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Hector Hugues Munro dit. SAKI
Le thé.
Couverture blanche souple et imprimée. Papier jauni. Ex-libris en relief sur la page de titre.
Reference : 61870
Non-donné. L'o&il de la lettre. 1988. 30 pp. In-12. Broché. Très bon état. 1 volume. Traduit de l'anglais par J. DEREGNAUCOURT.
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5 book(s) with the same title
British Salmonidae. 2 parts. - [ONE OF THE FINEST BOOKS ON FISH EVER PRODUCED]
(Edinburgh, 1839-41). Elephant-folio. In the two original half-calf-folders with green leather-spines and pattern-stamped cloth boards" gilt title and author to front boards. Remains of the original green cloth-ties. Some wear to spines, especially at capitals. 12 magnificent hand-coloured plates with one leaf of text for each, the first, 8th and 11th text-leaves with an engraved illustration measuring 22x13,5 cm. (depicting ""Stake Nets of the Solway Firth"", ""Poke Nets of the Solway Firth"", and ""Young States of S. Truttafrom Mr. Shaw's Ponds"" - the last beautifully hand-coloured)" all leaves laid in loose, as originally published, and all plates with the original tissue-guards. Plates and text-leaves measuring ab. 64,5 x 49 cm
The exceedingly scarce first printing of this monumental work on British salmon, one of the finest books on fishes ever produced. The work is generally considered the Audubon of salmons" the quality of the plates is considered unsurpassed and the scientific research that lies behind it makes it of the utmost importance to the study of salmons.""Jardine was a keen sportsman, expert with rod and gun, and followed his hounds. He was not averse to making deer which strayed from his neighbour's estate onto Jerdine Hall land pay for their trespass. He was also an amateur artist, working in watercolours, and exhibited, as an honorary member, at the Scottish Royal Academy, as well as other art exhibitions in Dumfries. When writing his books, he learned to etch, to draw on wood blocks for wood engraving, to lithograph and to use a variant of lithography called papyrography. One of the finest books of fishes ever printed was Jardine's ""The British Salmonidae"", for which he did the drawings and etchings himself.Jardine was the foremost ichthyologist in Scotland, perhaps even in the United Kingdom, in the nineteenth century. He was a fine fisherman and fished the Annan, which flowed through his grounds in Dumfriesshire, and the best stretches of the Tweed when he lived for three years at St Boswells, Roxburghshire. One of his aims was to establish his life cycles of the salmon and the sea trout, for which he tagged fish in a specially constructed pool at Jardine Hall, and visited the fisheries at Perth where experiments were carried out. His reputation as a fly fisherman was well known, and he enjoyed many days of sport with other eminent naturalists such as P.J. Selby, John Gould, Richard Parnall, as well as friends and neighbours. His interest in fishing and fisheries led to his appointment as one of the royal commissioners to the Salmon Fisheries Survey of England and Wales in 1860."" (Jackson and Davis, ""Sir William Jardine. A Life in Natural History"", p. X). Jardine was also famous for his huge museum collections, among these a very extensive collection of skins. In the late 1820'ies the collections began to encompass vertebrates other than birds, and it is from this time that his scientific interests in fish began to develop. Although Jardine's interest had always extended beyond the British Isles and he also received many specimens of fish from abroad, his main interest remained British fish, and especially those of the salmon family, which greatly fascinated him. ""Some of these were little known, and even in the early nineteenth century were considered rare."" (Jackson & Davis, p. 57). From around the beginning of the 1830'ies Jardine was on the lookout for more specimens and further advice, and he began corresponding with the famous Cornish naturalist and ichthyologist, Jonathan Couch. He also began corresponding with other respected scientists and correspondents and with much support from all of these, Jardine devoted more and more of his time and effort to investigating fish, especially the salmon family. In 1834 he began a tour of Sutherland that came to have a significant impact on his studies of the salmon family. He brought Selby with him, and due to their many notes, drawings, and observations, Jardine now had the confidence to present a lecture, in which he revised the scientific status of the Salmonidae discovered on their excursion, to the British Association, which he held in Edinburgh during the late summer of 1834. It is this lecture that established his reputation as an ichthyologist, and it is evident from many sources of the period that he was now much admired within this field. ""[w]hen he attended the British Association meeting in Newcastle in August 1838, not only did he chair the Botany and Zoology section, but he also gave a lecture on the Salmonidae of Scotland. By this time he was bringing to fruition a much more ambitious project, with the preparation of the plates for the ""Illustrations of British Salmonidae, with Descriptions"", which was published in two parts in 1839 and 1841."" (Jackson & Davis, p. 60).Jardine had originally planned to work on the project with Selby and had already suggested him this in 1834. Selby supported him throughout the project, but eventually Jardine undertook the work alone. The illustrations of the work were to comprise the salmons of both England and Ireland, and in a letter to T.C. Eyton he indicates many of his thoughts concerning the production as well as his continued interest in fishes around the world"" he describes his wish to illustrate the specimens life-size, although that would restrict sales, his and Lizar's frustrations of finding a skilled enough colourist, as well as his view on drawing the fish directly at the edge of the water in order to capture the iridescence and colours of the fish straight away, so that they would not have had time to fade, which they do rapidly after death. Among other things he writes ""The sale will of course be limited & one to my list is important. If it will clear its way I shall be satisfied so far as the plates are concerned... but Illustrations of the size which I have chosen are always attended with more expense in the publication than those of a less [?] size. All the drawings have been made at the waters edge, and I am sanguine that the work will be creditable to all both artist and engraver... The 1st number will be out in a very short time it is all prepared except the colouring which we have been annoyed about in the north. We have however now selected