FINE BOOKS
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2015
KONSTANTINOPEL
RARE & FINE BOOKS
NO. 125
KONSTANTINOPEL
R. A. van den Graven
Kortenaerstraat 17
7513 AC
Enschede The Netherlands
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rare & fine books
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MANUSCRIPTS BEFORE 1500
MEDIEVAL VELLUM LEGAL DOCUMENT
1. [CHIROGRAPH]. 1343 Southern France. Vellum approx. 69 x 33 cm. In Latin.
£ 1250
From roughly the ninth century on, chirographs were used as a mean of documenting an agreement between two
parties, with each part remaining a copy. One copy would be given to each party and the document would be
verified by bringing the copies together. Thus most only one of the original copies has come down to us, it is very
rare to find the two still together as in this example.
2A. [COMPENDIUM] Monastic Devotional Compendium, containing an Antiphonal for the whole liturgical
year, a Hymnal, the Common of the Saints and a number of short texts on the nature of dying well in
Latin. Central Germany (Erfurt), c. 1498
This is a fine monastic book from one of the greatest German medieval libraries, the Charterhouse of
St. Salvatorberg in Erfurt, in an excellent state of preservation and in its original binding.
Apart from its liturgical contents, it holds a number of versions of a rare text written by members of
the Erfurt Charterhouse, one of which is evidently of great importance for the history of the text and its
future study, and others which appear to be unique. There is an even more detailed description upon
request.
£ 18.000
258 leaves, Contemporary monastic binding of blind tooled pigskin (roll stamps of flower heads, fleur-de-lys and
agnus dei within roundels and lozenges, all enclosing a central panel of chevrons)
Provenance
1. Written and decorated for the large and important medieval library of St. Salvatorberg, the great Charterhouse of
Erfurt, c. 1498: the contemporary inscriptions on the front pastedown open with the ex libris “Iste libellus est
fratrum carthusien propter Erfford”, and the main text on fol. 2r with “Cartusiae Erfordiensis” in a sixteenth- or
seventeenth-century hand (identical inscriptions can be found on many books from this library, see those sold in
Sotheby’s, 5 December 1978, lot 45, and 7 December 1982, lot 56). The watermark, that of an imperial crown (split
across the gutter of bifolia, but visible on fols. 228 and 237), is Briquet no. 4895 (otherwise recorded in Leipzig in
1498). The scribes of St. Salvatorberg most likely obtained their paper, on this occasion at least, from that
neighbouring city.
The charterhouse in Erfurt was founded in 1372, and quickly attracted wealthy Thuringian benefactors. The
Carthusian order led the way in biblical scholarship in the fifteenth century, and the library at Erfurt grew rapidly,
coming to be one of the most important cultural repositories in Germany, The mid-fifteenth-century catalogue in its
edited form, now occupies over 300 pages of printed text in the Mittelalterlische Bibliothekskataloge Deutschlands
und der Schweiz II (1928), pp. 221-593. It included such opulent books as the Phillipps Bestiary, with 86
illustrations, and in fact the only recorded German illustrated manuscript of the text (once Phillipps MS. 10850, sold
in Sotheby’s, 26 November 1975, lot 829, to the Getty Museum, and now Wormsley, MS. BM 3731), and the Bible
copied by Cambius de Vicentia with 444 historiated initials (once in the princely Donaueschingen collection of the
Prince Fürstenberg, sold Sotheby’s, 21 June 1982, lot 12).
The house was suppressed in 1803 and its book collection scattered, with substantial institutional holdings now in
Berlin, Staatsbibliothek (91 codices); Dresden, Landesbibliothek (13 codices); Edinburgh, National Library of
Scotland and University Library (12 codices); Erfurt, Cathedral and Stadtsbibliothek (9 codices); London, British
Library (30 codices); Oxford, University Library and Colleges (35 codices); St. Hugh’s Charterhouse, Partridge Green
(13 codices); Pommersfelden (19 codices); Weimar ZB (43 codices).
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MANUSCRIPTS BEFORE 1500
Text
The volume contains the antiphons with some associated versicles, collects and hymns for the liturgical feasts of the
entire year, opening with those for the feast of an apostle (fol. 2r), an ending with that for an elect (fol. 155r). Of
especial note here are the feasts of the saints from the Germany and the neighbouring regions to the east: Ulric of
Augsburg, 4 July (fol. 24v), Gereon of Cologne, 10 October (fol. 76r and 77v), Elizabeth, queen of Hungary, 19
November (fol. 85r and 104r), Stanislaus of Poland, 7 May, Wenceslaus of Poland, 28 September, and Ludmilla, the
grandmother of Wenceslaus, 16 September (fols, 149v and 150v); as well as a handful of Anglo-Saxon missionaries
and saints, including Oswald, king of Northumbria, 5 August (fol. 39r); and the two SS. Ewalds of Northumbria who
died in Westphalia in 692, 1-3 October (fol. 70r). A hymnal for the Temporal follows on fol. 120v, with the same for
the Sanctoral from fol. 133v. After these come prayers for various feasts and saint days follow (fol. 155v); as well as
prayers ascribed to Pope Gregory or addressed to the Virgin Mary, which promise their readers reduced time in
purgatory (fol. 170v and 176r); and others for the dead (fol. 177v). The Common of the Saints opens on fol. 182v,
and ends on fol. 231v with the line “Deo Gratias”. These contents are also noted in a scribbled set of annotations on
the front pastedown and recto of the front endleaf.
What is of especial interest here is the contemporary corrector’s attempt to make good the problems created here
by the accidental misbinding of the 11th gathering amongst those at the end of the book. The binding here was
evidently quite expensive in the last years of the fifteenth century, or was seen as of such quality, that rather than
disband the manuscript and reorder these two gatherings, a contemporary corrector added a note horizontally in
the inner margin of fol. 211 (the opening leaf of the 19th gathering), noting that the following “sexterna” should in
fact be in “undecimo loco” (the 11th place [in the gathering structure]), marking this with a symbol of a cross atop a
globe. The same symbol appears upside down in the margin of fol. 114v, marking the correct place for the
gathering.
