Joh. Hahn
1871
Title page for "Die Stadtmauern von Nürnberg" (Nuremberg: Heinr. Schrag, 1871)
[Die Stadtmauern von N³rnberg]

Title page
Donald A. Heald - Rare Books, Prints & Maps
Courtesy of Donald A. Heald, #15733
 
Die Stadtmauern von Nurnberg, photographische Original Aufnahmen von Joh. Hahn [The City wall of Nuremberg, original photographs taken by Joh. Hahn]
 
[Nuremberg: Heinr. Schrag, 1871. Oblong folio (11 5/8 x 14 3/4 inches). Mounted on guards throughout, letterpress dedication to Ludwig II (verso blank), 2pp. letterpress foreword by R. Bergau, dated 1871. Mounted albumen print title, mounted albumen print of a bird's-eye-view drawing, 29 mounted albumen print views, all by Hahn. Original red/brown cloth, covers with blocked panels in gilt and blind, the flat spine divided into six compartments with gilt-blocked compartments, blue-glazed endpapers, g.e. (expertly rebacked, old spine laid down), modern cloth box, brown morocco lettering piece to spine. Provenance: Lothar Faber (presentation inscription, dated Christmas 1873, from the 'Familie Lothar Faber', to an unnamed recipient).
 
A fine and early photographic record of the picturesque German town of Nuremberg
 
The plates are of the most interesting views of the ancient town wall that surrounded the old city of Nuremberg - with each view on its own original mount with printed border, title and imprint.
 
The provenance of this copy is interesting: according to the calligraphic manuscript inscription at the front of the album, it was given (to an unnamed recipient) as a memento or souvenir of a stay in Stein (near Nuremberg) during the summer of 1873. It is inscribed from the family of Lothar Faber. Lothar von Faber was the fourth generation to work in the family business of pencil-making. He proved to have a genius for both invention and marketing and by the end of the 19th century the firm of Faber-Castell was one of the largest of its kind in the world. The firm is still going strong and produces over 1.8 billion pencils a year.
 
LL/26984