Mr. Gould' colourer [Gabriel Bayfield] in London, & from what he has put out in these departments we have considerable reliance."" (See Jackson & Davis, p. 61).Thus, the plates were etched by Jardine himself and coloured by Bayfield. The first number of plates were sent to Bayfiled for colouring in July 1838, and the first part of ""Illustrations"" was advertised as published in August 1839, whereas the second was ready in September 1841. ""It is not known how many copies were eventually sold, but Jardine (who had exclusive rights to the publication) hinted in 1844 that ""There are only 70 copies coloured"" - and indication that few coloured copies were to hand after supplying copies to the subscribers. Lizars had been responsible for producing and distributing the books, but when his establishment in Edinburgh closed, Jardine transferred the stock of uncoloured plates to Jardine Hall. Even in the 1860s there was a demand for copies of the Salmonidae, and also for individual plates, and the faithful Bayfield was asked once more to act as colourist for these. Some indication of the price of the complete work is given by Jardine in a letter to John Gould, asking him to deliver a copy to Pickering in Picadilly and asking him ""to take payment for £5 16"". Initially prices of £2 12s 6d (coloured) and £1 11s 6d (plain) per part had been suggested, which had risen to £3 3s 0d by August 1839. The first estimates also suggested that an initial run of some 50 copies was sensible until the demand could be gauged, and noted that the cost of colouring each impression was 1s 6d."" (Jackson & Davis, p. 62).The work is now considered one of the finest books on fish ever produced, both due to its great artistic value and its ""meticulous and painstaiking scientific research"" (p. 62)" besides its scientific value and scientific importance, it is of the greatest scarcity with no more than 70 copies (at the most) produced, and many fewer that have survived. Nissen 2092 not in Wood
Om Begrebet Ironi med stadigt hensyn til Socrates. Af S. A. Kierkegaard. - [ARGUABLY THE BEST POSSIBLE COPY ONE CAN EVER HOPE TO ACQUIRE OF KIERKEGAARD’S DISSERTATION – ONE OF TWO COPIES ON THICK VELLUM PAPER]
Kjøbenhavn, P.G. Philipsens Forlag, 1841. 8vo. (8), 350 pp. Gift binding of elaborately blindpatterned full cloth with single gilt lines to spine. All edges gilt and printed on thick vellum paper. A splendid copy in completely unrestored state with minimal edge wear. Slight sunning to upper 1 cm of front board and slight bumping to corners and capitals. Leaves completely fresh and clean. Pencil-annotation from the Kierkegaard archive of the Royal Library (nr. 83) and discreet stamp from the Royal Library of Copenhagen to inside of front board (with a deaccession-inscription) and to verso of title-page. With ownership signatures of P.S. Lund and Troels Lund to title-page. Inside of back board with previous owner’s pencil-annotations listing the entire provenance of the copy and explaining that this is one of two copies printed on thick vellum paper. Laid in is the original agreement for the exchange of real property between the previous owner and the Royal Library of Denmark, from which is evident that in 2003, The Royal Library and the previous owner legally agreed to exchange their respective copies of Om Begrebet Ironie – the present one for Ørsted, being one of two copies on thick vellum paper, and the copy on normal paper for Heiberg, which is now in the holdings of the Royal Library of Denmark.
Arguably the best possible copy one can ever hope to acquire of Kierkegaard’s dissertation – one of two copies on thick vellum paper, being a presentation-copy from Kierkegaard to the discoverer of electromagnetism H.C. Ørsted. Inscribed to verso of front fly-leaf: “Til / Hans Magnificens / Universitetets Rector / Hr. Conferentsraad Ørsted. / C og D.M.” (For / His Magnificence / Principle of the University / Mr. [a high Danish title, now obsolete] Ørsted. / C (ommandør) (i.e. Commander) and DM (short for Dannebrogsmand, another honourable title) ). The copy is with the Thesis, and both the day and the time has been filled in by hand. As mentioned in the introduction to the Irony, Kierkegaard had two copies made on thick vellum paper –one for himself (which is in the Royal Library of Denmark), and one for H. C. Ørsted, a towering figure of the Danish Golden Age, one of the most important scientists that Denmark has produced, then principle of the University of Copenhagen. This copy is unique among the 11 registered presentation-copies of Kierkegaard’s dissertation and is without doubt the most desirable. It is approximately twice as thick as the other copies and stand out completely. THIS IS KIERKEGAARD’S dissertation, which constitutes the culmination of three years’ intensive studies of Socrates and “the true point of departure for Kierkegaard’s authorship” (Brandes). The work is of the utmost importance in Kierkegaard’s production, not only as his first academic treatise, but also because he here introduces several themes that will be addressed in his later works. Among these we find the question of defining the subject of cognition and self-knowledge of the subject. The maxim of “know thyself” will be a constant throughout his oeuvre, as is the theory of knowledge acquisition that he deals with here. The dissertation is also noteworthy in referencing many of Hegel’s theses in a not negative context, something that Kierkegaard himself would later note with disappointment and characterize as an early, uncritical use of Hegel. Another noteworthy feature is the fact that the thesis is written in Danish, which was unheard of at the time. Kierkegaard felt that Danish was a more suitable language for the thesis and hadto petition the King to be granted permission to submit it in Danish rather than Latin. This in itself poses as certain irony, as the young Kierkegaard was known to express himself poorly and very long-winded in written Danish. One of Kierkegaard’s only true friends, his school friend H.P. Holst recounts (in 1869) how the two had a special school friendship and working relationship, in which Kierkegaard wrote Latin compositions for Holst, while Holst wrote Danish compositions for Kierkegaard, who “expressed himself in a hopelessly Latin Danish crawling with participial phrases and extraordinarily complicatedsentences” (Garff, p. 139). When Kierkegaard, in 1838, was ready to publish his famous piece on Hans Christian Andersen (see nr. 1 & 2 above), which was to appear in Heiberg’s journal Perseus, Heiberg had agreed to publish the piece, although he had some severe critical comments about the way and the form in which it was written – if it were to appear in Perseus, Heiberg demanded, at the very least, the young Kierkegaard