is a very interesting post ... Are the pages loose-leaf? it's hard to tell from your photos. Also, a set of volumes with the same title was a very popular academic publication way back in the 19th and through to the 20th c, and we had copies of it in my old school. But what strikes me as odd is that this seems to be, according to your description, a volume that contains original artwork and notes, but there is a section dated as late as 1936. You might be tempted to think that as they were still producing this work into the 20th c that this might have been one of their researcher's and illustrator's copy (with photography as advanced as it was by then it makes you wonder why they'd still hand-illustrate).
This really is a mystery .... but a lovely collection... You should be able to post more pics, I'd be curious to see them.

[Ronfar]

The frist Volume which contains the writing in the begining is binded together, the second volume had some binded but has some pictures that were placed in there. They do not seem to have ever been binded into it though. here is more pictures from the frist volume.

[Ronfar]

more pics

[Ronfar]

bump.

[Ronfar]

Anyone have any information on this? Or does anyone know of somewhere I could go to? Like an appraiser, I live near San Diego. Or Does someone know how I could get that German translated it is so hard to read I tried using on line translators but the results were futile.

A friend who is really into antiques seems to think that this piece is extremely rare, so that's why I am curious.

[mariok54]

Hi,
Thanks for the extra pics, but I am still extremely confused by it, even more so. Are there any good Antiquarian Bookshops in your area that you could take it to? I know of a very good one, but he's here in the UK so not much use to you. Not sure if anyone else has any ideas on the book, or can help to point you in the right direction... Sorry

[Ronfar]

Hi Mariok54 thank you for you replies. I have a question for you, if you had these volumes would you continue to try and find out information on it?

Do you think this could be worth something significant or likely only a few hundred dollars?

I know it's hard for you to determine that but what's you opinion on this? If you had this would you be willing to pay someone money to appraise it?

I know these volumes took massive amounts of time the frist one has about 100 hand painted/drawn pictures and the second one is twice as big with beautiful water color paintings and illustrations and it even has pictures of foregin places as if the person had traveled to these places.

[ironlord1963]

Personnally I have been hopin to see Skinny pop in on this one, have not seen him around for a bit.   From what I have been gathering here on the forum thus far, and by no means am I a book expert, all in all few books carry a great deal of value.  Personnally I think waht you have is a bit special and would be worth asking around, any where you can.  Basically to pay for a appraisal if not for legal or Insurance value is not really necessary, with a bit of time the information will come about.  Still hope skinny pops in he could at least steer you around the right corner.  Thanks for posting such a wonderful item.

[Oceans64]

This may be way off but I'll throw it out.  Why not ask around your local University or Community College?  Certainly someone must speak German so you could get help with translation and perhaps then they could refer you another depatment that could uncover more clues.  I would imagine there would be a few academics who would love to see something like this close up.

Just a thought...

[mariok54]

Hi Ronfar,
I agree with both Ironlords and Oceans. I have a fair number of antiquarian books, they have always been a passion of mine. One thing that I have learnt over the years is that true antiquarian bookshop owners are generally keen to help as they are generally passionate about books, and also love to come across something new to them and maybe to the market.
I personally wouldn't pay for an appraisal just yet... try to get a couple of free ones, and if you are able to identify it and are given a rough value, then that is the time to think about taking it further.  But there are some sharks out there and so if someone tells you that it's only worth $10 and then offers to take it off our hands, then beware. Look up Antiquarian Bookshops in the Yellow Pages/Online .. send your pics and description... some will respond... Take it to the local shops (if there are any)
If, as you say, the drawings are original and not prints (which they certainly seem to be) then yours is most definitely a unique book. Unfortunately unique does not always equate to valuable, it all depends upon : Author... Illustrator ... Condition ... Scarcity ... Demand. This could be an academic piece, ie one which will have interest to academics.
I certainly hope that yours turn out to be an attic find and are valuable, but maybe be prepared to be disappointed. I have some lovely old books, in immaculate condition, and which are fairly uncommon, but which are worth very little.
Good luck, and don't give up!

[mariok54]

I know these volumes took massive amounts of time the frist one has about 100 hand painted/drawn pictures and the second one is twice as big with beautiful water color paintings and illustrations and it even has pictures of foregin places as if the person had traveled to these places.

What you say here almost reinforces my original post about it almost looking as if it was produced by an explorer/researcher in the field .. but I couldn't understand why they didn't use photography. Having said that, there are still a number of books being published to this day, on flora and fauna which have been illustrated by hand. And one thing which didn't occur to me at that time was whether colour photography would have been possible (not really commonly used until the 30s I believe, if not, then it would have been necessary to draw and paint from life. 

[Oceans64]

Hmmm...  The more I look at these the more I think going to a University or CC maybe the way to go.  I would start with the German Professor and see if he can decipher some of the writing (especially names).  Even an aide may be able to help and open the door to the proper department after that.

Can you make out anything that names the Country from where these Samples originated? 

[mariok54]

Certainly sound advice, Oceans.
Looks like there is a German Dept. at San Diego State University

[Skinny]

If they (the German Department) really think it's interesting, perhaps they could get with the Science Department and really figure out what you've got. It looks to me like it could be a valuable work of possible significance, but I've never seen anything like it myself. It's being in another language makes it difficult to casually research on ones own. I would be very surprised if these books don't turn out to be worth something. If they're books that were painstakingly compiled by a scientist from his fieldwork they will be interesting to collectors. Really anyone who is fluent in German should be able to give you some valuable information on these. Good luck!