The orchids that concern us here are the “sonderbare geschichten”, or strange stories, which comprise Gustav Meyrink’s first story collection from 1905. I’ve not read any of these so can’t vouch for the strangeness quotient but they inspired their illustrator to provide an accompanying collection of head and tail pieces throughout the book, many of which would have been grotesque enough to find a place in Der Orchideengarten magazine a decade later. The illustrator is unfortunately uncredited so if anyone can identify the individual from the monogram (“JT”…?) please leave a comment. The illustrator is Ignatius Taschner. Thanks to Lutz for the identification!