would have to submit it in a reasonably readable Danish. “Kierkegaard therefore turned to his old schoolmate H. P. Holst and asked him to do something with the language…” (Garff, p. 139). From their school days, Holst was well aware of the problem with Kierkegaard’s Danish, and he recounts that over the summer, he actually “translated” Kierkegaard’s article on Andersen into proper Danish. The oral defense was conducted in Latin, however. The judges all agreed that the work submitted was both intelligent and noteworthy. But they were concerned about its style, which was found to be both tasteless, long-winded, and idiosyncratic. We already here witness Kierkegaard’s idiosyncratic approach to content and style that is so characteristic for all of his greatest works. Both stylistically and thematically, Kierkegaard’s and especially a clear precursor for his magnum opus Either-Or that is to be his next publication. The year 1841 is a momentous one in Kierkegaard’s life. It is the year that he completes his dissertation and commences his sojourn in Berlin, but it is also the defining year in his personal life, namely the year that he breaks off his engagement with Regine Olsen. And finally, it is the year that he begins writing Either-Or. In many ways, Either-Or is born directly out of The Concept of Irony and is the work that brings the theory of Irony to life. Part One of the dissertation concentrates on Socrates as interpreted by Xenophon, Plato, and Aristophanes, with a word on Hegel and Hegelian categories. Part Two is a more synoptic discussion of the concept of irony in Kierkegaard’s categories, with examples from other philosophers. The work constitutes Kierkegaard’s attempt at understanding the role of irony in disrupting society, and with Socrates understood through Kierkegaard, we witness a whole new way of interpreting the world before us. Wisdom is not necessarily fixed, and we ought to use Socratic ignorance to approach the world without the inherited bias of our cultures. With irony, we will be able to embrace the not knowing. We need to question the world knowing we may not find an answer. The moment we stop questioning and just accept the easy answers, we succumb to ignorance. We must use irony to laugh at ourselves in order to improve ourselves and to laugh at society in order to improve the world. The work was submitted to the Philosophical Faculty at the University of Copenhagen on June 3rd 1841. Kierkegaard had asked for his dissertation to be ready from the printer’s in ample time for him to defend it before the new semester commenced. This presumably because he had already planned his sojourn to Berlin to hear the master philosopher Schelling. On September 16th, the book was issued, and on September 29th, the defense would take place. The entire defense, including a two hour long lunch break, took seven hours, during which ”an unusually full auditorium” would listen to the official opponents F.C. Sibbern and P.O. Brøndsted as well as the seven “ex auditorio” opponents F.C. Petersen, J.L. Heiberg, P.C. Kierkegaard, Fr. Beck, F.P.J. Dahl, H .J.Thue og C.F. Christens, not to mention Kierkegaard himself. Two weeks later, on October 12th, Kierkegaard broke off his engagement with Regine Olsen (for the implications of this event, see the section about Regine in vol. II). The work appeared in two states – one with the four pages of “Theses”, for academics of the university, whereas the copies without the theses were intended for ordinary sale. These sales copies also do not have “Udgivet for Magistergraden” and “theologisk Candidat” on the title-page. The first page of the theses always contains the day “XXIX” of September written in hand, and sometimes the time “hora X” is also written in hand, but not always. In all, 11 presentation-copies of the dissertation are known, and of these only one is signed (that for Holst), all the others merely state the title and name of the recipient. As is evident from the auction catalogue of his collection, Kierkegaard had a number of copies of his dissertation in his possession when he died. Five of them were bound, and two of them were “nit. M. Guldsnit” (i.e. daintily bound and with gilt edges). These two copies were obviously meant as presentation-copies that he then never gave away. The gift copies of the dissertation were given two types of bindings, both brownish cloth, one type patterned, the other one plain, and some of them have gilt edges, but most of the plain ones do not. There exist two copies on thick vellum paper – one being Kierkegaard’s own copy, the other being the copy for H.C. Ørsted, discoverer of electromagnetism and then principle of the University of Copenhagen. “As already implied, two works of the authorship stand out in the sense that Kierkegaard sent his presentation-copies to a special circle of people: The dissertation from 1841...” (Posselt, Textspejle, p. 91, translated from Danish). Most of the copies were given to former teachers and especially to people who, due to leading positions, personified the university. “For this circle of initiated we can now, due to registered copies, confirm that Kierkegaard gave copies with handwritten dedications to the headmaster of the University H.C. Ørsted (printed on thick paper), Kolderup-Rosenvinge and to J.L. Heiberg. It is granted that Sibbern, Madvig and F.C. Petersen were also given the dissertation as a gift,... but these copies are not known (yet).” (Posselt, Textspejle, pp. 93-94, translated fromDanish). (N.b. We have since handled the copy given to Petersen and can thus confirm that it exists). The presentation-inscriptions in the 11 registered copies of the Irony all follow a certain, strict pattern. “The wording could not be briefer. In the donation of his academic treatise, the otherwise prolific Kierkegaard sticks to name, titles, and the modes of address that goes with the titles.” (Tekstspejle p. 96, translated from Danish). When presenting his later books, he always signs himself “from the author”, sometimes abbreviated (i.e. “Forf.” In stead of “Forfatteren”), unless he is mentioned by name on the title-page as the publisher, not the author, as is the case with some of the pseudonymous works. In that case he signs his inscriptions “From the publisher”, always accompanied by “in deep reverence”, “with reverence”, “with friendship” or the like, adapted to the rank of the recipient and his place on Kierkegaard’s personal scale. An academic treatise, however, published before the oral defense took place – in the mind of Kierkegaard – required certain demands in relation to the donation of it. Thus, the brevity and rigidity in the following inscriptions. With the exception of Kierkegaard Hans Christian Ørsted (1777-1851) is arguably the most famous and