Copies of the auction catalogues
As a rule, several copies of an auction catalogue are available for an auction of Galerie Hugo Helbing: An unannotated copy or a copy selectively annotated by a mostly unknown hand, and sometimes several annotated hand copies.
As a rule, it is noted on the cover or title page who annotated the copy or who was the addressee of the annotations. The following abbreviations or initials are assigned to persons directly associated with the Galerie Hugo Helbing:
AA | Adolf Alt (1866-1947), authorised signatory of Galerie Hugo Helbing |
Dr. Sp. | Dr. Ernst Spiegel (1878-1953), partner of the Galerie Hugo Helbing |
F. Helbing | Fritz Helbing (1888-1943), partner of the Hugo Helbing Gallery |
HH | Hugo Helbing (1863–1938), founder and owner of the Galerie Hugo Helbing |
MD / Frl. Ducrue | Marie Ducrue (1875-?), comptorist of the Hugo Helbing Gallery |
TN | Theodor Neustätter (1880-1936), partner of the Hugo Helbing Gallery |
All previously digitized copies (annotated and non-annotated) are displayed as hits when searching via the search function.
Example
The example shows one unannotated copy and three differently annotated hand copies. They fulfilled different functions within the course of business. For example, copies that were annotated for Hugo Helbing in his function as auctioneer differ from copies that were annotated by the bookkeeper Marie Ducrue (1875-?). The former usually contain information relevant to the course of an auction (e.g. information on limit prices agreed with the consignors or on bidding orders submitted in advance of the auction), while the latter document only the results of an auction (i.e. names of buyers and hammer prices). This means that the information on auctions or individual lots contained in the various copies often confirms or supplements each other. When researching a specific object, it is therefore strongly recommended to check the annotations in all available copies.