Around 1500, a short series of closely related devotional texts were added on gatherings at the end of the volume.
The first three are longer or shorter variants of a version of a well-known text on dying well the Modus disponendi
se ad mortem, in the extended version of a previously unidentified Carthusian writer (see R. Rudolf, Ars moriendi,
1957, pp. 75-82). All three open with variants of the incipit “confitebor tibi clementissime deus pater multitudinem
magnitudinem et enormitatem …” (here on fols 233v, 234r and 240v). The text is apparently unedited. Other
manuscripts containing a version of this Carthusian version of the work are recorded at Graz UB, MS. 1606 (A. Kern,
Die Handschriften der Universitätsbibliothek Graz III, 1967); the library of the monastery at Stams, MS. 43 (recorded
in Hill Monastic Manuscript Library’s unpublished catalogue of c. 1976); and Augsburg UB, MSS. 8° 15, 2° 66 and 2˚
405 (G. Hägele, Lateinische mittelalterliche Handschriften in Folio der Universitätsbibliothek Augsburg, 1993-1996).
To these should be added Vienna, ÖNB Cod. 3650; Munich UB, MS. 8˚ Cod MS 213 (N. Daniel, Die lateinischen
mittelalterlichen Handschriften der Universitätsbibliothek München, 1989, p. 144); Ljubljana, Narodni Muzeum, MS.
241r (see Milko Kos and France Stelè’s catalogue of medieval manuscripts in Slovenia: Srednjeveški rokopisi v
Sloveniji, 1931, under Kos no. 80); and a copy recently published as in the eighteenth-century library of Herzogin
Anna Amalia of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel (Die lateinischen Handschriften bis 1600, 2004, p. 269).
The author of this text is normally given only as “N” for Nomine (ie. ‘insert name here’), and this has lead academic
consensus to state that the author is unknown and undated. However, one of the Augsburg manuscripts names its
author as Johannes and dates it to 1481, and the Vienna manuscript while giving no name, dates the text to 1476.
In addition, a lengthy version of the text (closely corresponding to that of fols. 234r-236r of the present
manuscript) was published in an edition of the Neujahrsblatt für Basels Jugend for 1838 dedicated to the history of
the Charterhouse in Basel (part II, pp. 6-7), naming the author as “Ego frater Martinus indignus nomine
carthusiensis ordinis”. Clearly the arguments for authenticity are not strong or straightforward here, and hitherto
there have been no indications where the text might have been composed.
The present manuscript casts a great deal of light on these questions, and promises to cast much more in the
future. A lengthy introduction on fol. 240r here offers the date of the copying of one of these texts as 1500, and
notes the involvement of a Carthusian monk named Jacobus Volradus, as well as naming the author as Johannes
“ordinis carthusiensis et monachus professus domus eiusdem ordinis propter erffurdiam” (fol. 240r), and again on
fol. 234r as Johannes “indignus nomine carthusiensis ordinis . monachus et sacerdos professus domus sancti
salvatoris”. On each of the occasions when Johannes is named, a few centimetres of following text which clearly
gave more information on him are lightly covered with ink. With sensitive handling and careful study these might
2
MANUSCRIPTS BEFORE 1500
prove readable (note in particular fol. 234r where individual letterforms are easily discernible beneath the ink panel
in normal light).
However, significant questions remain for the future student. The first and shortest version of the text here is
ascribed to “Frater Marcellinus indignus quidam nomine Carthusiensis ordinis monachorum et sacerdos professus”
(fol. 233v). This clearly agrees, albeit in a slightly garbled form, with the printed identification of Martinus as the
author, despite the fact that the text printed in 1838 in connection with the Charterhouse at Basel corresponds here
to a version named as the work of Johannes. There may have been two authors who worked together, or one who
revised the others text soon after it was finished.
This text appears to be the only surviving copy to name the main potential author as a member of the Carthusians
of Erfurt, offers further details on him for future students of it, and with the inclusion of multiple copies of different
lengths (and perhaps by two different authors) will almost certainly add significantly to our knowledge of the
composition and earliest stages of this text.
Following these are three related tracts: the first opens “Sed ut dictum est ut tua iusticia …” on fols. 254r-257r, and
the second with “Et pro omnibus volo omni modo manere …” on fols. 257v-258v, the latter also mentioning Jacobus
Volradus. The third opens “Et ego frater Marcellinus idem et eandem protestationem cupio et desidero …” on fol.
257v-258r, again noting Marcellinus as its author. None appears in the vast In Principio database, and these may
well be unique to this manuscript.
FROM THE CELEBRATED CHOIRBOOK OF ANNE OF BRITTANY.
2. [GRADUAL CUTTINGS] Six hitherto unrecorded cuttings from the celebrated Gradual of King Louis XII
of France (reigned 1498-1515) and his second wife, Anne of Brittany.
£ 5500
Other surviving parts of the manuscript include the royal arms of France, royal heraldic devices and the initials ‘A’
and ‘L’. The artist has been identified as the Master of Phillippe de Gueldres (fl.1500-10) from a cutting with a
miniature of Louis XII and Anne of Brittany adoring the Crown of Thorns (Nantes, Musée Dobrée, see Paris, Les
Enluminures, 1994, no.28; for the artist, see F. Avril and N. Reynaud, Les manuscrits à peintures en France 14401520, 1993, pp.278-81).
The Gradual had been cut up and dispersed by the mid-nineteenth century (see Le Roux de Lincy, Vie de la Reine
Anne de Bretagne, II, 1860-61, p.86), and a large number of initials and borders have survived (for a summary of
the surviving fragments, see de Hamel, Gilding the Lilly, 2010, no.83, including the sole complete leaf now
Massachusetts, Wellesley College, MS.6, which has the vast dimensions of 657mm. by 495mm.). Recently one
cutting made 11.250 GBP http://www.sothebys.com/fr/auctions/ecatalogue/2013/western-manuscriptsminiatures-l13240/lot.7.htm
3. [GRADUAL LEAF] circa second half of the 13th century, Northern France. 25 x 18 cm. Anonymus
artist.
