![WORLD WAR II. [The Camp Almanac 1940-1941, no. 13-14], Hutchinson Internment Camp, Douglas, Isle of Man: [December 1940].](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2018/CKS/2018_CKS_16018_0089_001(world_war_ii_the_camp_almanac_1940-1941_no_13-14_hutchinson_internment062834).jpg?w=1)
![WORLD WAR II. [The Camp Almanac 1940-1941, no. 13-14], Hutchinson Internment Camp, Douglas, Isle of Man: [December 1940].](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2018/CKS/2018_CKS_16018_0089_002(world_war_ii_the_camp_almanac_1940-1941_no_13-14_hutchinson_internment062834).jpg?w=1)
![WORLD WAR II. [The Camp Almanac 1940-1941, no. 13-14], Hutchinson Internment Camp, Douglas, Isle of Man: [December 1940].](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2018/CKS/2018_CKS_16018_0089_003(world_war_ii_the_camp_almanac_1940-1941_no_13-14_hutchinson_internment062834).jpg?w=1)
![WORLD WAR II. [The Camp Almanac 1940-1941, no. 13-14], Hutchinson Internment Camp, Douglas, Isle of Man: [December 1940].](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2018/CKS/2018_CKS_16018_0089_000(world_war_ii_the_camp_almanac_1940-1941_no_13-14_hutchinson_internment062834).jpg?w=1)
Details
WORLD WAR II. [The Camp Almanac 1940-1941, no. 13-14], Hutchinson Internment Camp, Douglas, Isle of Man: [December 1940].
27 mimeographed pages, 335 x 210mm, including a title-page with decorative zodiac frame, 15 full-page illustrations, and written works, these often featuring smaller illustrations, mostly hand-coloured in pencil and crayon, all works contributed by the internees and often signed and inscribed in pen and pencil to Siegfried Oppenheimer by their authors, 28 and 29 December 1940 (lacking 12 pages, two full-page illustrations present in duplicate, some tattering and staining at page edges). Loose in wrappers with an ‘HC’ monogram (worn). [With, tipped in:] two original crayon drawings initialled by E.M. Blensdorf and dated 1940, laid down onto pages with signed presentation inscriptions, 29 December 1940, and five further works [And:] two related letters from E.M. Blensdorf and Maryan Rawicz.
A special presentation copy of the December 1940 newsletter produced by the internees at Hutchinson Internment Camp, with most pages hand-finished and signed by contributors including the artists Kurt Schwitters and Fred Uhlman as a gift to their fellow internee, Siegfried Oppenheimer. In July 1940, 33 houses around Hutchinson Square in Douglas on the Isle of Man became home to 415 internees: almost all were German and Austrian, and the majority were Jewish and political refugees. Known as ‘the artist’s camp’ for the high proportion of talented painters, draughtsmen, writers and musicians fleeing the Third Reich held there, the population at Hutchinson rose rapidly to 1,205 the same month it opened, before beginning to dwindle almost as quickly as internees who posed no threat to Britain were released. Nevertheless, the strong artistic community that came to define the camp rapidly began to thrive, with an art exhibition held within the opening month and pieces sold between the internees, many of whom continued to pursue their passions within the constraints of camp life. The Camp newsletter included artworks, illustrations, cartoons and articles on camp life and the world outside; the present edition features contributions from the Dada artist Kurt Schwitters, who fled from Norway to Britain in 1940 (a portrait, ‘Internee’, signed and inscribed), Fred Uhlman (two camp views, both signed, one inscribed), the historian Heinrich Fraenkel, and the architect Bruno Ahrends (an essay on post-war reconstruction of seaside resorts, signed). It was Oppenheimer, an art dealer, who convinced the camp authorities to provide the painters and sculptors in the camp with artistic materials, perhaps inspiring the present gift.
Signed and inscribed by: Michael Corvin (28 December 1940), Fritz Kramer (29 December 1940), Kurt Schwitters (29 December 1940), Paul Hamann, ‘D.O.L’ (28 December 1940), E.M. Blensdorf (1940), Fred Uhlman, Bruno Ahrends (29 December [19]40); signed by: Fred Uhlman, Erich Kahn (n.d. and 29 December 1940), Michael Corvin, F. Solomonski, W. Simmel, Ernst Schwitters-Guldahl, Bruno Ahrends, Paul Hamann, E.M. Blensdorf and others.
27 mimeographed pages, 335 x 210mm, including a title-page with decorative zodiac frame, 15 full-page illustrations, and written works, these often featuring smaller illustrations, mostly hand-coloured in pencil and crayon, all works contributed by the internees and often signed and inscribed in pen and pencil to Siegfried Oppenheimer by their authors, 28 and 29 December 1940 (lacking 12 pages, two full-page illustrations present in duplicate, some tattering and staining at page edges). Loose in wrappers with an ‘HC’ monogram (worn). [With, tipped in:] two original crayon drawings initialled by E.M. Blensdorf and dated 1940, laid down onto pages with signed presentation inscriptions, 29 December 1940, and five further works [And:] two related letters from E.M. Blensdorf and Maryan Rawicz.
A special presentation copy of the December 1940 newsletter produced by the internees at Hutchinson Internment Camp, with most pages hand-finished and signed by contributors including the artists Kurt Schwitters and Fred Uhlman as a gift to their fellow internee, Siegfried Oppenheimer. In July 1940, 33 houses around Hutchinson Square in Douglas on the Isle of Man became home to 415 internees: almost all were German and Austrian, and the majority were Jewish and political refugees. Known as ‘the artist’s camp’ for the high proportion of talented painters, draughtsmen, writers and musicians fleeing the Third Reich held there, the population at Hutchinson rose rapidly to 1,205 the same month it opened, before beginning to dwindle almost as quickly as internees who posed no threat to Britain were released. Nevertheless, the strong artistic community that came to define the camp rapidly began to thrive, with an art exhibition held within the opening month and pieces sold between the internees, many of whom continued to pursue their passions within the constraints of camp life. The Camp newsletter included artworks, illustrations, cartoons and articles on camp life and the world outside; the present edition features contributions from the Dada artist Kurt Schwitters, who fled from Norway to Britain in 1940 (a portrait, ‘Internee’, signed and inscribed), Fred Uhlman (two camp views, both signed, one inscribed), the historian Heinrich Fraenkel, and the architect Bruno Ahrends (an essay on post-war reconstruction of seaside resorts, signed). It was Oppenheimer, an art dealer, who convinced the camp authorities to provide the painters and sculptors in the camp with artistic materials, perhaps inspiring the present gift.
Signed and inscribed by: Michael Corvin (28 December 1940), Fritz Kramer (29 December 1940), Kurt Schwitters (29 December 1940), Paul Hamann, ‘D.O.L’ (28 December 1940), E.M. Blensdorf (1940), Fred Uhlman, Bruno Ahrends (29 December [19]40); signed by: Fred Uhlman, Erich Kahn (n.d. and 29 December 1940), Michael Corvin, F. Solomonski, W. Simmel, Ernst Schwitters-Guldahl, Bruno Ahrends, Paul Hamann, E.M. Blensdorf and others.
Brought to you by
Robert Tyrwhitt