influential Dane ever to have lived, universally known for his discovery of Electro-magnetism in 1820, which led to new theories and discoveries that constituted the foundation of all later electro-technology. After this milestone of scientific discovery, Ørsted went on to write a number of important philosophical works on natural philosophy and empiricism, of which The Spirit in Nature is the most famous and the work he himself considered his main work. Both H.C. Andersen and Søren Kierkegaard admit to having been influenced by the writings of Ørsted. “He was an enthusiastic follower of the “Naturphilosophie” school in Germany, whose main object was the unification of physical forces, thus producing a monistic theory of the universe. It was to further this purpose that Oersted sought in actual phenomena the electro-magnetic identity of which he had already convinced himself on metaphysical grounds” (Percy H. Muir in Printing and The Mind of Man). “The natural scientist Hans Christian Ørsted was one of the most significant and influential personalities of his age and together with the sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen, the poet Hans Christian Andersen, and the thinker Søren Kierkegaard, constituted the small handful of figures from “The Danish Golden Age” who achieved international and even world fame.” (Troelsen in Kierkegaard and his Danish Contemporaries I: p. (215) ). In intellectual circles in Denmark at the time of Kierkegaard, Ørsted was inevitable. He influenced not only natural sciences profoundly, but also philosophy, literature, and Danish languages (coining more than 2.000 neologisms). He was furthermore rector of the university of Copenhagen, when Kierkegaard in 1841 submitted his master’s thesis On the Concept of Irony. Being the rector, Ørsted was the one who needed to pass the treatise, but having read it, he was simply not sure whether to do so or not and needed to consult other experts, before making his decision. He ended up allowing it to pass, but not without having first famously said about it (in a letter to Sibbern) that it “makes a generally unpleasant impression on me, particularly because of two things both of which I detest: verbosity and affectation.” (Kirmmmse (edt.): Encounters with Kierkegaard, p. 32). Kierkegaard makes several references to Ørsted’s Spirit in Nature and mentions him several times in his journals and notebooks. Although being of different generations and not particularly close on a personal level, the two intellectual giants would naturally be unavoidably connected in one way or the other. Ørsted was simply so centrally placed and so influential that there was no way around him for someone like Kierkegaard. Himmelstrup 8 The present copy is no. 9 in Girsel's ""Kierkegaard"" (The Catalogue) which can be found here.
Forord. Morskabslæsning for enkelte Stænder efter Tid og Leilighed af Nicoilaus Notabene. - [KIERKEGAARD’S OWN COPY - ONE OF THE TWO COPIES HE HAD MADE FOR REGINE AND FOR HIMSELF]
Kjøbenhavn, Reitzel, 1844. Small 8vo. 110, (1) pp. Splendidly bound in beautiful ornamental mint green patterned paper over boards with branches, flowers, birds, squirrels, and dogs in a relief-pattern. Green end-papers and all edges gilt. Printed on fine vellum-paper. Slight soiling to spine and a bit of wear to paper on spine and over boards, where the relief is high. But a splendid, tight copy with no restorations and absolutely minimal brownspotting.Back pasted-down end-paper with a later, neat pencil-inscription from the previous owner stating that this is Kierkegaard’s own copy, bought by Høedt at the auction after Kierkegaard’s death and stating where the previous owner found the copy in 1995.Housed in a beautiful marbled paper box with richly gilt greenish morocco spine in ornamental pastichestyle with a red gilt leather title-label with Gothic gilt lettering. Gilt super ex-libris to front board (Anker Kysters Eftf., gilt by Hagel Olsen).
The most splendid copy of the first edition possible, namely Kierkegaard’s own copy, one of the two copies he had printed on special paper and specially bound, one for Regine, one for himself. This is Kierkegaard’s own copy that he kept himself, from the love-set of the two copies of Prefaces he had made, where the other was for Regine. One of the two copies of the book that he had made on special paper and bound in this particularly beautiful and romantic binding. Kierkegaard had his eight pseudonymous works made like this, one for Regine, one for himself. So far, only four of these have surfaced, Regine’s copies of Repetition, Prefaces, and Either-Or (all sold at auction in 2002), and Kierkegaard’s own copy of Either-Or (in the Danish Royal Library). The other copies are unregistered, and the whereabouts unknown. The present copy is presumably that described merely as “dainty w. gilt edges”, nr. 2133 from the auction catalogue of Kierkegaard's books sold after his death. Published simultaneously with The Concept of Anxiety, Prefaces can be viewed as its companion piece. It represents an altogether different genre and is the most humorous of all of Kierkegaard’s works, but the two fictional authors of the works interestingly contrast each other. Although having been eclipsed by the now notoriously famous Concept of Anxiety, Prefaces was in fact more popular when it appeared and sold many more copies. Written under the pseudonym of Nicolaus Notabene, the “author” name indicates that despite its humorous approach, Prefaces is still something serious – something to be noted. And it certainly is. It is here that we find Kierkegaard’s sarcastic roasting of the Hegelian system and of the Danish Hegelians with Johan Ludvig Heiberg as the main representant. Through Notabene, he makes fun of Heiberg and Hegel, who both want to explain everything and want to be mediators of understanding. Just as Hafniensis in The Concept on Anxiety poses that “how sin came into the world each man understands solely by himself. If he would learn it from another, he would misunderstand it” (p. 51), so Notabene in Prefaces states that “My frame, my health, my entire constitution do not lend themselves to mediation” (p. 45). In Prefaces we also find Kierkegaard’s thoughts about the relationship between the reading public and the author and his fierce criticism of literary critics and reviewers, among these also Heiberg as well as Martensen, who famously reviewed Either-Or and Repetition respectively. And in the very amusing preface to the Prefaces, we are given another glimpse into Kierkegaard’s thoughts on marriage and the dilemma he found himself in with Regine – the inner struggle between he, who is the husband, and he, who is the author can one be both? With its challenging notions on the idea of the book and the