£ 6500
The initial depicts a Priest presiding over the Offertory. The chant reads " P. Per omnia saecula saeculorum. S. Amen.
P. Dominus Vobiscum Et cum spíritu tuo. Sursum corda. Habémus ad Dóminum. Gratias agamus Domino. " The
Offertory is the traditional moment in Roman Catholic Mass when alms are collected for the support of the church
and for charity.
ROMAN DE LA ROSE
3
MANUSCRIPTS BEFORE 1500
4. GUILLAUME DE LORRIS AND JEAN DE MEUN. Roman de la Rose, in Old French, two leaves from a
decorated manuscript on vellum. France (perhaps Paris), c. 1410
Two leaves, text in two columns, remains of 38 lines of verse in an angular vernacular hand
in brown ink, rubrics in red, 2-line initials in blue with red penwork or gold with blue
penwork, one miniature on each leaf in black penwork with colour wash within 3-line
penwork frames (81mm. by 71mm. and 75mm. by 58mm.), losses to upper and lower corners
of one leaf and worm damage to both, scuffs and abrasions from later reuse of both on
bindings. Dimensions 277mm. by 213mm. and 305mm. by 250mm..
£ 24000
Provenance
From the archive of the chateau of Labarthe-Bleys (Tarn).
The simple but effective technique of line drawing with grey wash used to pick out facial and
drapery tones and green used to heighten foliage and water is closely echoed by other.
Text
The Roman de la Rose is probably the single most influential literary text of the Middle Ages, exceeding both
Chaucer and Dante in the production and circulation of manuscripts. C.S. Lewis stated that in cultural importance “it
ranks second to none except the Bible and the Consolation of Philosophy” (Allegory of Love, 1936, p. 157).
It is of fundamental importance for the history of French literature, and is the first example in French of a sustained
first-person narrative and a narrative allegory. The poem has two authors. It was begun c. 1240 by Guillaume de
Lorris (d. c.1278) who wrote the first 4058 lines. As he explains, he wished to tell the reader all that he knew of
love, and the poem describes a dream in which amant is taken by Oiseuse into a pleasure garden where he meets
the allegorical figures of Pleasure, Delight, Cupid and others, finally catching sight of and falling in love with the
‘Rose-in-bud’. He is held back by the figures of Danger, Shame, Scandal and Jealousy who imprison the Rose in a
castle. To this, Jean de Meun (a friend of Dante and Master of the Arts at the University of Paris) added another
17724 lines some forty years later. These changed its tone to a biting satire on contemporary society with a dark
and vicious sense of humour. His lover-hero makes war on the castle, debates with Reason, nature and Genius and
with heavy sexual overtones, finally enters the inner chamber of the Rose. His advise to the lover includes sections
on how a man should keep his mistress (study the arts, ignore any infidelities, offer flattery but never advice) and
how a lady might keep her male lover (use false hair, make up and perfume, avoid getting so drunk you fall asleep
at dinner, only have sex in the dark to hide imperfections of the body and avoid poor men and foreigners – except
very rich ones).
There has been no systematic list of the manuscripts of the Roman de la Rose since that of Langlois in 1910 (Les
Manuscrits du Roman de la Rose: Description et Classement), although there has been a recent collaborative
scholarly project between John Hopkins University and the Bibliothèque nationale de France on the text resulting in
the vast website with numerous reproductions of manuscripts in institutions: http://romandelarose.org/
The present leaves are not recorded there but were most probably seen and identified by Breillat in the 1940s, and
are included by Anne-Françoise Leurquin for the JONAS project at:
http://jonas.irht.cnrs.fr/consulter/oeuvre/detail_oeuvre.php?oeuvre=3970 (under ‘Témoins’).
Illustration
The illustrations on these two leaves show (i) Narcissus in a grassy area between two trees gazing at his reflection in
adoration in a stone water trough, as time and life passes him by; and (ii) Amour kissing the Angel.
The simple but effective technique of line drawing with grey wash used to pick out facial and drapery tones and
green used to heighten foliage and water is closely echoed by other manuscripts of the text: Oxford, Bodleian,
Douce MS. 371 (Paris, c.1410; which is probably by the same artist as the present leaves and is reproduced at:
4
MANUSCRIPTS BEFORE 1500
http://warburg.sas.ac.uk/vpc/VPC_search/results_advanced_search.php?p=1&msn=507) and perhaps also Douce
MS. 332 (Paris, fifteenth century; which has similar figures but uses them before strongly coloured diapered
backgrounds), and the present leaves are most probably all that remains of a lost copy of the text from the same
Parisian workshop.
BOOK OF HOURS (PARIS, 1480-1490).
5. [HORAE B. M. V.] Manuscript. [PARIS] With 13 miniatures within compartmented borders,
with acanthus, flowers, fruits, birds, snails and peacocks
£ 45.000
Description
133mm. by 96mm., lacking one leaf after fol. 105, but the former owner supplied the miniature that was missing at
the beginning of the Hours of the Holy Cross with a fine example, from another manuscript in a similar style,
collation: i12 , ii8 , iii4, iv-xiii8 , xiv7 [of 8, lacking ii], xv-xix8 , xx6, 17 lines, ruled in red ink, written-space.
Calendar in gold and blue and red, line-fillers and one- to 2-line initials throughout in burnished gold on pink and
blue panels with white tracery, thirteen 4-line pink and blue initials on burnished gold grounds with three-quarter
illuminated borders on parti-coloured liquid gold ground with birds, acanthus leaves, flowers and gilded foliage,
panel borders throughout.
