Allemagne

1896 · ABC_48884 — Colophon: Amsterdam 1896. Large folio ca. 51 x 33 cm. Calligrafie und Druck von Johan. K. Koning Contemporary gold-tooled burgundy leather the front board with a large gold-stamped monogram as a centrepiece the intertwined initials of the couple: AJ and EdR with the date "24-26 August" above and the year "1896" below lettered in gold both boards show a single fillet frame along the outer edges gold-tooled turn-ins beige watered silk endleaves. Wedding album comprising five manuscript texts of occasional plays 4 in German 1 in Dutch written in a neat cursive in blank ink on thick laid paper each illuminated with a 4-line decorated initial in red blue and white on a gold/bronze field richly decorated with penwork in black ink extending down into the inner margin. Each text is preceded by a letterpress title leaf set in neo-Gothic type also used for the general title several text leaves and the colophon. Further with 1 gouache illustration on grey paper sheet size ca. 32 x 24.5 cm mounted on the first leaf showing a bouquet of flowers 14 printed ephemera relating to the "Polterabend" wedding-eve party and the wedding on single or double leaves in various sizes the wedding announcement/introduction to the wedding-eve party and attached is a photo of the couple in a circular frame of red wax 5 menu cards the lyrics to 6 German songs a musical score by the German composer Wilhelm Aletter 1867-1934 and an announcement of the comic opera Des Teufels Antheil by the French composer Daniel Auber 1782-1871 performed by the Frankfurter Opernhaus on 25 August 1896 in Frankfurt am Main. Also with two manuscript wedding speeches in German written in black ink on paper two mounted albumen prints the first showing two actors dressed as a Frisian farmer and his wife and the other showing a man in Chinese dress 56 large ornamental vignettes printed in red or blue throughout 17 ornamental tailpieces printed in black blue and red and some dried flowers mounted on several leaves. 60 ll. A sumptuously executed wedding album presented to the Dutch groom August Janssen 1865-1918 and his bride Ella de Ridder 1877-1951 produced in honour of their wedding celebrations which took place on 24-26 August 1896 in Frankfurt am Main Germany. Most of the album concerns their "Polterabend" the wedding-eve party similar to present-day bachelor-/bachelorette parties except for the bride and groom joining together in the festivities. The main event now associated with a Polterabend is the smashing of porcelain by the wedding guests in order to bring luck to the couple's marriage but in general the evening is filled with plays and songs written and performed for the couple by their family and friends.A few performing actors were members of the Janssen-family a Dutch business family who had amassed their fortune with the tobacco cultivation in the former Dutch East Indies. They were also known for their generosity and philanthropic activities in the Netherlands. At the head of this family was the German-Dutch merchant Peter Wilhelm Janssen 1821-1903 one of the founders of the Deli Maatschappij in Sumatra and father of the groom who was his second son. His eldest son Christian Wilhelm Janssen 1860-1927 was married to Susanna Dorothea Anna Rehbock 1862-1933. Her brother the Dutch merchant Heinrich Carl Rehbock 1865-1938 was married to Caroline Janssen 1871-1951 one of the five daughters of Peter Wilhelm Janssen. Among the other actors were the brother of the bride Gustave von Ridder 1874-1956 the German playwright Hermann Otto Rudolf Presber 1868-1935 the German lawyer Paul Roediger 1859-1938 and his Dutch wife Julie Louise Charlotte Elink Schuurman 1875-1961 the sisters Anna Maria Humser 1876-1974 and Elisabeth Else Humser 1872-1967 daughters of the German lawyer and politician Gustav Adolph Humser 1836-1918 who was chairman of the Frankfurt city council at the time of the wedding celebration.The groom August Janssen 1864-1918 started his business career at trade offices in Bremen and London. He subsequently left for the former Dutch East Indies where he founded several enterprises. His wealth enabled him to engage in philanthropic activities. For example the municipality of Baarn benefited from his generosity he erected two public swimming pools there at his own expense. The bride Ella Elisabeth de Ridder 1877-1951 was the only daughter of the Belgian-German merchant August Cornelius de Ridder 1837-1911 known for his distinguished art collection of mainly Dutch and Flemish paintings of the 17th century which he built at his house at Kronberg near Frankfurt am Main. The famous Anglo-Hungarian artist Philip Alexius de László 1869-1937 painted Ella’s portrait in 1903 in Baarn at the house of Hendrik Cornelis van den Honert 1854-1916 the successor of Peter Wilhelm Janssen as director of the Deli Maatschappij in 1898. De László had also painted her mother Johanna Elisabethe Louise May 1853-1942 around 1898 and two of her children in 1908.A unique wedding album of two members of prominent German-Dutch business families written and printed in 1896 as a special single copy publication. The album was produced in Amsterdam by Johan K. Koning who took care of the calligraphy of the texts and the printing of the divisonal titles explanatory leaves and vignettes.The spine and edges and corners of the boards show signs of wear with some minor loss of material at the foot of the sipne and the tips of the corners of the boards the leather is somewhat faded adn scratched all without affecting the general clarity of the tooling or the integrity of the binding. The watered silk on the first free flyleaf is torn some offsetting to the blank versos of the leaves and some glue residue on the leaves with dried flowers. Otherwise in good condition. hardcover