A unique collection of 87 paintings, sketches, musical compositions, poems, stories and vignettes by some of the most celebrated artists, writers and musicians of 1920s Vienna, including Arnold Schoenberg, Richard Strauss, Béla Bartók, Oskar Kokoschka, Arthur Schnitzler, Karel Capek and Stefan Zweig, will go on sale at Sotheby’s on Tuesday 11 June.

The time capsule known as the ‘Box of Delights’ was originally put together in 1924 as a fiftieth birthday gift to David Bach, a Viennese publisher and founder of the “Workers’ Concerts”. In some ways, this was an Austrian equivalent to the British Proms, which for the first time made the finest music available to all, regardless of class or social status. Bach was a remarkable man; he united the artistic community of Vienna with his passionate belief that art and education belonged to everyone.

Eighty years on, in 2004, the Box was a gift again, this time presented to Gonville & Caius College by Caius alumnus Dr Philip Marriott (1965) who inherited it from his adoptive father, David Bach’s nephew, Herbert Bach. It was Dr Marriott’s wish that these beautiful works, would receive the care and attention they deserve.

At Dr Marriott’s request, the proceeds will be used to help the College and his old school to provide outstanding educational opportunities for future generations of students. This will honour David Bach’s belief that art and education should be made available as widely as possible.

The Sotheby’s catalogue, now available online, describes the collection as “not merely a remarkable collection of autograph manuscripts, but a fully thought-out artistic ensemble, in a striking presentation case designed by the founding member of the Wiener Werkstätte, Josef Hoffmann himself.”