Thirteen Large Miniatures in arched compartments with full borders on parti-coloured liquid gold ground with
birds, acanthus leaves, flowers and foliage, etc., prayers added at end, some extremities of outer borders
fractionally cropped, some pages (including the first) rubbed and thumbed, generally sound, eighteenth-century
calf
Text
A Calendar, in French (fol.lr); The text is of the Use of Paris throughout. The Calendar includes SS.Genevieve, Louis
(" roy de france"), the Gospel Sequences (fol. 13r); the Obsecro te (fol.18r, for male use) and the O intemerata; the
Hours of the Virgin [Use of Paris], with Matins (fol.25r). Lauds (fol.47r), Prime (fol.58r), Terce (fol.64r), Sext (fol.68v),
None (fol.72v), Vespers (fol.76v) and Compline (fol.83r); the Penitential Psalms (fol.89r) and Litany; the Hours of the
Cross (fol.106r) and of the Holy Ghost (fol.108v); and the Office of the Dead [Use of Paris] (fol. 112r). There are late
fifteenth-century prayers in French rhyming verse on the additional leaves at the end.
Illumination
A fine example of Parisian manuscript illumination in the late style of the celebrated illuminator Maître Francois. The
subjects of the miniatures are: 1. Folio 13r, St.John the Evangelist, the saint seated on an island, writing on a scroll,
his eagle beside him;. 2. Folio 25r, The Annunciation, the Virgin kneeling at a prie-dieu under a red canopy, before
her a pot of lilies, Gabriel entering through a door on the right with a scroll Ave gratia plena dns [tecum]', pointing
to the Holy Ghost descending, in an interior with tiled floor, a double Gothic arch and a saint in a niche; 3. Folio 47r,
The Visitation, St.Elizabeth kneeling before the Virgin in a landscape; 4. Folio 58r, The Nativity, the Virgin and
Joseph adoring the Child before the stable with an ox and an ass; 5. Folio 64r, The Annunciation to the
Shepherds, two shepherds with a flock gesturing in astonishment at an angel appearing in the sky with a scroll
'Gloria in excelsis deo et i(n) t(e)rr(a) pace'. 6. Folio 68v, The Adoration of the Magi, the Three Kings before the
Virgin and Child in front of the stable; 7. Folio 72v, The Presentation in the Temple, the Virgin kneeling before an
altar, behind which Simeon holds the Child, Joseph standing behind, set in a church. 8. Folio 76v, The Flight into
Egypt, Joseph leading the Virgin and Child on the donkey. 9. Folio 83r, The Coronation of the Virgin, the Virgin
kneeling before God the Father, an angel holding the crown above her head, 10. Folio 89r, King David, David
kneeling, his harp and crown on a table before him, looking up at an angel descending from Christ looking down
from Heaven, in an interior with tiled floor, a carved wooden throne and stone wall, 11. Folio 108v, Pentecost., the
5
MANUSCRIPTS BEFORE 1500
Virgin and Apostles kneeling in prayer, the Holy Ghost descending from above. 12. Folio 112r, A Funeral Service,
two priests before a blue-draped bier in a church, with altar, 13. Added miniature Crucifixion.
EARLY 14th CENTURY MANUSCRIPT, ONE OF THE SEMINAL WORKS OF POLISH MEDIEVAL LITERATURE.
6. PEREGRINUS DE OPOLE (OPPELN), Sermones de Sanctis, and other sermons in Latin with some
German annotations. Manuscript on paper [Poland or perhaps south-east Germany, dated 1376]
£ 52.000
173 leaves, a sammelband of 3 near-contemporary parts, complete, collation: i-viii12 (section 1: each with
catchword and quire signatures), ix-xiv12 (section 2), xv3 (section 3), 3 gothic bookhands influenced by secretarial
script but quite legible (the first signed by the main scribe Syfridus Goppel, who is unrecorded elsewhere), some
ornamental cadels at head of pages, capitals touched in red, paragraph marks, rubrics and simple initials in
iridescent red, watermark of cow’s head throughout split along the gutter, but enough remaining to identify it as a
part of a wide group of Italian fourteenth-century watermarks (note there were only two papermills in Germany
(Mainz and Nuremberg) at this time, and none in Poland before 1491), some leaves with signs of wear, one torn
without loss of text, else fine condition.
These are not just sermons but preaching manuals, showing how the priest should construct a sermon and how to
deliver it. A unique source for the preaching of the cross in fourteen century Western Europe This is a crucial text,
perhaps above all others, bearing witness to the contribution of the Poles to the European Middle Ages. Its author,
Peregrinus de Opole (also Polonus) was court chaplain of Duke Przemysl of Ratibor (Racibórz, Opolskiego, Poland)
and lived from c.1260 to c.1333. He may have studied abroad at one of the Dominican studia generalia, but by
1303 had returned to Polish Silesia and was appointed prior of the Dominican convent of Ratibor, and in 1305 prior
of the Dominicans in Wrocław and provincial of the Dominicans in Poland (holding this office 1305-12
and 1322-27). His final office was that of papal inquisitor for the Polish dioceses. He was a prolific author
producing these sermons, as well as a set for the temporal, a quadragesimale and a lengthy Summa.
Most probably written for use by a Dominican preacher in 1376 and soon after. The presence of German
annotations to the second part of the text could indicate either a Polish or German audience or perhaps an
ethnically and linguistically mixed one such as Silesia. Soon after in a chained monastic library, most probably a
Dominican house in the same region, where it received numerous additions relevant to that order. More detailed
description available.
RARE PHILOSOPHICAL ARABIC TEXTS IN LATIN TRANSLATION.
7. THOMAS AQUINAS. Summa contra gentiles. And: Al-Kindi. De unitate, De intellectu, and De somnio
et visione ad imperatorum dolium. Probably Burgundy, 1464. Signed and dated by the scribe himself
("Ego Anthonius le bysse de N. gallicus scripsique complevi hec presens opus Anno domini 1464. Vive
Bourgogne", fol. 220v). FOLIO. 221 leaves. (instead of 222 leaves, lacking leaf 1, otherwise complete).
Early 17th-c. blindstamped calf.
