Despite their size and disunity over many centuries of history, the lands of the German people have consistently produced some of the most important and culturally interesting texts and manuscripts. From Martin Luther’s 95 Theses to Einstein's Letters and Wagner’s Music, these much-lauded parts of German history and culture have been influential, and Christie’s just sold a selection of these works as part of its Classics Week sales.
On 12 December, Christie’s London held its Valuable Books and Manuscripts sale, selling a variety of works, with many of the top lots originating from famous German creators throughout history. The top lot was the complete Bible in German translated by Martin Luther in 1543, which is one of the most important works not just regarding the Protestant Reformation but also the spread of literacy in Germany.
Originally estimated at between £200,000 and £300,000, the lot soared well above that, selling for £604,800, including fees. The sale, overall, performed very strongly, making £4.5 million. It outperformed the same sale last year, which had a similar amount of lots and drew in a total of around £1.94 million.
Lot 114 | Martin Luther (1483-1546) | Bible, in German
Published: Wittenberg: Hans Lufft, 1543
32.5 x 20 cm
6 parts in 2 volumes
Provenance:
- Extensively annotated by several hands in German and Latin, early annotations listing books of the Bible and other notes, including one referencing George Spalatin dated 1540, preserved on pastedowns – Bartholomaeus Craatz, preacher in (?)Topkoniaz (early inscription)
Estimate: £200,000 - 300,000
Hammer Price: £480,000
Sold: £604,800
Martin Luther is probably one of the most important figures in Western history. Born in Eisleben in 1483, he was ordained in the Roman Catholic Church in 1507 but came to reject and oppose many of the practices that the Catholic Church had at the time. Most famously, he strongly opposed indulgences. These were considered a way to reduce the amount of punishment one must endure to be forgiven of their sins through the donation of money.
During his education, he became convinced that the Catholic Church was a corrupt institution and that it had lost sight of its core tenets. He believed that only through faith in Jesus could salvation be obtained and that all the indulgences that were being offered were not a substitution.
This would lead to Luther’s 95 Theses, which were a list of criticisms of the Catholic Church and its practices. It was intended to turn into an academic debate between him and the Catholic Church, however Luther was charged as a heretic and excommunicated, following the censure of 41 of the 95 theses.
This led to the Protestant Reformation. This spawned various Protestant churches and fundamentally changed the nature of religion in Europe, while also leading to various conflicts between Catholics and Protestants in the centuries to come. It also led to the creation of Lutheranism and the Luther Bible.
Julius Hübner (1806-1882) | The attachment of Luther's 95 Theses (1878) | Lutherhaus, Wittenberg
The Luther Bible is a translation of the Bible done by Martin Luther and his associates. Martin Luther initially completed the New Testament in 1522 and published it then. In 1534 a full version, including the Old Testament, Apocrypha, and New Testament, was published.
When he created the Bible, Luther sought to incorporate his two core beliefs: sola fide (man’s justification through faith alone) and sola scriptura (scripture alone is the most important authority in faith). Therefore, his translation was meant to be logical and understandable amongst all peoples and, as such, ended up creating, at the time, one of the most widely read Bibles amongst the average person, as Latin was not a barrier to understanding it.
Similarly, when he was developing the Bible, Martin Luther was heavily involved not just in the creation of the Bible’s text but also in the illustrations. He was very intent on the work not being ostentatious or flashy, and as such he clearly outlined the nature of all the drawings to be used in the Bible, with him dictating that any illustrations should serve the text directly. Its simplicity and ease of reading among German speakers mean that even with its high price, it sold out fast, and by 1546, 243 versions of it had been printed.
Translation and mass publication into German made it one of the first major translations of the Bible. It was helped along by the development of the printing press around the same time and is noted as helping develop the modern German language. Due to the mass conversion of Germans to Protestantism and the adoption of the Luther Bible, Germans began to move towards a more standard form of the language, not unlike the King James Bible in the UK. Luther would sacrifice accurate translations to make the Bible understandable in German, and this created the basis for a wider German language and identity.
The spread of Protestantism among the Germans and the Luther Bible sparked an increase in literacy throughout the German lands. Previously, literacy among Germans was estimated at between 1% and 17%. Luther advocated for the education of all sinners as a centerpiece in creating literate, law-abiding Christians. The introduction of this Bible would influence future educational reform as there was a desire to impress upon the German people how to read and follow it.
