Götz von Berlichingen mit der eisernen Hand. Ein Schauspiel. [Darmstadt. 206 SS. (ohne das letzte weiße Blatt). Halblederband der Zeit auf fünf flachen Bünden, mit zwei Rückenschildchen. Dreiseitiger gesprenkelter Rotschnitt. 8vo. In zweiteiligem Lederschuber (um 1900).
$ 32,542 / 28.000 €
(72835/BN46903)
Rare first edition, self-published by Goethe and Merck in a very small press run. This first impression of the play about the maverick adventurer-poet Götz von Berlichingen contains the hero's famously profane "Swabian salute" unexpurged (p. 133); it was truncated in later editions. In spite of sluggish initial sales, the play enjoyed a sensational success, making the author instantly famous and calling forth severe criticism as well as praise. - Some brownstaining and fingerstaining. Provenance: handwritten ownership "Louis Prèschamps" (ca.
1880) on title-page; an old annotation on the final leaf has been removed. Acquired from the estate of the Frankfurt lawyer Wilhelm A. Schaaf (1929-2015), a specialist in economic, commercial and insolvency law..