Hermann Hesse, Piktors Verwandlungen Orig, manuscript with watercolors, 1934. Estimate: € 15.000. Photo courtesy Ketterer Kunst.

Unknown works by Hermann Hesse were recently discovered in the estate of the family Walter and Nora Schadow. In 2014 an exhibition at the Kunsthaus Stade honored the works by the Nobel prize winner. They will now be sold in the auction of Rare Books at Ketterer Kunst in Hamburg on 18/19 May 2015.

A discovery like this is a dream coming true for every passionate collector, and it became real for the granddaughter of the former teacher Walter Schadow and his wife Nora. While going through her grandparents' estate, she came across a mysterious leather case and found numerous autographed letters and postcards from Hermann Hesse to her grandparents. It even contained an original manuscript with watercolor drawings for the fairy tale 'Piktors Verwandlungen' which counts among the treasure trove's highlights and will be called up with an estimate of € 15,000.

Hermann Hesse, Piktors Verwandlungen Orig, manuscript with watercolors, 1934. Estimate: € 15.000. Photo courtesy Ketterer Kunst.

The remarkable finding, among them several poems the master illustrated with watercolors, makes for more than a dozen lots with estimates ranging from € 300 to € 15,000. 

Next to Maximilian zu Wied-Neuwied's unique copy of 'Reise in das Innere Nord-America', with illustrations by C. Bodmer, entering the race with an estimate of € 75,000, further auction highlights come from, among others, Leo Tolstoi ('Wojna i mir', estimate: € 8,000) and Edgar Allen Poe ('The Raven and other Poems', estimate: € 12,000) as well as Conrad Gesner (“De omni rerum fossilium genere“, estimate: € 20.000).

Maximilian, Prince of Wied-Neuwied, Travel into the interior of North America, in the years 1832 to 1834. 2 volumes of text and table 1 band, Add. 3 vols. Estimate: € 75,000. Photo courtesy Ketterer Kunst.

Tolstoi, Lew Nikolajewitsch, Vojna i mir (russ.: Krieg und Frieden). 6 Tle. in 3 Bdn. Moskau, Ris 1868-1869. Zeitgenöss. HMaroquin mit goldgepr. RTitel. 21,5 : 15 cm. Estimate:  € 6,500 / $ 6,890. Photo courtesy Ketterer Kunst.

Poe, Edgar Allen, The Raven and Other Poems. New York, Wiley & Putnam 1845. Estimate:  € 10,000 / $ 10,600. Photo courtesy Ketterer Kunst.

Another highlight is the very well-preserved parchment manuscript Missale Romanum ad usum Mechliniensem (estimate: € 50,000) from around 1420, which is embellished with a splendid miniature showing a crucifixion scene. 

Roman Missal ad usum Mechliniensem. Latin manuscript on vellum. Mechelen to 1420. 206 ll. Fullpage. 25: 17.5 cm. Estimate:  € 50,000 / $ 53,000. Photo courtesy Ketterer Kunst.

Both Serge Poliakoff's one and only illustrated book, the de-luxe edition of Platon's “Parménide“ (estimate:€ 16,000), as well as the very rare first copy of 100 numbered copies of the portfolio edition “Siebzehn Steinzeichnungen“ with works by acclaimed artists such as Erich Heckel, Käthe Kollwitz, Max Liebermann and Max Pechstein (estimate: € 18,000) will not only make the hearts of collectors beat faster. 

Poliakoff. - Platon, Parmenide. Dialogue. Textes français de P. Albert Birot. With 8 orig color etchings and sign 1 extra suite of 8. Orig color etchings of S. Poliakoff. Paris, La rose des vents 1964. Estimate:  € 50,000 / $ 53,000. Photo courtesy Ketterer Kunst.

The range of offerings is completed by a large collection of botanic literature and older classic natural history, comprising works by, among others, Johann Wilhelm Weinmann, Pierre-Joseph Redouté and Georg Wolfgang Knorr. 

Besides Rare Books, Manuscripts, Autographs and Decorative Graphics, the auction also comprises Maritime and Northern German Art. While the latter offers works by, among others, Klaus Fußmann ('Landschaft mit Bäumen', estimate: € 2,000), Jakob Nöbbe ('Bildnis Tochter Elsa', estimate: € 1,800) and Hans Peter Feddersen the Younger ('Schädelstätte', estimate: € 1,800), works such as Frederik Hans Gude's 'Mondlicht über See/Fjord' (estimate: € 6,500), Wigerus Vitringa's 'Belebte Strandansicht' (estimate: € 5,500) and Virgilio Colombo's 'Hamburger Hafen' (estimate: € 2,500) will be called up in the section of Maritime Art.