Hanns Heinz Ewers (1871–1943)

Description from the publisher:

Kokain - The Modern Revue was a magazine produced in Vienna and ran for five issues during 1925. Original copies are so rare that it scarcely appears in any of the literature relating to the Weimar period and its contents have remained almost entirely ignored and certainly untranslated. Until now.

Each 80pp magazine is printed in full colour in a similar format and layout to the original editions, bound in sewn sections as a paperback with french flap covers. All five issues are housed in a handsome slipcase.

Ably translated by Joe E. Bandel, Kokain includes works by such well-known names as Hanns Heinz Ewers (1871-1943) (including two hitherto unrecognised pieces contributed under pseudonyms), Karl Hans Strobl (1877-1946) author and editor of Der Orchideengarten- the worlds first fantasy magazine, the Russian expressionist Leonid Andreyev (1871–1919), Paul Leppin (1878-1945) ‘the German-Bohemian Baudelaire’ and Joseph Roth (1894-1939) author of The Radetzky March. Among its other contents are various tales by now largely forgotten authors some of which included scenes of sex and violence (such as an anonymously authored lesbian spy serial) that pushed at the boundaries of decency and ultimately resulted in prosecutions and bans. These legal issues, and acrimony between the journals publisher Fritz Bauer and its artistic editor Stefan Eggeler resulted in the journals collapse within tenth months of its debut issue.

Originally, the fourth issue of Kokain was a re-issue of the third which had been prosecuted for both its written and artistic content but rather than reprint that issue twice, it has instead been devoted to Kokains artistic director Stefan Eggeler (1895-1970).

CONTENTS LISTING FOR ISSUE ONE
* INTRODUCTION * HANNS HEINZ EWERS: The Glowing Man * KURT MÜNZER: A Twisted Life * EDWARD STILGEBAUER: The Much Beloved * HARRY BAUER: Nights at the North Pole * MARTIN KELETI: The Birthday * F. O. HALLENER: Dancers On The Stage * A VIENNESE MARRIAGE PROPOSAL * A MARRIAGE LITANY * JOSEPH ROTH: The Peddler * KARL HANS STROBL: The Saviour from the Gallows * FRITZ BAUER: Love * A BAD PREMONITION * STEFAN EGGELER: Amine, a story in six pictures * ANON: From the Papers of An Extraordinary Woman

CONTENTS LISTING FOR ISSUE TWO
* OTTO SOYKA: We Were Five * HANNS HEINZ EWERS: A Novel In Four Chapters * FROM THE BOOK “MORITURI”: Revenge * EDUARD WEBER: Makaland (Experiences in Africa) * FRITZ BAUER: The Inspired Poet * WALTER JENSEN: The Free Poet * KURT MÜNZER:The Woman In The Window * HANS GERHARD SCHULTZ: How Many Kisses Did I Give You * LEONID ANDREYEV: The Lie * HANS LEIP: The Patron * OSSIAN ELGSTRÖM: Frozen * WALTER JENSEN: Greasy Little Sabine * STEFAN EGGELER: The Hanged Man, The Wench, Lady With Dog, 3 original lithographs * REFIK CHALID BEY: Once In A Year * GEORG HIRSCHFELD: The Wonder Of Oberpurzelsheim * UGOO JETTI: The Heart Line * PAUL LEPPIN: Letter Writing For Lovers * THE AMERICAN WOMAN * ANON: From the Papers of An Extraordinary Woman

CONTENTS LISTING FOR ISSUE THREE
* STEFAN EGGELER: Dearest, Dearest Model * VILLIERS DE L’ISLE-ADAM: The Secret of the Scaffold * HANNS BENZMANN: Chopin’s Waltz in A-Minor * ERWIN STRANIK: In the Cellar Hole * HANS BENZMANN: The Island of Paradise * RESA SEMLER [HANNS HEINZ EWERS]: The Triumph of Woman * LEO HELLER: Courtesy Visit * VLAS DOROSCHEVICH: The Dancer * ERICH EFFLER: Just One Night * J. JOSEPH-RENARD: The Limping Ghost * BRUNO CORRA: Three Sinners * MAX STEBICH: The Yellow Cat * MARIA SZUCHICH: The Subconscious * STEFAN EGGELER: The Serenade, 6 drawings * ANON: From the Papers of An Extraordinary Woman * FRITZ BAUER: The Prosecutor * ERWIN STRANIK: What is Art & what is Pornography? * THE EDITOR’S REPLIES

CONTENTS LISTING FOR ISSUE FOUR:
* JOHN HIRSCHHORN-SMITH: Introduction * JOHN HIRSCHHORN-SMITH: The Shadowy World of Stefan Eggeler * FIONA PICCOLO: “A Certain Fantastical Verisimilitude.” The Life and Art of the Elusive Stefan Eggeler * JOHN HIRSCHHORN-SMITH: Stefan Eggeler; A Bibliography * NOTES ON THE CONTRIBUTORS

CONTENTS LISTING FOR ISSUE FIVE
* ARTHUR ZAPP: The Dream of the Frӓulein Doctor * WALTER JENSEN: My Boy * PAUL ROMAIN [HANNS HEINZ EWERS]: Indian Summer Night Magic * CARL JULIUS HAIDVOGEL: Zischek, the Poet * KURT MÜNZER:Sleeping Girl * ELFRIEDE JESSEN: The Bath * ARTHUR SCHNITZLER: The Veil of Pierrette * STEFAN EGGELER: 6 etchings for “The Veil of Pierrette” * VICTOR SCHERF: The Heart of Daisy BeauvKARL KREISLER: Movie * OTTO HIPP: The Twitching Heart * PETER HUBERT BECKER: Mystical Episodes * ALFRED EDUARD FRAUENFELD: Fear * GRETE DAVID: Dance of the Elderly * EDUARD SAS: The Shepherd Hour * GR. BOZOVIC: The Monk and the Woman * V. DYK: Jan Bilek * WALTER JENSEN: Holy Order.
Shipping & Returns… (more)

Sort of a Decadent version of the Frankenstein story. Somewhat ignored or even despised because of Ewers Nazi affiliation (the Nazi's later proscribed it).

Where Frankenstein's monster is a thing of ugliness Alraune is a thing of delicate beauty but who because of her Genesis ends up as sort of the ultimate femme fatale. She's the product of a hanged murderer's seed at the crossroads and a prostitute. It all has to do with folklore surrounding mandrake roots, something that crops up in other fairytales and folklore.

In a sense she doesn't deserve her reputation, it's kind of her fate, but she is still largely a negative/evil character that Ewers manages to effectively bathe in tragic sympathy. Her decadence as an adult actually merely reflects the pernicious nature of those around her; she's like a mirror for everyone else's sins. As a child she is simply a demon, but a somewhat helpless one. She never does anything per se but most people feel eerily compelled to do what she "suggests" with the same results. She's just bad news if she doesn't take a liking to you, and sometimes even if she does.

Her torrid love affair with her "cousin" Frank Braun, who actually came up with the "idea" of Alraune, is the climax of the narrative and their more than passionate love/hate relationship sets the stage for the endgame. She unwittingly becomes literally the blood sucking vampire of her nature even as she sleepwalks to her own fate.

Pretty good stuff. I really got into it and couldn't put it down eventually. Ewers was, on top of everything else, trying to be shocking for his time, there is nudity, fornication (although tame by today's standards), incest, necrophilia, murder, and all other sorts of Decadent fun. It comes off as pretty tame today, but in context would have been quite nasty. A brown paper wrapper sort of thing.

This edition has some fantastic historical illustrations that add nicely to that fin de siecle feel.… (more)