interaction of the book with its readers, his little ironic masterpiece is a clear forerunner of Postmodernism. “Kierkegaard’s ‘Prefaces’ is a brief though not unimportant work. Themes he develops elsewhere at greater length here are presented with characteristic insight and wit. This richly suggestive text has never received the attention it deserves. William McDonald’s fine translation now makes it possible to assess the importance of ‘Prefaces’ for Kierkegaard’s œuvre and to appreciate its significance for philosophical, literary, and theological issues that are still with us.” (From the review of William McDonald’s 1989 edition of Prefaces in English in the Kierkegaard and Postmodernism-series). Written under a pseudonym and without Kierkegaard’s name appearing as publisher or indeed as anything else, he was unable to give away presentation-copies of the work (due to his own strict set of rules for this). Thus, not a single presentation copy of the work exists. A single copy of the book was in the auction catalogue of his book collection after his death – described as in a dainty binding and with all edges gilt. Like Repetition and his other seven pseudonymous works, Prefaces, was printed in two copies both on vellum-paper and bound in special bindings, one for Regine, one for Kierkegaard himself. 24 years ago, three of these books surfaced, at an auction in 2002, namely Either-Or, Repetiton, and Prefaces, all being the copies Kierkegaard had bound for Regine. Before that, only one single copy of one of these eight titles for Kierkegaard himself or for Regine were known (namely Kierkegaard’s own copy of Either-Or, which is in the Danish Royal Library). Seven of the books, Kierkegaard’s own copies, were listed in the auction catalogue after his death, but apart from the mentioned copy of Either-Or in the Royal Library, the others had not been found. Kierkegaard’s wildly famous love story and failed engagement to Regine Olsen plays a pivotal role throughout Kierkegaard’s entire life and work. It all begins in 1837, when Kierkegaard meets the lovely young girl Regine Olsen at a visit to the widowed Cathrine Rørdam. Three years later, in September 1840, after having corresponded frequently with her and visited her on numerous occasions, Kierkegaard decides to ask for her hand in marriage. She and her family accept, but the following day, Kierkegaard regrets his decision and ends up finally breaking off the engagement in October 1841. Disregarding the scandal, the heartbreak (his own included), and the numerous pleas from family members and friends alike, Kierkegaard’s tortured soul, still searching for God and for the meaning of faith, cannot continue living with the promise of marriage. Later the same month, he flees Copenhagen and the scandal surrounding the broken engagement. He leaves for Berlin, the first of his four stays there, clearly tortured by his decision, but also intent on not being able to go through with the engagement. As is evident from his posthumously published Papers, Kierkegaard’s only way out of the relationship was to play a charming, but cold, villain, a charlatan, not betraying his inner thoughts and feelings. Despite the brevity of the engagement, it has gone down in history as one of the most significant in the entire history of modern thought. It is a real-life Werther-story with the father of Existentialism as the main character, thus with the dumbfounding existentialist outcome that no-one could have foreseen. This exceedingly famous and difficult engagement became the introduction to one of the most influential authorships in the last two centuries. “She was the reason for my authorship”, Kierkegaard writes in his Papers, and there is no doubt that several of his most significant works are born out of the relationship with Regine – and its ending. It is during his stay in Berlin, his first of four altogether, right after the rupture of the engagement, that he begins writing Either-Or, parts of which can be read as an almost autobiographical rendering of his failed engagement. After a couple of years, Regine got engaged to someone else, whom she married in 1847. But as is well known, Kierkegaard never married, and the impact of his engagement to Regine and what it made him understand – about himself, about religion, faith, the inner workings of the philosopher and the poet –, never lost its significance. It is evident from the many drafts of a letter that he sent to Regine, through her husband, in 1849 (which was returned to him, unopened) that he had never lain the matter to rest and that the relationship with Regine was still very much alive. He also states in his Notebook 15 from 1849 “By the way, it is certainly the case that my relationship with her has been a very close, present study for me of what faith is. For I know better in this relationship how it is apparently the exact opposite of the foundational. That I have lasted in this relationship has been useful for me in relating to God as a believer.” In his Notebook 15, also known as My Relationship with Her, from 1849, Kierkegaard describes how, when he finally broke off the engagement and she tried to get him to stay, she had told him “that she would thank me her entire life for being allowed to stay with me, even if she were to live in a little cupboard” (SKS No. 16: 6). Thus, Kierkegaard had a little cupboard made, with no shelves in it. Here, he kept “everything that reminds me of her and will remind me of her. There is also a copy of the pseudonyms (i.e. the works that he wrote under a pseudonym)" of these, there were always only two copies on vellum-paper, one for her and one for me.” (SKS: Not. 15:6.). In all, Kierkegaard wrote eight pseudonymous books, Prefaces being one of them, all of which were evidently printed in two copies each on vellum-paper and bound in special bindings, one for Regine, one for Kierkegaard himself. Himmelstrup 70 The present copy is no. 27 in Girsel's ""Kierkegaard"" (The Catalogue) which can be found here.
Stadier paa Livets Vei. Studier af Forskjellige. Sammenbragte, befordrede til Trykken og udgivne af Hilarius Bogbinder. - [KIERKEGAARD'S OWN COPY OF THE WORK THAT INTRODUCED ""THE LEAP OF FAITH"", WITH HIS OWN HANDWRITTEN CORRECTION]
Kjøbenhavn, Reitzel, 1845. Large 8vo. (8), 383 pp. An extraordinary copy printed on very heavy vellum-paper and bound in the mid-20th century in an elegant black half Morocco binding with single gilt lines to boards" double gilt lines and Gothic gilt lettering to spine (bound by Agnete With). Top edge gilt. A bit of brownspotting throughout. With the bookplate of Henning Kehler to inside of front board and with neat pencil annotations to back free end-paper describing the history of the copy. With a handwritten correction on p. 47.