Additionally, its presence in every German-speaking Protestant family, the work became engraved into the early German national heritage. It went beyond being a religious text and was elevated into a place of everyday life for Germans and created this anti-Roman Catholic sentiment that formed certain aspects of the German national identity and nationalism.
Lucas Cranch (1472-1553) | Martin Luther (1532), 33.3 x 23.2 cm | The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Lot 7 | The Psalter of Count Ludwig the Younger of Oettingen
Written in Swabia, 1418
17.5 x 12.7 cm
Provenance (modified by The Value):
- Written by the Cistercian Oswald Braytenveld of Steinheim at Alerheim for Count (Graf) Ludwig the Younger of Oettingen (c.1380-1422) in sixteen weeks ending 14 September 1418: Do man salt vo[n] crists gebürt. tusend. vierhundert un[d] in dem achzehnd[en] iar. an des heiligen creütztag am herbst ward uffgeschriben der psalter. den schraib Oswald braytenveld von stainhen. ain munch grawes ordens…Geschriben uff Alerhen. Grauf Ludwigen dem iungern herren in xvj wuchen, colophon ff.251v-252
- Johannes Hofstetter, parish priest of Kötzting, in eastern Bavaria, gave the book to Sister Kunigunde Hehenriederin 8 May 1595: inscription, f.652
- Ludwig Kraft Ernst Karl, Fürst zu Oettingen-Oettingen und Oettingen-Wallerstein (1791-1870): Fürst Louis Wallerstein, written in pencil on verso of first flyleaf, a form of his name which was current in his lifetime. A 19th-century hand has summarised the colophon on the verso of the second flyleaf, where a different hand has totalled the initials at 158 and the ‘miniatures’ at 5
Estimate: £40,000 - 60,000
Hammer Price: £120,000
Sold: £151,200
An interesting relic of the Dark Ages was the psalter. They began appearing in the 6th century in Ireland and began appearing on the European mainland around the year 700 onwards. They were a staple of wealthy Europeans up until the early modern period and the time of the Tudors.
As the name suggests, each psalter was a volume that contained the Book of Psalms, one of the books of the Old Testament, between the Book of Job and Proverbs. They would also contain other worship material, sometimes the litany of the Saints, a formal prayer used in many organized Christian denominations, and the liturgical calendar.
These were commonly owned by the wealthy, who may not have been in any specific specialized field and needed to learn how to read. They were also heavily personalized, with some made by nobles that included the names of saints important to them. Additionally, starting in the 1100s onwards, they became more richly decorated, with whole initials taking up the entire page in some parts of the work.
These are examples of the large initial letter style in many psalters after the 12th century. Even larger ones existed that took up the whole page
Cistercian Oswal Braytenveld of Steinheim wrote this specific psalter at Alerheim for Count Ludwig the Younger of Oettingen. Son of the ruler of the County of Oettingen, a state within the Holy Roman Empire, which is now within Swabia, Bavaria, in Southern Germany. His father Louis “XI” (IX) the Bearded co-ruled the territory with his younger brother Fredrick III, but because Ludwig the Younger died before his father without having any heirs, the territory passed down Fredrick’s line.
Ludwig the Younger died fighting for the Duke of Bavaria-Ingolstadt, King Louis VII, against his cousin Duke Henry XVI of Bavaria-Landshut. Duke Henry had formed the League of Constance to wage war against Duke Louis, with Ludwig the younger perishing at the Siege of Graisbach in 1422.
The writer Braytenveld, meanwhile, came from an area now known as Wallerstein, near where Ludwig the Younger would’ve been based out in Alerheim. He had been possibly associated with the Cistercian Abbey of Maulbronn before he was accused of leaving for another order.
Alerheim, the region where Ludwig the Younger would have been based when he was alive and this Psalter was created
Lot 72 | Richard Wagner (1813-1883) | Autograph manuscript signed (at end, ‘Richard Wagner‘), the first poetical draft of the libretto for Tannhäuser, here titled ‘Das Venusberg / Romantische Oper in 3 Acten’
Dated: Dresden, 29 January - 22 March 1843
35.2 x 21.3 cm
Provenance:
- Wilhelm Baumgartner (Swiss conductor, 1820-1867: autograph presentation by Wagner, New Year, 1852)
- Described as 'lost' in the Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis (iii, p.266);
- Sotheby's, 6 December 1996
Estimate: £80,000 - 120,000
Hammer Price: £95,000
Sold: £119,700
While Richard Wagner is perhaps most known for his four epic musical dramas, Der Ring des Nibelungen, he worked on 13 fully completed operas and numerous smaller or uncompleted works. Made in 1845, the opera Tannhäuser was Wagner’s fifth completed major work, and it continues to be one of his most popular works, with it still being performed in opera houses to this day.
