Ex Libris and Provenance

     Mein Kampf possesses an interesting personality because of the many different types of people who have owned it as well as the time period in which they owned it.  I found several unique and amazing bookplates and provenance by studying different editions of Mein Kampf online as well as looking through the 1936 edition that Morrow Library has.  

Piece of Newspaper Back

     The Mein Kampf from Morrow has an intriguing piece of provenance tucked within its pages.  Hidden within the pages, there was a small piece of German newspaper. This newspaper was printed in Germany and has a Neumann advertisement.  Under the Neumann name, there is a description of the store in German. After loosely translating it to the best of my ability, it appears to be a shoe store. Someone wrote on the reverse side several numbers that look like troop numbers.  They included the S.S., France, and Italy. 

Piece of Newspaper Front

   
 In October of 2014, an edition of Mein Kampf went for sale that has amazing examples of provenance and ex libris.  The edition which sold for almost $30,000 contained Hitler's personal bookplate. This book plate has the German eagle, proudly perched over the Nazi emblem. Two other men inscribed their name inside this book: Wardly and Dr. Wagner.  Wardly identified himself as a veteran from the 70th Field Security Section.  Dr. Gerhard Wagner was a chief physician of the Reich. Hitler was a known hypochondriac, so it makes sense that Wagner would have spent a lot of time with the Fuhrer. This book has a rich background from print to being lost to being found again. This website includes a more detailed look at this particular Mein Kampf.
    https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/80787177/lieber.pdf
    

 

Goering's bookplate and Laurant's writing.  

While researching Mein Kampf I came upon a couple of other examples of amazing provenance and ex libris. This edition of Mein Kampf, printed in 1941, holds another bookplate from a prominent member of the Nazi party, Hermann Goering. Goering was the Reichsmarshall in charge of both the Gestapo and the renowned Luftwaffe. He was very close to Adolf Hitler, becoming one of the Fuhrer's closest friends.  The provenance on the right side of the page is interesting, because the Frenchman that liberated the book, Rene Laurent, who made his mark after retrieving it.  The officer was in the 2nd Armed Division under General Leclerc, who is famous for the liberation of Paris. Goering's bookplate is rare, bearing the image of St. George and the dragon, alongside other German mottos. For more information of Goering, I included a documentary video below. 

  

Until Next Week!
Alexis Smith