Kierkegaard’s own copy of the pivotal sequel to his main work Either-Or, one of two copies printed on special paper, with Kierkegaard’s own handwritten correction on p. 47. In Either-Or, Kierkegaard had presented the first two stages, the aesthetic and the ethical. In Stages on Life’s Way, he continues his work on these stages and moves on to present also the religious stage, which occupies approximately two thirds of the work. The religious stage is that in which man attains a personal relationship with God and that in which man only truly begins to exist, the aesthetic and ethical stages being inadequate. It is in this foundational work, in the religious stage, that Kierkegaard first properly describes what is now known as the “Leap of Faith” (in fact a “leap to faith”), namely the leap that involves willing and belief instead of reason and knowledge, the leap that you take in order to connect to God and which requires that which Kierkegaard calls “the suspension of the ethical”. Undoubtedly among Kierkegaard’s most brilliant literary achievements, Stages on Life’s Way is written in the form of different viewpoints of Kierkegaard’s many pseudonymous characters. We have both Hilarius Bookbinder, who by chance has come into possession of the documents presented in the work and has prepared them for printing. We have the famous banquet scene, which mirrors Plato’s Symposium, described by William Afham, and in which the three aesthetics participate: Johannes the Seducer, Victor Eremita, and Constatin Constantius. We have Judge William’s discourse in praise of marriage, and we have the diary, discovered by Frater Taciturnus, of a young man, who was deeply in love but felt compelled to break off his engagement. This story in form of a diary is the closest one comes to a description of Kierkegaard’s own love story, his relationship to Regine. The diary describes an engagement that has lasted for six months it alternates between the morning notes that recall the engagement and the midnight notes that put it all in perspective. The work closes with a letter to the reader from Taciturnus on the three “existence-spheres” represented by the three parts of the book. Stages on Life’s Way is one of Kierkegaard’s most important works. Not only does it sum up and explain some of the most important themes of Kierkegaard’s previous works, utilizing the characters and pseudonymous authors of the earlier works to do so it goes beyond these foundational themes, introduces the religious stage, and points to the further development of the central themes in Kierkegaard’s philosophy, most of which are only fully developed in Concluding Unscientific Postscript. Written under a pseudonym and without Kierkegaard’s name appearing as publisher or indeed anything else, he was unable to give away presentation-copies of the work (due to his own rigid set of rules for his presentation-copies). Thus, not a single presentation copy of the work exists. A single copy of the book was in the auction catalogue of his book collection after his death. In Rohde’s edition of the auction-record, this copy and its recent faith is thoroughly described. Like Repetition, Prefaces, and his other seven pseudonymous works, Stages on Life’s Way was printed in two copies each on vellum-paper and bound in special bindings, one for Regine, one for Kierkegaard himself. 24 years ago, three of these books surfaced, at an auction in 2002, namely Either-Or, Repetition, and Prefaces, all being the copies Kierkegaard had bound for Regine. Before that, only one single copy of one of these eight titles for Kierkegaard himself or for Regine were known (namely Kierkegaard’s own copy of Either-Or, which is in the Danish Royal Library). Seven of the books, Kierkegaard’s own copies, were listed in the auction catalogue after his death, but apart from the mentioned copy of Either-Or in the Royal Library, the others had not been found. Kierkegaard’s wildly famous love story and failed engagement to Regine Olsen plays a pivotal role throughout Kierkegaard’s entire life and work. It all begins in 1837, when Kierkegaard meets the lovely young girl Regine Olsen at a visit to the widowed Cathrine Rørdam. Three years later, in September 1840, after having corresponded frequently with her and visited her on numerous occasions, Kierkegaard decides to ask for her hand in marriage. She and her family accept, but the following day, Kierkegaard regrets his decision and ends up finally breaking off the engagement in October 1841. Disregarding the scandal, the heartbreak (his own included), and the numerous pleas from family members and friends alike, Kierkegaard’s tortured soul, still searching for God and for the meaning of faith, cannot continue living with the promise of marriage. Later the same month, he flees Copenhagen and the scandal surrounding the broken engagement. He leaves for Berlin, the first of his four stays there, clearly tortured by his decision, but also intent on not being able to go through with the engagement. As is evident from his posthumously published Papers, Kierkegaard’s only way out of the relationship was to play a charming, but cold, villain, a charlatan, not betraying his inner thoughts and feelings. Despite the brevity of the engagement, it has gone down in history as one of the most significant in the entire history of modern thought. It is a real-life Werther-story with the father of Existentialism as the main character, thus with the dumbfounding existentialist outcome that no-one could have foreseen. This exceedingly famous and difficult engagement became the introduction to one of the most influential authorships in the last two centuries. “She was the reason for my authorship”, Kierkegaard writes in his Papers, and there is no doubt that several of his most significant works are born out of the relationship with Regine – and its ending. It is during his stay in Berlin, his first of four altogether, right after the rupture of the engagement, that he begins writing Either-Or, parts of which can be read as an almost autobiographical rendering of his failed engagement. After a couple of years, Regine got engaged to someone