These operas are commonly broken into different acts, with Christie’s selling a draft of the section “Das Venusberg / Romantische Oper in 3 Acten.” This is the first poetic draft of the libretto; this text was used for that musical section of the act and was greeted early in the creation of Tannhäuser, which was worked on by Wagner between July 1842 and March 1843.
It is also considered the most important Wagner manuscript to have hit the auction floor in the last two decades, with it showing alternate drafts of some of the songs, on a piece of bifolium, and the unused versions of stage directions and scene divisions.
A photo of Richard Wagner, taken by Franz Seraph Hanfstaengl in Munich, 1871
Tannhäuser is a three-act opera about the German poet of the same name and the tale of the Wartburg Song Contest, who lived in the mid-1200s. Wagner incorporated the various myths and tales surrounding the real-life poet into his opera. It tells a tale about penance, redemption, and the struggle between sacred and profane love. It centers around the titular character seeking redemption from the Pope in Rome, having spent years of revelry in the realm of the Goddess Venus.
This is the version performed in Dresden in 1845, and while it was the original version, it was not strongly received. The ending had to be adjusted, and in 1847 it was performed again and became somewhat of the definitive version of the opera that would be performed for several years before the Paris version of 1861 and the Vienna version of 1875.
This draft, signed by Wagner, was addressed to his friend Wilhelm Baumgartner (1820-1867), who was a pianist and composer based in Zurich, who had befriended Wagner while the latter was exiled there following his support of German nationalism. In the signing, Wagner praised his friend’s talents and hard work, with Baumgartner also being known for his admiration for Wagner’s artistic spirit and energy.
An undated set design for the third act of Tannhäuser
Other Highlighted Lots:
Lot 94 | Albert Einstein (1879-1955) | Series of 43 autograph letters signed ('Albert Einstein' (4), 'Albert' (23), the later letters with variations on the pet-name 'Johannzel', two letters lacking signature) to his first wife, Mileva Marić, [Zurich, Milan, Mettmenstetten, Melchtal, Winterthur
Written in Schaffhausen and Bern, between 16 February 1898-?19 September 1903
Provenance (modified by The Value):
- Letters addressed to Mileva (Einstein’s first wife)
- By descent
- Christie’s New York 25 November 1996, Lot 3, bought by: - the present owner
Estimate: £700,000 - 1,000,000
Hammer Price: £350,000
Sold: £441,000
Lot 133 | Major General William Thomas Eden (1768-1851) | A panoramic view of Calcutta, Pencil, pen and black ink and watercolour on eight large joined sheets of paper, with twenty small additional supporting sheets, laid down on canvas
Executed in 1812
427.2 x 48.7 cm
Provenance:
- The artist and by descent in the family to the present owner
Estimate: £120,000 - 150,000
Hammer Price: £260,000
Sold: £327,600
Lot 67 | Igor Stavinsky (1882-1971) | Autograph manuscript signed (at end, 'Igor Stravinsky'),The Firebird (L'oiseau de feu), Suite for small orchestra ('Instrumenté pour petit orchestre'), the last 14 bars of the 'Berceuse' and the complete 'Final'
Dated: Morges, 31 March 1915
34 x 25.5 cm
Provenance:
- [presumably Sergei Diaghilev (1872-1929)
- Serge Lifar (1905-1986: stamps on first and last leaves)
- His sale, Sotheby Parke Bernet, Monaco, 28 November 1975, lot 459 (FrF 97,000)
- Bought by – Musikantiquariat Hans Schneider, Tutzing.
Estimate: £70,000 - 100,000
Hammer Price: £100,000
Sold: £126,000
Auction Details:
Auction House: Christie's London
Sale: Valuable Books and Manuscripts
Date: 12 December 2024
Total Lots: 169
Sold: 136
Unsold: 33
Sale Rate: 80.4%
Sale Total: £4,500,468