Das Antlitz der Stadte [The Face of the Cities]

Berlin: Tyslander Pres, 1989. Furtwangler, Felix M.. Octavo. (60)pp. One of forty deluxe copies issued with a separate color woodblock print, signed by the artist, Felix M. Furtwangler, both on the colophon and on the print. Furtwangler's disturbing woodcuts, brash in their direct confrontation with violence and raw in their emotion, underscore the desperate pleas for humanity in Armin T. Wegner's verses. An eyewitness to increasing injustices and their eventual peak in the Armenian Genocide, Wegner composed these poems between 1909 and 1913. Though a pacifist, Wegner served in World War I as a nurse, and during that time published the collection. His Berlin publisher was sued, and Wegner himself considered the suit an act of revenge against his calls for justice for the Armenian people and his confrontation with the German-Turkish alliance. His continued distress over the massacre of Armenians led him to eventually write to President Woodrow Wilson and to spend his career demanding recognition for the horrors they endured. The separate color print unfolds into seven panels, across which the viewer experiences the same sort of disorientation, fear, and darkness Wegner communicates in his poetry. A powerful edition, bound in half cloth and decorative paper covers. Print held in a linen chemise. All housed in a slipcase. Some edgewear, else near fine.