else, whom she married in 1847. But as is well known, Kierkegaard never married, and the impact of his engagement to Regine and what it made him understand – about himself, about religion, faith, the inner workings of the philosopher and the poet –, never lost its significance. It is evident from the many drafts of a letter that he sent to Regine, through her husband, in 1849 (which was returned to him, unopened) that he had never lain the matter to rest and that the relationship with Regine was still very much alive. He also states in his Notebook 15 from 1849 “By the way, it is certainly the case that my relationship with her has been a very close, present study for me of what faith is. For I know better in this relationship how it is apparently the exact opposite of the foundational. That I have lasted in this relationship has been useful for me in relating to God as a believer.” In his Notebook 15, also known as My Relationship with Her, from 1849, Kierkegaard describes how, when he finally broke off the engagement and she tried to get him to stay, she had told him “that she would thank me her entire life for being allowed to stay with me, even if she were to live in a little cupboard” (SKS No. 16: 6). Thus, Kierkegaard had a little cupboard made, with no shelves in it. Here, he kept “everything that reminds me of her and will remind me of her. There is also a copy of the pseudonyms (i.e. the works that he wrote under a pseudonym) of these, there were always only two copies on vellum-paper, one for her and one for me.” (SKS: Not. 15:6.). In all, Kierkegaard wrote eight pseudonymous books, Stages on Life’s Way being one of them, all of which were evidently printed in two copies each on vellum-paper and bound in special bindings, one for Regine, one for Kierkegaard himself. This splendid copy, which is one of two specially produced copies, being Kierkegaard’s own copy, with his own correction (deleting “ikke” – i.e. “not” on p. 47), is nr. 2136 in the auction catalogue of Kierkegaard’s books sold after his death. In Rohde’s official edition of the auction catalogue, there is a lengthy note on the present copy documenting the more recent history of the copy:“Now: Mogens Müllertz, Copenhagen. Copy on vellum-paper. S.K.,’s own handwritten correction of the printing error “not” on p. 47, cf Papers XI I, p. 36. The previous owner, the author Henning Kehler, has let the book, which was originally in half calf, rebind in black half calf by Agnete With and has pasted his book plate on the inside of the front board. In 1952, Henning Kehler gave the book as a Christmas present to Mogens Müllertz in an accompanying letter Kehler writes, among other things: “even though the present book is my best and dearest, I still want you to have it. I know of no-one else to whom I would rather dispense with it.” In an article “About printing errors”, Berlingske Aftenavis 9.11.1963, Kehler touches upon this book gift: “Being a writer I am naturally hardened when it comes to printing errors, no book and no newspaper article is without errors. Søren Kierkegaard, who could even pay others – eg. Israel Levin – to proofread mentions in his Papers a printing error in “Stages on Life’s Way”, which kept vexing him. It was a “not” that had fallen out. I once owned a copy of the book that had been placed in the palisander book cabinet for Regine, and in that copy, this “not” had been added in ink and in Kierkegaard’s handwriting. I gave the book to a book-mad collector – under false pretenses, alas.” – Identification of the copy uncertain.” (pp. 110-11).Although Kehler is mistaken in the correction being adding a “not” instead of deleting one, there is no doubt that this is the copy he is referring to. The sentence on p. 47, in which the correction occurs reads “Pro dii immortals what is a woman, when she is not in fashion, per deo obsecro what is she when she is not (this being the “not” that Kierkegaard has deleted here and was vexed about) in fashion”.This copy on very heavy paper – one of the two printed like this – is approximately 1/3 thicker than normal copies of the book.The pencil annotations on the back free end-paper bear witness to the previous owner’s frustration at Kehler for having tampered with the copy. After stating that this is Kierkegaard’s personal copy, one of two on vellum-paper and copy nr. 2136 from the auction catalogue, he continues: “The copy used to have all edges gilt, a few leaves still have remains of this. The edge has been shaved at the ruthless rebinding that Henning Kehler in his complete lack of understanding of what he possessed had done.” On Kehler’s bookplate, the same previous owner has noted in neat pencil-annotation “bibliophile vandal”.In spite of the frustration with this particular book having been rebound and not kept exactly as it was, this is still an utterly amazing copy of one of Kierkegaard’s most important works – hands down the best copy there is of the work. Namely Kierkegaard’s own, with his own correction, one of two printed on heavy paper, one for Regine, one for himself. We must be thankful that, despite the “vandalism” of the rebinding, the book is still here and identified as that same copy that Kierkegaard had made for himself. Himmelstrup 78.
Gjentagelsen. Et Forsøg i den experimenterende Psychologi af Constantin Constantius. - [KIERKEGAARD’S OWN COPY - ONE OF THE TWO COPIES HE HAD MADE FOR REGINE AND FOR HIMSELF]
Kjøbenhavn, Reitzel, 1843. Small 8vo. 157 pp. Splendidly bound in beautiful patterned pink moiré-paper covered with red and green floriated gilt branches. Rebacked in nearly matching paper. Blue silk end-papers. All edges gilt. Printed on thick vellum-paper. A splendid copy with light edgewear and absolutely minimal brownspotting. Contemporary inscription to front fly-leaf stating that this is Kierkegaard’s own copy and that it was bought at the auction after him, April 1856 (presumably in the hand of Herman H.J. Lynge). Housed in a beautiful marbled paper box with red Morocco spine. Spine with gilt lines and gilt gothic lettering stating title, the pseudonymous author name and that this is Kierkegaard’s own copy printed on heavy vellum-paper.
