Signed, Erich Kästner - In Probepackung - 1957

A beautiful miniature book from the Hyperion Library is up for auction.

The book has the following features:
- Size: 6.5 x 9.5 cm
- First edition, 123 pages, 1957
- Cover made of embossed faux leather with a drawing by Werner Bürger
- Original autograph by Erich Kästner
- Condition: Good condition with minimal storage marks and signs of use
- First edition: Wilpert-Gühring II 59

The book “Probepackung” (published in 1957 by Hyperion-Verlag) is not a novel, but a carefully curated volume of poetry. The title says it all: it is a “sampling” of Erich Kästner’s lyric output.

The volume gathers a small selection of Kästner's most famous poems from the Weimar Republic era (ca. 1928–1933). They originate from his groundbreaking works such as 'Herz auf Taille', 'Lärm im Spiegel' or 'Gesang zwischen den Stühlen'.
Themes: The poems deal with the everyday life of the “little man,” the loneliness of the big city Berlin, failed romantic relationships (as in the famous “Sachliche Romanze”) and sharp sociopolitical critique.

That this volume happened to be published in 1957 is no coincidence:
1957 was a pivotal year for Kästner — he received that year the prestigious Georg-Büchner-Preis, the most important literary award in the German-speaking world.

The humorously named 'Sample Pack'—a small collection of texts—served to make his work accessible again to a broad audience after years of censorship and a ban on writing under the Nazis.