£ 44.000
This manuscript contains a highly personal collection of texts made for a pious patron with an interest in
philosophy and humanistic studies. The volume opens with the Summa de veritate catholicae fidei contra gentiles
(treatise on the truth of the Catholic faith, against unbelievers), intended at persuading Muslims and Jews of the
truth of Christianity. Originally written in Rome in 1261-64 at the behest of Raymond of Pennafort. Followed by
three of his minor works, the De ente et essentia (fol.191v), the De motu cordis (fol.195v) and the De spiritualibus
creaturis (fol.197r).
Next are three extremely rare Arabic texts composed by the Muslim philosopher Al Kindi. Al Kindi, known as "the
Philosopher of the Arabs", was a Muslim Arab scientist, philosopher, mathematician and physician. He was the first
6
MANUSCRIPTS BEFORE 1500
of the Muslim Aristotelian philosophers, and is unanimously hailed as the "father of Islamic or Arabic philosophy"
for his synthesis, of Greek and Hellenistic philosophy in the Muslim world. In the present copy we find Al-Kindi's
main works 'De Intellectu' (fol. 218v) and 'De somnio et visione ad imperatorem dolium' (On sleeping and dreaming,
fol. 219r), which are known in no more than four or five ms. copies, all in institutional possession (Oxford, Venice,
and Paris). For his work devoted to the question of God's nature "De unitate" (fol. 217v), or 'On the unity of Allah
and the limited nature of the body of the universe', no textual witness is found in the In Principio database.
Literature Lexikon des Mittelalters V, 1155-1156.
P. Adamson, "Al-Kindi", in: Albino Nagy (ed.), Die philosophischen Abhandlungen des Ja'qu-b ben Ishaq al-Kindi,
BGPhMA (Münster 1897) 2-5.
W. P. Stoneman, A summary guide to the medieval and later manuscripts in the Bergendal Collection (Toronto 1997)
173-174. [BN#27341]
A FINE EXAMPLE OF MEDIEVAL SECULAR ART
8. [TIGONVILLE ] The philosopher Sedechias (King Zedekiah of Judah), seated before a book and a
group of scholars, very large miniature on a vast leaf from an illuminated manuscript of Guillaume de
Tigonville (or Tignonville), Les ditz moraulx des philosophes, in French, on parchment. [Northern
France or Low Countries, mid-fifteenth century]
£ 20.000
Single leaf, 348 mm. by 230 mm., with a very large dome-topped miniature (180 mm. by 178 mm.) showing
through a cut-away section of wall, the philosopher seated within an ornate Gothic interior on a carved wooden
throne, reading aloud from a book open on a lectern before him to a group of four scholars, one of whom sits with
a book open on his lap, all wearing flowing robes in bright colours with a rich palette. above a 4-line blue initial
heightened with white penwork on a brightly burnished gold ground, and 2 columns of 13 lines of text in lettre
bâtarde, miniature and text edged in thin gold frame and all enclosed within full decorated border of acanthus
leaves and naturalistic foliage including red and blue strawberries, verso with double column of 37 lines in same
hand, small red and blue initials, once folded across centre in two places with very slight damage to miniature, else
good condition
Text
This leaf is from a rare and important philosophical text which is witness to the fascination which the medieval West
had with the intellectual treasure-hoards of Byzantium and the Arabic world. In the seventh century, the expansion
of Arab power over southern parts of the Byzantine empire brought into their grasp substantial libraries of Greek
Classical texts, and thus many Greek texts were preserved only in Arabic translations. Intellectual centres, such as
Baghdad, began to collect together philosophical, scientific, technical and medical works and translate them into
Arabic. Following the Crusades, the West came into contact with these texts primarily through the scholarly
communities of Muslim Spain and Norman Sicily, and by the twelfth and thirteenth centuries there was great
demand for Western translations of these texts. Vernacular translations were immediately popular in the noble
courts of France and the Burgundian Netherlands, and J. Barrois records nine copies of the present work alone in the
early French royal libraries of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries (Bibliothèque Prototypographique, Paris, 1830,
nos. 553, 941, 943, 973, 1836, 1884, 1950, 2097 and 2273). Christine de Pisan was a close friend of the author of
the present work, and this text was her principal source for early philosophical works.
The Ditz moraulx des philosophes was translated into French c. 1402, by Guillaume de Tigonville, statesman,
‘conseiller et chambellan du roi’ of Charles VI of France, and provost of the University of Paris, as a close adaptation
of the Muhtār al-hikam wa-mahāsin al-kalim (‘The Choicest Maxims and Best Sayings’) of the Syrian physician and
philosopher Abū l-Wafā’ al-Mubassir ibn Fātik (1019-1097). It contains a collection of proverbs and maxims on
ways to live correctly and morally, drawn from genuine or spurious works of twenty-two ancient philosophers and
poets, alongside brief biographies of the authors. They survey the most important thinkers of the Greek and Arabic
worlds, including the Sedechias here, in fact: Zedekiah the sixth-century BC. king of Judah, as well as historical
figures (such as Alexander the Great, Hermes Trismegistus), Greek philosophers (Homer, Hippocrates, Socrates,
Plato, Aristotle) and Arabic philosophers (‘Logmon’, known in Arabic traditions as Loqman, and thought to be an
Abyssinian living in the time of David in the region of Elah and Midian).
7
MANUSCRIPTS BEFORE 1500
All apart from two recorded copies are now in institutional ownership. In 1941, C.F. Bühler recorded some fifty
surviving manuscripts including the text (The Dicts and Sayings of the Philosophers: the Translations, 1941, p. xiii-
xv, and xiii, n. 2), all of which apart from a copy offered for sale by Goldsmidt in November 1935, are now owned by
institutions. To these should be added a copy in the University of Pennsylvania (N.P. Zacour and R. Hirsch, Catalogue
of Manuscripts in the University of Pennsylvania, 1965, fr. 33); another unilluminated text copy in a scientific
compendium in the Schoenberg collection, MS. 55 (acquired from H.P. Kraus, catalogue 80, 1956, no. 117, and now
donated to Pennsylvania State University), two untraced copies which passed through the trade at least over half a
century ago (i. Quaritch, cat. 716, 1953, no. 304; ii. Huth collection sold at Sotheby’s, 8 July 1919, lot 7754), and a
copy with a single miniature of all the philosophers on its frontispiece offered by Les Enluminures (Flowering of
Medieval French Literature, cat. 18, 2014, no. 5, for $225,000). The present leaf is (apart from here) unrecorded by
scholarship.
