Abenteuer Prinzen Achmed, First Edition (3 results)

Paperback. Condition: Good. First edition. Berlin: Erenest Wasmuth, 1926. Original portfolio. Full set of 32 plates and 4 pages of text. Good+ with tissue guards in tact, tissue a bit tattered at edges, plates are in excellent condition. Only bottom folder piece remaining. Rare and important. hailed as the first full-length animation film in the history of cinema, this is also pioneering animator Lotte Reiniger's most extraordinary work. Reiniger developed a highly sophisticated silhouette animation technique inspired by Chinese shadow theatre. As a child, Reiniger loved reading fairytales and fell in love with puppetry. At school, she learned about paperschnitte, or papercuts, which helped her create her signature style of silhouettes, which art form was vigorously renewed by her work. Intricate hand-cut silhouettes were combined with shimmering backgrounds created with wax and sand set on back lit glass. Colour-tinting further enhanced the luminous effect. The story from the Arabian Nights allows full rein for Reiniger's elaborate and ingenious work - magical-flying horse, wicked sorcerer, djinns, ogres, monsters and wonderous kingdoms abound The Adventures of Prince Achmed was shown in theatres all over the world including Berlin, France, London, New York, and Tokyo, and was always met with many positive reviews (World Cat).

Softcover. Condition: vg- to near fine. First edition. Oblong quarto. 9 1/2 x 11 1/4". Illustrated tan and black paper portfolio. 7-page text booklet + 32 plates. This lovely portfolio contains a collection of 32 loose plates of still images from the Lotte Reiniger's groundbreaking and influential animated film The Adventures of Prince Ahmed (1926). These gorgeous images are all finely printed in b/w photogravure and show astonishing images composed for this "silhouette film", including many of the the film most iconic images. Each plates is numbered, measures 11 1/4 x 9 1/4", and is protected with a tissue guard. The plates are accompanied by a seven-page text booklet containing the plot of the film and a list of plates. Released in 1926, the film was among the first (and currently earliest surviving) feature-length animated films, and was pioneering in its epic scope, imagination and groundbreaking techniques. Utilizing the form of silhouette animation which she herself pioneered, director Lotte Reiniger and her team, devised the first predecessor to the now traditional multi-plane camera used in animation, to bring to life fantastical scenes and magical lands. The plot of the film was a pastiche of various tales from The Arabian Nights. Reiniger was at the helm of a group of talented cinematic collaborators which included co-director and cinematographer Carl Koch (her husband), animator Berthold Bartosch and animator and experimental film pioneer Walter Ruttman, among others. Text in German. Portfolio with some light rubbing, cracking, and minor chipping to extremities. Interior hinges and flaps reinforced with japan tissue. Age toning to the front cover of the text booklet, and tissue guards. All plates clean and vibrant, except for #12 with some light staining along the bottom margin of the plate, not affecting the image, #29 with a faint vertical stain in the in the lower part of the image (the only image with any staining), and #32 with minor foxing to the top and left margins. Portfolio in very good, plates in very good- to near fine condition overall. This portfolio of plates is rare to find in very clean condition. Portfolio and stack of plates protected in modern mylar. This set of plates was reprinted in 1972, 1974 and 1995, all of which were bound volumes. It has never been reissued in the form of loose plates.

Softcover. Condition: Befriedigend. Erste Ausgabe. 4 Blatt, 32 Tafeln. Etwas größere querformatige Orig.-Flügelmappe. Mit "Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed" schuf Lotte Reininger 1923-26 mit ihren Scherenschnitten den ersten abendfüllenden (66 min.) Animationsfilm der Filmgeschichte: Der Silhouettenfilm basiert auf Motiven aus "1001 Nacht" und erzählt von der abenteuerlichen Reise des Prinzen Achmed, die am Hofe des großen Kalifen beginnt. Da für eine Filmsekunde 24 Einzelbilder gebraucht werden, wurden etwa 250.000 Einzelbilder aufgenommen, wovon ca. 100.000 für den Film Verwendung fanden. "Zu Recht wird Lotte Reiniger (1899-1981) immer wieder als Pionierin des Films bezeichnet, und das nicht nur, weil ihr Silhouettenfilm "Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed" (1926) der erste noch erhaltene abendfüllende Trickfilm ist. Mit wachen Augen und scharfer Schere erkundete Reiniger die Möglichkeiten des Scherenschnitts und trug mit ihren zahlreichen Arbeiten maßgeblich dazu bei, diesem als künstlerisches Medium Anerkennung zu verschaffen" (J. Benner). Rössler: Filmfieber, S. 172. Die Mappe etwas angestaubt und der Vorderdeckel fleckig. Das Rückengelenk mit größerem Einriß und die schützenden Transparentpapiere der Tafeln verknittert. Trotz dieser Gebrauchsspuren handelt es sich um ein noch ordentliches, vollständiges Exemplar der seltenen Veröffentlichung.