LYDIS, Mariette, illustrator. Erik-Ernst SCHWABACH. ~ Miniaturen in Liebesbillete gesetzt von Erik-Ernst Schwabach. [Die verliebten Billete des Prinzen Salamud]. Potsdam: Müller & Co, [ 1924].
Square 8vo (195 × 165 mm), ff. [21] each a double leaf folded along fore-edges (Japanese style), with 18 lithograph and collotype plates in colour with gold and silver, mounted within windows, the text on versos. Original publisher’s decorative boards. Covers slightly darkened in places, with a few spots. A good copy.
First edition. A striking early Lydis production. Each plate is accompanied by an exotic love lyric by Schwabach (publisher, author and patron of Expressionism) ‘Die verliebten Billete des Prinzen Salamu’. The 18 plates reproduce Lydis’ orientalist miniatures in collotype and lithograph with gold and silver. The Müller firm had been established at Potsdam 1919 by Irmgard Kiepenheuer and Hans Müller. Kiepenhauer was an important figure in the artistic world of Weimar Berlin, hosting a cultural salon in Potsdam and being in personal contact with the most important contemporary artists — including many from the Bauhaus in Weimar. The firm issued several influential portfolios showcasing artists such as Max Beckmann, George Grosz, Erich Heckel, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Oskar Kokoschka, Max Pechstein, Christian Rohlfs, and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff. One of 1100 copies (of which 100 were signed).