Illumination
The present miniature will once have stood at the very beginning of the manuscript, and is a large and impressive
example of secular medieval art (the miniature here is twice the size of that on the frontispiece of the volume
recently offered by Les Enluminures). This may have been its frontispiece and most significant decorated page.
However, it is also possible that as this miniature shows only a single philosopher, rather than the scholarly
gathering as in other manuscripts, that the parent manuscript had similar miniatures for all of the numerous
chapters of the text, and was among the finest copies of it made in the Middle Ages.
Such books were made for patrons in the French courts, and while the composition of the scene is common to many
French manuscripts of the period (see the miniature of Boethius before a group of scholars in BnF. MS. fr. 809, fol.
27r, reproduced in Flowering of Medieval French Literature, cat. 18, 2014, p. 87, for comparison with another
central French copy of Tigonville’s text), there are hints here that our artist knew the work of the Rambures Master
(fl. 1460s-1470s in north-west France and Hesdin and Bruges; formerly called the Master of Amiens 200, and
studied in detail in Illuminating the Renaissance, 2003, pp. 255-257; compare there and the front-facing oval face
of the scholar, tilted a few degrees to the right with those in the miniature by the Rambures Master, sold by
Sotheby’s, 29 June 2007, lot 12). However, his wooden-postured figures with mournful faces and long thin hands,
and his delicate mastery of architecture point towards the work of the grand Burgundian artist, Loyset Liédet (fl.
1460-1470s) who painted for two rulers of the Burgundian court who set gold standards in art patronage of the
Middle Ages: Philip the Good and his son Charles the Bold, and contributed to works for the celebrated bibliophile
and art patron Louis de Gruuthuse (see ibid. pp. 230-233; and Les Enluminures du Louvre: Moyen Âge et
Renaissance, 2011, pp. 292-294). Parts of the border work also echo the work of contemporary artists of the
Burgundian Netherlands (cf. the clusters of blue strawberries in the borders of pages reproduced in Illuminating the
Renaissance, 2003, pp. 240, 244, 246, 249, 250, 260, 269 and 301). Both the Rambures Master and Loyset Liédet
collaborated in Hesdin in the mid-fifteenth century on a volume of Fleur des histoires (now Paris, Arsenal, MS. 5088)
and another of Faits des Romains (now Chantilly, Musée Condé, MS. 770), and this marriage of talents may stand
behind the inspiration and training of the present artist.
9. [VINCENT FERRER] Medieval manuscript on paper, (Last half of the fifteenth century. 8v. 12 pp. Low
countries or Germany ? Complete. No covers.
The manuscript describes the Life of St. (1350-1419), of the order of Dominican Preachers. Probably a compilation
with students notes on his works and on others glosses and commentaries to his works. We have not found a
printed edition.
£ 4000
Originally from Valencia (as in title here). For twenty-one years he was said to have travelled to England, Scotland,
Ireland, Aragon, Castile, France, Switzerland, and Italy, preaching the Gospel and converting many. Many
biographers believe that he could speak only Valencian, but was endowed with the gift of tongues. He preached to
St. Colette of Corbie and to her nuns, and it was she who told him that he would die in France. Too ill to return to
Spain, he did, indeed, die in Brittany in 1419. Breton fishermen still invoke his aid in storms, and in Spain he is the
patron of orphanages.
8
MANUSCRIPTS BETWEEN 1500 - 1800
A SUMPTUOUSLY ILLUMINATED CARTA EXECUTORIA.
10. CARTA EXECUTORIA DE HILDALGUIA, issued by Charles II of Spain, in favour of Fernández de
Piérola, a native of Seville. ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM, Seville 3 november 1690. Folio
(305 x 201mm.). 86 leaves, FIVE FULL PAGE MINATURES. 1. The Virgin. 2. King Ferdinand. 3. Coat of
Arms of the Piedrola family. 4. Genealogical tree. 5. King Carlos II of Spain, 35 ILLUMINATED INITIALS,
some with grotesques, others inhabited by birds, insects, flowers, and a ship. With protective red silk
curtains interleaved. Contemporary red red velvet
£ 6000
Letters patent of nobility, or Carta executoria, both established noble lineage and served as tangible evidence of
nobility, which had tremendously practical implications beyond social standing. During the early modern period in
Spain the nobility and the clergy formed an estate far removed from the rest of the population. The property of the
nobility was exempt from taxation and protected from civil suits. Nobles could not be imprisoned for indebtedness,
or tortured (except for treason), and if sentenced to execution had the option of decapitation rather than hanging.
A sumptuously illuminated carta executoria that traces the noble lineage of the Piedrola family to Piedrola Ruy
Fernandez, one of the leading gentlemen who were with the holy King Ferdinand III, when he reconquered
Andalusia. To our knowledge this is the only Carta Executoria that depicts the King Carlos II himself.
His noble ancestry is described throughout and illustrated in the genealogical tree on and further evidence is laid
out in order to have his name removed from the register of commoners: his request is endorsed by friends and
relatives
RENAISSANCE COOKING MANUSCRIPT
11. [COOKERY MANUSCRIPT] 56 pages. s.d., s.l., likely Germany c. 1600-1625. Small 4to., 22 x 17.5
cm. contain approxiamate 120 Renaissance Recipes in two distinct hands. Binding: Simple blank paper
wraps with no evidence of being bound.