Kierkegaard’s own copy of Repetition, one of the two copies he had printed on special paper and specially bound, one for Regine, one for himself, with a correction in Kierkegaard’s hand. This is as close as one comes to the love story of Regine and Kierkegaard – this is Kierkegaard’s own copy that he kept himself, from the love-set of the two copies of Repetition he had made, where the other was for Regine. One of the two copies of the book that he had made on special paper and bound in this particularly beautiful and romantic binding with gilding and flowers. Kierkegaard had his eight pseudonymous works made like this, one for Regine, one for himself. So far, only four of these have surfaced, Regine’s copies of Repetition, Prefaces, and Either-Or (all three sold at auction in 2002), and Kierkegaard’s own copy of Either-Or (which is in the Danish Royal Library). The other copies are unregistered, and the whereabouts unknown. The present copy is presumably that described merely as “dainty w. gilt edges”, nr. 2125 from the auction catalogue, which Herman H.L. Lynge bought at the auction. The correction is to be found on p. 80, where “legede” (played) has been changed to “levede” (lived). See Pap. IV B99. REPETITION – not only the title of one of his most significant books, but also a key concept in the philosophy of Kierkegaard – was written during the same brief spell of feverish activity that also produced Fear and Trembling the two books were even published on the same day. ”Say what you will, this question will play a very important role in modern philosophy, for repetition is a crucial expression for what “recollection” was to the Greeks. Just as they taught that all knowing is a recollecting, modern philosophy will teach that all life is a repetition.” (Repetition, p. 3 – translation by Hong), Kierkegaard states in the beginning of his treatise, anticipating the importance that his concept of Repetition is to have for modern philosophy. Written in the narrative form of an experimental novel centered on two stories that are internally linked, Kierkegaard lets us understand what Repetition could be and what it is in his philosophy. The first story portrays Repetition as something empty and trivial, whereas the second portrays it as an ethical category that is inextricably linked to religion. Repetition is that which makes it possible for man to become and to remain present in the present. Kierkegaard’s explanation of his key concept of Repetition is exhausted in the present work, but it also plays a significant rôle throughout his later works and is considered one of the key concepts in his philosophy. The work is centered around the story of a young man, who has fallen in love with an innocent young girl to whom he has become engaged. But, finding himself unable to consummate the love because of poetic stirrings inside himself, he tries to understand what is going on inside him and whether or not he should break off the engagement. The elderly Constantin Constantius, one of Kierkegaard’s numerous pseudonyms, interferes with the emotions of our young man and begins to conduct speculative experiments with him that are meant to investigate whether a repetition (of the relationship with the girl, of the young man’s feelings, etc.) might be possible. At the end of the first part, the young man flees Copenhagen and leaves the girl, presumably at her wits’ end. Later, she marries someone else, and the young man transforms into the true poet that he could only be when unattached to the girl he loved. It does not take much of an imagination to link this story to the Kierkegaard’s own wildly famous love story and failed engagement to Regine Olsen. It all begins in 1837, when Kierkegaard meets the lovely young girl Regine Olsen at a visit to the widowed Cathrine Rørdam. Three years later, in September 1840, after having corresponded frequently with her and visited her on numerous occasions, Kierkegaard decides to ask for her hand in marriage. She and her family accept, but the following day, Kierkegaard regrets his decision and ends up finally breaking off the engagement in October 1841. Disregarding the scandal, the heartbreak (his own included), and the numerous pleas from family members and friends alike, Kierkegaard’s tortured soul, still searching for God and for the meaning of faith, cannot continue living with the promise of marriage. Later the same month, he flees Copenhagen and the scandal surrounding the broken engagement. He leaves for Berlin, the first of his four stays there, clearly tortured by his decision, but also intent on not being able to go through with the engagement. As is evident from his posthumously published Papers, Kierkegaard’s only way out of the relationship was to play a charming, but cold, villain, a charlatan, not betraying his inner thoughts and feelings. Despite the brevity of the engagement, it has gone down in history as one of the most significant in the entire history of modern thought. It is a real-life Werther-story with the father of Existentialism as the main character, thus with the dumbfounding existentialist outcome that no-one could have foreseen. This exceedingly famous and difficult engagement became the introduction to one of the most influential authorships in the last two centuries. “She was the reason for my authorship”, Kierkegaard writes in his Papers, and there is no doubt that several of his most significant works are born out of the relationship with Regine – and its ending. It is during his stay in Berlin, his first of four altogether, right after the rupture of the engagement, that he begins writing Either-Or, parts of which, like Repetition, can be read as an almost autobiographical rendering of his failed engagement. Repetition, more than any other work, lets us see how Kierkegaard came to be as an author through his tumultuous inner life during his engagement and the ending of it. After a couple of years, Regine got engaged to someone else, whom she married in 1847. But as is well known, Kierkegaard never married, and the impact of his engagement to Regine and what it made him understand – about himself, about religion, faith, the inner workings of the philosopher and the poet –, never lost its significance. It is evident from the many drafts of a letter that he sent to Regine, through her husband, in 1849 (which was returned to him, unopened) that he had never lain the matter to rest and that the relationship with Regine was still very much alive. He also states in his Notebook 15 from 1849 “By the way, it is certainly the case that my relationship with her has been a very close, present study for me of what faith is. For I know better in this relationship how it is apparently the exact opposite of the foundational. That I have lasted in this relationship has been useful for me in relating to God as a believer.” In his Notebook 15, also known as My Relationship with Her, from 1849, Kierkegaard describes how, when he finally broke off the engagement and she tried to get him to stay, she had told him “that she would thank me her entire life for being allowed to stay with me, even if she were to live in a little cupboard” (SKS No. 16: 6). Thus, Kierkegaard had a little cupboard made, with no shelves in it. Here, he kept “everything that reminds me of her and will remind me of her. There is also a copy of the pseudonyms (i.e. the works that he wrote under a pseudonym)" of these, there were always only two copies on vellum-paper, one for her and one for me.” (SKS: Not. 15:6.). Here we have it – the closest we get to this pivotal love affair from which grew one of the most important philosophical-religious authorships in the Western world. In all, Kierkegaard wrote eight pseudonymous books, Repetition being one of them, all of which were evidently printed in two copies each on vellum-paper and bound in special bindings, one for Regine, one for Kierkegaard himself. 24 years ago, three of these books surfaced, at an auction in 2002, namely Either-Or, Repetiton, and Prefaces, all being the copies Kierkegaard had bound for Regine. Before that, only one single copy of one of these eight titles for Kierkegaard himself or for Regine were known (namely Kierkegaard’s own copy of Either-Or, which is in the Danish Royal Library). Seven of the books, Kierkegaard’s own copies, were listed in the auction catalogue after his death, but apart from the mentioned copy of Either-Or in the Royal Library, the others had not been found. The four known copies are all bound in very particular, beautiful, patterned bindings with flowers and gold, in either pink or white. Like Fear and Trembling, there are no presentation-copies known to exist of Repetition. Himmelstrup 53 The present copy is no. 19 in Girsel's ""Kierkegaard"" (The Catalogue) which can be found here.
