First Edition of George Grosz's Ecce Homo

George Grosz. ECCE HOMO. Berlin: Der Malik-Verlag, 1923. First edition; "Ausgabe D" (one of five editions). In original pictorial wraps with yapp edges. Small folio; with title page (original?), plate list, 84 b&w offset lithograph reproductions, and final page with colophon and list of editions.

13 7/8 x 10 3/8 in.

Private Collection

Grosz's Ecce Homo is a satirical commentary on life in Germany following World War I. Like other artists associated with the Dada movement, he was extremely anti-war, and despite serving in the army for a time, he spent most of the war and many years after creating art that reflected his feelings on war and the social and political corruption he witnessed in German society. Many of his drawings were published in portfolios, and those included in Ecce Homo were considered especially controversial. Two dozen plates were confiscated from the unsold copies of the book, it was censored by the German government, and Grosz was put on trial and fined 6,000 marks. This, along with other Malik-Verlag titles, were included in the Nazi book burning of May 10, 1933 (MoMA, Malik-Verlag, Berlin). As Grosz himself notes in his autobiography, reflecting on publications including Ecce Homo, "I was known...as the merciless critic of the German bourgeoisie and of German bureaucracy" (The Autobiography of George Grosz: A Small Yes & A Big No, 1982, p. 183).

Wraps with staining, foxing, edge wear including losses at yapp edges, toning at edges and spine, and taped corner repair; spine with tears and end losses, and separation from text block; title page and plates 39 and 40 detached; several leaves including two plates with chips and tears; interior toned with occasional foxing, spotting, and soiling. A good copy of this important book.