£ 2000
An exceedingly rare collection of Renaissance recipes, so extensive and with an assortment of unusual delicacies,
that they could only have been compiled for a household of great wealth. Numerous recipes for Eggs including
scrambled eggs, omelet, filled eggs, "busted" eggs, "hard-bitten" eggs etc; recipes for Fish including roasted eel,
roasted carp, boiled carp; Soups inc. milk-soup for sick children, a cabbage soup "very useful for your health",
pigeon-soup; Meat including roasted capon, roasted veal, roasted calf's liver, roasted goose, fried sausage, roasted
rabbit, roasted chicken, recipes for delicious birds, roasted duck, roasted beef, veal (cold dish), different kind of
sausages, pheasant, filled breast of veal, calf's head, veal shank, venison, roasted lamb, boiled veal; Pastry with
rabbits, mushrooms, bird; Cakes and Pastries, pancake, rose-cake, bread, cooked apple, filled pears, almondmash, pudding, donuts, "needle-cake" made with yeast dough and cream, various fruits,
and bacon! Habsburg double-headed eagle watermark. Small label "Anno 1648 pro paschate communicavit" pasted
to lower corner of last leaf indicating that these were possibly compiled for an Easter Feast.
ARS MORIENDI
12. [GAVET, P TRANS.] "The consolations of the Faithful Soul against the Fears of Death". Folio. 31 x 20
cm., 402 pgs., but wanting the first 3 leaves (5 pages) including a presumed t.p. This is an early
transition of Charles Drelincourt's Les consolations de l'ame fidéle, contre les frayevrs de la mort : avec
les dispositions & les préparations necessaires pour bien mourir [Paris] : Par A. Cellier, demeurant à
Paris ruë de la Harpe, à l'imprimerie des Rosiers, 1669.
The whole bound in early calf, rubbed, last leaf especially worn with some loss, general toning and
7
MANUSCRIPTS BETWEEN 1500 - 1800
staining, a few leaves with more obtrusive staining and clean tears without loss.
£ 1200
An interesting translation of Charles Drelincourt's famous work. "His Christians Defense against the Fears of Death
(originally published Consolations de l'âme fidèle contre les frayeurs de la mort, 1651) became well known in
England by means of translations, which were very frequently reprinted. It has been said that Daniel Defoe wrote his
fiction of Mrs Veal (A True Relation of the Apparition of Mrs Veal), who came from the other world to recommend
the perusal of Drelincourt on death, for the express purpose of promoting the sale of an English translation of the
Consolations.
The flyleaf of this translation states in an early hand that "this translation was done in the year of sixteen hundred
and forty by computation", but that must be erroneous if the first edition in French was not printed until 1651 and
the source of this manuscript translation is stated as 1669. It is very conceivable, based on appearance and
penmanship, that this is a 17th century translation by P. Gavet, signed on foot the last leaf. What is especially
intriguing, is that from provenance of an old Massachusetts estate, this is possibly an early American
manuscript. The rear inner pastedown is inscribed in a later 18th century hand by "Mr William Gavett, Salem
(presumed to be Salem, MA)" A William Gavett is recorded in Salem during the period appropriate to the inscription
and his journal is quoted by Thomas Ayres as having recorded a petty dispute with muskets drawn with a British
soldier in Salem that could have been the spark that touched of the American Revolution two months before
Lexington and Concord.
LOVE & INTRIQUE AT THE FRENCH COURT OF THE SUN KING.
13. [ITALIAN MANUSCRIPT] Late 17th/Early 18th Italian manuscript. 74 leaves, (paper, edges gilded) Carta
Rustica binding. Quarto. The manuscript tells us about the ‘complefsione amora’ at the Court of the
Sun King.
£ 650
The text narrates part of the life Françoise Athénaïs de Rochechouart de Mortemart, marquise of Montespan (5
October 1640 – 27 May 1707), better known as Madame de Montespan, the most celebrated maîtresse en titre of
King Louis XIV of France. Since the memoires of Montespan have been proven to be 19th centuries forgeries, and
the description given by François de La Rochefoucauld in his maxims is very short. It seems unlikely that the present
manuscript is a translated version of a printed book. World catalogue does not list works on or by Montespan, in the
late 17th and early 18th century.
We find in the manuscript several names mentioned: Françoise d'Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon, Louis Alexandre
de Bourbon, (=Gran Aleandro), Louise de La Vallière (another mistress of the Sun King), and Duc de Lauzun
(=Loson). I was not able to find anything about a “madame Bertigliae” who names is frequently mentioned.
The manuscript narrates in a lively way the events, it speaks about love and intrigue and mentions a day spend at
theatre where the ladies admire a dancer (a ballare basque ?) in a “comedia colla Marescialla”
NANTES, ILLUMINATED VELLUM MANUSCRIPT EARLY 16th century
14. [NANTES] Statutes and Ordinances of the Diocese of Nantes [France, c.1515]. 51 leaves, [2 index] ,
312mm by 262mm, on vellum. Includes 2 7-line initials depicting St. John and St. Peter giving the
keys. 16th century calf detaching, spine peeling with 1/4 loss, damage to inner upper margin and u.r.
corner, thankfully not touching text due to ample margins.
£ 6000
Manuscript statutes for the diocese of Nantes, promulgated by Francois Hamon, bishop of Nantes (1511-32). These
statutes, which cover a broad range of clerical duties, rules of residence, rules for students, punishment for
8
MANUSCRIPTS BETWEEN 1500 - 1800
nonobservance etc., give a glimpse of Church law in Nantes, shortly after the death of Anne of Brittany and before
the French Wars of Religion that culminated in the Edict of Nantes.There are no copies of such statutes in the ABPC
manuscript auction records.
AN EARLY 16TH CENTURY PAPAL BULL.
15. POPE JULIUS II. To Petro de Ruppefolio Sancti Raphealis Ordinis Sancti Benedicti 1507, 46cm x 51
cm. Vellum. No seal.
£ 1200
Papal Bull addressed to the prior Peter de Ruppefolio. Julius II, original name Giuliano della Rovere (1443-1513,
Rome) was the greatest art patron of the papal line (reigned 1503–13) and one of the most powerful rulers of his
age. Although he led military efforts to prevent French domination of Italy, Julius is most important for his close
friendship with Michelangelo and for his patronage of other artists, including Bramante and Raphael. He
commissioned Michelangelo’s “Moses” and paintings in the Sistine Chapel and Raphael’s frescoes in the Vatican.
