Radio Free Republic Presents
An Evening With The Banana Republican
With Special Guest Donato Dalrymple
Posted on 12/12/2001 5:38:34 AM PST by PJ-Comix
Please excuse this vanity post. I try not to make many of them but I think I have made an incredible historic find and I just wanted to share it with you.
A couple of days ago I obtained a large number of military and history books at an estate sale from a German woman whose husband recently passed away. He was also from Germany and was an avid reader as evidenced from his extensive collection of books in both English and German.
When I got home with the books I found one of them that looked quite interesting. It was "Meine Kriegserinnerungen" ("My War Memoirs") by Erich Ludendorff. I found this interesting for two reasons. First of all, Ludendorff was one of the two most important German generals of WWI (next to Hidenburg). And the second reason was that this book was published (and printed) in 1919. The book is in fairly good shape with some yellowing of the pages. Okay, I was quite pleased with this but then, in examining the book, I found a packet at the rear of the book whose contents, when I removed them, almost caused me to fall out of my chair.
Inside the packet were 10 near mint condition (only very slight yellowing) WWI battle maps. What got to me was the incredibly great condition of these maps. They look more like they were printed only a couple of years ago rather than 82 years ago. Even the paper they were printed on felt quite fresh. Suddenly, WWI didn't seem like ancient history. The very freshness of those maps made that war seem quite real. There might be other maps over 80 years old out there in as good condition but I doubt there are any in better condition than these maps.
Here are pics of the front of the book along with portions of a couple of the maps. These maps measure 19" X 20" so I was only able to scan about a third of their total area. The first map is of the Battle of Tannenberg in 1914 and the second map is from a 1918 battlefield.
Okay, I admit this might not be of much interest to some folks, but if you are an incredible history buff like me, you will find these maps (and their freshness) quite fascinating. I hope they end up with someone who seals them in airtight glass to preserve them.
Simple. The book was published in 1919. There is a specially constructed cardboard packet attached to the rear of the book so these maps were published to go along with the book. They were definitely printed in 1919. Ernst Siegfried Mittler und Sohn Publishers. Berlin 1919.
I will definitely be looking for antique map collectors here in South Florida. Much as I would like to keep them I don't have a way to preserve these maps over the long haul. The climate here is very humid and these maps need to be sealed behind airtight glass. Best is if they end up in a museum or with a professional military collector. I hope they end up in South Florida so I can occasionally view them.
My scanner is too small to scan any of these maps entirely. What you have seen are just about a third of the area of each map scanned.
What really really gets to me is how FRESH these maps seem. They don't seem like relics at all. Just touching them makes WWI seem real to me. (I use plastic gloves now to handle them.)
Hmmm.... That is an interesting idea. I wonder if there is a German Consulate here in South Florida?
Erich Ludendorff. Meine Kriegserinnerungen 1914-1918. Berlin: Ernst Siegfried Mittler, Vierte Auflage, 1919, maps and 628pp., white half-cloth, a bit soiled, relatively good paper for this period. $30.
http://world.std.com/~shw/Sept00part6.html
I'm a big WWI book buff too. Still a great find, take care of it.
A copy shop such as Kinko's should be able to scan the complete maps. It would be well worth the $$.
Under the circumstances I think it's reasonable to assume that the maps are genuine.
Since the paper is over 80 years old I would store them flat and avoid opening and closing them at all.
I would also go to Kinko's or an Engineering Bluepring place that has a large format scanner and make real size high quality scans of them.
Whether you are willing to share with us at FR is up to you. But in any case, several copies of the high-quality scans should be stores in different places for security.
Congratulations.
The book in itself is no really big deal. This one is somewhat yellowed. However, it is the OUTSTANDING quality of the maps that makes it a great find. I don't think any of the other books have maps (if they are the complete 10) in such good condition as these.
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