Walther Gasch (Leipzig 1886-1962 Nentershausen-Dens)

"Yggdrasil. Weltallmythos": Welt=Schöpfung in Sinn=Bildern. Die Geburt des Lichtes und der Finsternis.... ["Yggdrasil. Universe myth ": World = creation in meaning = images. The birth of light and darkness ....]

1924

illustrated manuscript with drawing and calligraphy:

8 unnumbered sheets consisting of 6 colored calligraphic sheets and two text sheets written on both sides.  Folio.  Stapled in a cardboard cover of the time.

on the first page, monogrammed, dated 1924, and inscribed: "Der Schlüssel zu meinem gesamten Lebenswerk" ["The key to my entire life's work"] 

"Numerous cultures have resorted to trees for their myths and legends and used them symbolically for their ideas. In Nordic-Germanic mythology, Yggdrasil is the evergreen world ash tree that represents the entire universe. The symbolist artist Walther Gasch, standing in the tradition of Jacob Böhme, dealt intensively with the creation myth for decades. Gasch's work culminates in this highly complex manuscript of the mystical world concept, which the artist describes on the first page as 'the key to my entire life's work.' The two sheets of text provide a detailed description of the age of the original myth in several stages up to the New Age, with numerous corrections and annotations in pencil."  B  (English translation by Jack Daulton)

In the "tradition of late medieval manuscripts with fleuronné initials."  B