July 6, 2009

The World's First Fantasy Magazine - Der Orchideengarten

This post now resides on my other site 50 Watts:

29 comments:

  1. --I can't believe the magnitude of my mania for weird books--

    You can't?!!

    Heh. And we are all thankful for it. A few of these (the first few especially) would be hard to date if seen alone and out of context. Twistedly innovative. Just how I like my ... visual delights.

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  2. Thanks peacay.

    I didn't put them in order of issue date so I could load my favorites at the top. (My favorite happens to be the first issue.)

    Someone in Chicago is selling a bound set of 24 issues for $6000 -- now that is f*cking crazy. Luckily I will never have that kind of money.

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  3. Many thanks for posting these. As you know, I've been eager to see more of this stuff having being tantalised for years by Rottensteiner's book.

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  4. John, this post is more for you than anyone.

    That reminds me, any questions for Rottensteiner? He's providing a lot of info on international sf/fantasy, including the story behind Seabury Press (early publisher of Lem in English). He was actually Lem's international rights agent from the 70s to about 1995.

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  5. Thanks as always. If I had any visual skills at all I'd be envious. Instead I just let my jaw drop.

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  6. This is wonderful! Thank you for sharing :D

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  7. You may want contact the ZVAB - I found many of my Orchideengarten-Issues there (it's a kind of central site for nearly all appropriate / antiquarian german & austrian bookstores)

    Greetings form Hamburg, Germany

    Lars

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  8. Stupid me: http://www.zvab.com

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  9. I just found your blog and I love it! I would give my eye teeth to see even one of these pulp mags in person. The covers alone are fabulous! Now I'm hooked.

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  10. No-one does weird like the German(ophone)s :D

    I think it must be a German/Austrian/ Swiss endeavour.
    The Publishers are called 'Three Lands Press' and list cities in each of the countries.

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  11. I found your post via Morbid Anatomy. I am blown away. These are amazing. Please post more!

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  12. GREAT post. I'm a bit of a history buff. I even run a small history blog, The Great Geek Manual. (http://www.thegreatgeekmanual.com/blog/)

    Does there happen to be a more specific date on that first issue? I'd love to know the month it was released. Write me at Pipedreamergrey@thegreatgeekmanual.com

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  13. thanks for all the comments.

    That first issue is from January 1919.

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  14. Thanks for aking me discover this great magazine.
    Is the title "Der Orchideengarten" a reference to Octave Mirbeau's "Jardin des Supplices"?

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  15. Hi there,
    I really enjoyed your post. I wrote a book about one of the authors of "Orchideengarten": Alexander Moritz Frey, probably listed as AM Frey. Could you maybe confirm the titles of the stories Frey published in "Orchideengarten"?

    ABOUT MY BOOK:
    "The phantastic rebel", a book about the forgotten satirical writer Alexander Moritz Frey who was in a platoon with Adolf Hitler during WWI.

    "Hitler's years in the German army during World War I have long been a mystery due to the lack of eyewitness accounts. Now a memoir written by a forgotten German author of fantastic literature has been rediscovered -- and sheds new light on the Führer." -> English review with some excerpts at Spiegel Online: http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,478359,00.html

    I'm also hosting a MySpace for Frey: http://www.myspace.com/amfrey

    Find me at www.popmoderne.de

    Cheers from Berlin,
    Stefan

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  16. these are wonderful! does any one know if they ever got reissued in book format, i don't have $6000 to blow on the original sets. thanks.
    angus
    oh and by the way will, i just stumbled across your blog page and greatly enjoying myself. keep up the good work.

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  17. Thanks Angus. I'm fairly sure these have never been reprinted as I've been digging and haven't seen one.

    You can still find issues in the $15 to $50 range from German dealers. The $6000 price tag is probably inflated because the person is selling a collection, presumably a lot harder to find than any one issue.

    Will

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  18. Hello together!
    This is really an amazing blog, thank you!
    I´m a collector of german weird fiction (esp. 1900-1930)and a lucky owner of all original (unbounded!)Orchideengarten-magazines that I found some years ago as a complete collection for a "very special price".

    Greetings, Peter

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  19. Peter, I would love to hear from you directly -- my email address is ajourneyroundmyskull@gmail.com

    I'm mainly interested in learning how many issues I'm missing.

    Thanks for writing,
    Will

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  20. "der Orchideengarten" is available on my Website www.idesetautres.be

    Bernard GOORDEN

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  21. Incredible, perhaps I'm too sheltered but I have never seen anything like this.

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  22. Hi everyone, I have had a bound copy of the first 18 hefts of Orchideengarten and have loved it for its illustrations and the advertisements foolishly not reading the stories (my German is not very good) Sadly it has been bound without those spectacular covers. I know it came from Germany. I have never until now realised that it had historic significance. Can anyone out there put a value on it? Im not really sure that I want to sell it but just curious.

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  23. Love the artwork on this site maybe you will like www.philipcharlesparker.com

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  24. Hi Phil,
    it´s different to put a value on it. I think, without the covers you will reach 30-40% of the price of the complete issue, although the first 18 issues are very rare. So we talk about max. 400-500€. But, of course, the prices have a great range at the moment. I wouldn´t sell my issues at the moment, although i have two of all three volumes(one bound and one original).
    Greetings,
    Peter

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  25. Thank you for the information Peter. I think I'll keep them for now and improve my German!
    Phil

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  26. Hi,
    Can you help? I am looking for images by Alfred Ehlers for Der Orchideengarten?
    Best regards,
    Duane

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  27. Duane, when I have a chance I'll go through the books and see if there any images by Ehlers in the issues I own. It might take a couple days.

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