DER GESANGVEREIN BRÜLLARIA UND SEIN STIFTUNGSFEST [The Choral Society of the Howlers and Its Founders Day]

München [Munich]: Friederich Adolf Ackermann, 1893. Very good.. First edition of a stunning large picture book chronicling a festival and concert put on by Grandville-style humanized animals. Best known for his collections of fairy tales and folk tales, Bechstein's considerable artistic skills have been largely under-appreciated in the 21st century. The influence of Grandville is evident in his style, as is that of his naturalist uncle Johann Matthäus Bechstein. This copy bears the ownership marks of Professor J. Henry Senger, a professor of German at the University of California, Berkeley in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was an associate of John Muir, and one of the founding members of the Sierra Club. 12.25'' x 15.5''. Original green publisher's cloth binding with large color pictorial paste-on and gilt stamped titles. Fore-edges red and gilt gauffered. Color pictorial endpapers of a variety of songbirds. 15 full-page color illustrations with black-and-white illustrations throughout. [68] pages. Ink owner's name to verso of front flyleaf, dated "[18]94." 19th century bookplate of J. Henry Senger to verso of front flyleaf. Paste-on uniformly toned; corners and spine ends lightly bumped, with some loss repaired at spine foot. Occasional small closed tears to margins. A bright copy.