PÜTTMANN, H[ermann], ed [and] BECK, Karl

Socialistisches Liederbuch mit Original Beiträgen von H. Heine, F. Freiligrath, G. Werth und Anderen. Zweite Auflage. [BOUND WITH] BECK, Karl. Lieder vom armen Mann, Mit einem vorwort an das Haus Rothschild. Leipzig: Bernhard Hermann, 1846.

Kassel: J.C.J. Raabé, 1851. First title is the second edition (published originally in Borna, 1847 as Album: Originalpoesieen [&c.].). 12mo (17cm). Contemporary cloth-backed marbled boards; 333pp. Second title the first edition, in same format; 324pp. Anonymous editorial markings in pencil throughout to both works, as if to prepare for a new edition. Binding quite worn, with cloth spine split along joints and moderate rubbing to boards. Text is sound and tightly sewn, however a dark ink stain affects the final forty or so leaves of the second title, intruding onto the upper half of the text, especially heavy on the final ten leaves where it renders portions of the text legible only with difficulty.

Püttmann's Socialistisches Liederbuch was originally published in 1847 under a title that (intentionally) made no allusion to the collection's revolutionary content. The anthology included work by "most of the social lyrists of the Forties," including in addtion to Heine, Freiligrath and Weerth such figures as Karl Beck (see below), Püttmann himself, Alfred Weisner, and others. Solomon Liptzin (Lyric Pioneers of modern Germany: studies in German social poetry, 1928) notes that the anthology was both aesthetically sophisticated and has been "until now a chief source for radical anthologies in German." The second edition is uncommon, with only three physical copies noted in North American collections.

The Austrian poet Karl Beck's Lieder vom armen Mann (Songs for the Poor Man) was among the more popular collections by this leading figure of the aforementioned school of German "social lyrists" of the generation of 1848. The book begins with a scathing poetical attack on the House of Rothschild, in which Beck accuses the banking family of forsaking their Jewish community in pursuit of financial domination (Beck, born Jewish, had converted to Protestantism in 1843). The book was savaged by Frederick Engels in an 1847 review in which, while he characterizes Beck as "incontestably more talented...than most of the German scribbling fraternity," goes on to describe Beck's socialism as "pompously sentimental...on the one hand, it is impossible for him to adopt a revolutionary stance in German society because the revolutionary elements themselves are not yet sufficiently developed, and on the other, the chronic misery surrounding him on all sides has too debilitating an effect for him to be able to rise above it..." (Deutsche-Brüsseler-Zeitung no.73, Sept. 12, 1847; translation courtesy of Marxist Internet Archive).

A compelling sammelband of revolutionary songs and poems from the first great wave of German radicalism that accompanied the Revolutions of 1848. Of the editorial markings throughout the text, we can only speculate that they were intended for a later reprint or perhaps for a new anthology drawing pieces from both works. Other than the fact that they are in German and appear contemporary, the scattered marginalia provide no clue to ownership. Both titles scarce; this edition of Püttmann represented by only six holdings per OCLC (of which three in North America); Beck plentiful in institutional collections but not regularly seen in commerce.

Price: $1,250.00

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