DRINKING SONGS, DANCE SONGS
16. RECUEIL D'AIRS SERIEUX ET À BOIRE. Duo à contrepoint simple et à contrepoint figuré, duo de
basses, trio, recits de basses, vaudevilles, rondes de table et chansons à danser Livre des dessus. A
Lyon: 1721. 8vo., ; 172 x 114 mm. With a manuscript table of contents. Contemporary calf, light wear
to hinges and just starting at upper hinge. Covers with gilt single fillet border; spine decoratively
tooled in gilt in compartments with red leather label ruled and lettered in gilt; very attractive green and
gilt decorative endpapers with bookplate to front paste-down.
£ 1500
An edited compilation in manuscript, apparently drawn from the collection of airs and drinking songs, issued by the
Ballard and Leclerc firms starting in 1679 and published continuously for over 30 years in response to widespread
demand. The wide ranging and extensive publication has been distilled here into a compilation of favorites, in an
unknown but attractive hand, providing some insight into popular French Baroque music.
THE PORTUGESE ARISTOTLE
17. RODIER, FRANÇOIS. Compendiara logae institutio ex ea quae a Petr. A. Fonseca octo libris. 16 april
1613 Quarto. 850 pages. Attractive Renaissance binding.
£ 1100
Pedro da Fonseca was a Portuguese Jesuit philosopher and theologian. His work on logic and metaphysics made him
known in his time as the Portuguese Aristotle; he projected the 'Cursus Conimbricenses' realized by Manuel Góis
and others.
9
MANUSCRIPTS BETWEEN 1500 - 1800
UNPUBLISHED TRACTS
18. SERMONS AND TRACTS BY SEVERAL HANDS. 193 x 147 mm., [s.d. s.l., compiled c. 17th century,
but consisting of earlier tracts] English paneled calf, wear to spine and cracking, but text-block
strong ;internally very good. Early paper spine label provides some hint of provenance/compiler but is
worn and mostly illegible.
£ 6000
A rare collection of 17th century Socinian and Unitarian manuscript tracts, assembled in the late 17th century, but
incorporating earlier hands. The tracts express a remarkable religious toleration an include a lengthy unpublished
treatise against Christian war as well as an early and apparently unpublished English translation of Jonasz
Szlichtyng's fundamental Socinianist work (Confessio fidei christianae 1642). These precursor ideas, later
popularized by Locke, were then transplanted to America and expounded on by James Madison and Thomas
Jefferson who incorporated their ideals in American legislation. Given the persecution of men like John Biddle, the
"Father of English Unitarianism," who died in prison for similar views expressed in this collection, and that even the
Act of Toleration of 1689 purposely excluded non-Trinitarians, many such collections were understandably
destroyed or circulated only in manuscript.
Comprising: [1] 1-112 ff. (i.e p. [1], 222) "The Sermon of Christ on the Mount briefly expounded" ( Matthew 5—7) [
s.d. s.l., c. 1650]. The ethical teachings of Jesus, particularly the Sermon on the Mount were fundamental to
informing the beliefs of Unitarians. [2] v. 113 ff. "Dr. Pilling on Charity p. 99" [s.d.s.l.,but after 1693] copied from
"A practical discourse upon charity in its several branches and of the reasonableness and useful nature of this great
Christian virtue / by Edward Pelling London : Printed by E.J. for W. Crooke, 1693. Pelling was "a defender of the
Church of England against both Roman Catholics and dissenters. He printed numerous sermons which he preached
on public occasions, many before the king or the House of Lords at Westminster Abbey." [3] Unpublished Treatise
on Christian Warre including: 115-118 ff, "Against Revenge ; 119- r.122 ff "Against Killing"; 123-129 ff. "Against
Warre for the name of Religion"; [1 blank], [131-145] "Nature of Warre"; [1 blank], [147-163 ff.] "Against
Voluntary Soldiers"; [3 blank] [167-175] "Against the persecution of Heriticks. Manuscript signatures indicate that
this was either a fair copy or prepared for publication, but there is apparently no surviving published work. [4] 167174 ff.; [3 blanks] Constitutio Justiniani de summa trinitate et. fide catholica.
Justinian's tract on the Trinitarian
doctrine included as the basis for an anti-Trinitarian refutation. [5]. 175-194 ff.; 195-199 blank. What are the
wayes of God towards the creature? A. His counsell & purpose, and his worke or deed [etc.]. [6]. 200-212 ff. A
discourse, tending chiefly to cleare the difference, of the doctrine of Reprobation [7]. 239-299 ff. A Confession of
the Christian Faith, published in the name of the Polish Churches, An interesting unrecorded translation of
Confessio fidei christianae, edita nomine Ecclesiarum Polonicarum, quae unum Deum et filium ejus unigenitum
Jesum Christum cum Spiritu Sancto profitentur. by Jonasz Szlichting : 1642. Jonasz Szlichtyng had importance
influence on English Unitarians and this is certainly a very early English translation of the work which caused his
exile.
10
MANUSCRIPTS AFTER 1800
AN USUALLY EARLY ALBUM WITH CHINESE COURTESANS.
19. [CHINESE COURTESANS] An early Chinese album of watercolors on pith paper, c. 1800 (terminus
ante quem by provenance of 1806) containing eleven leaves depicting scenes of courtesans, all very
finely and delicately executed. Album 34 x 25.5 cm bound in original textile binding.
£ 6750
Courtesan albums, especially early ones, are considerably rarer than their botanical and tradesmen counterparts.
These paintings share similarities with those acquired by 1826 Franz Joseph I, Emperor of Austria and reproduced
by Payer-Thurn in Chinesische Miniaturen aus dem Leben Einer Chinesischen Dame. Leipzig: Thyrsos-Verlag,
1924. Provenance: Henry Boyle Byrne, who died in the Bay of Calcutta in 1806, but sent these home to the Byrne
family in Philadelphia; then by descent through at the family home, the Woodlands, in Clopper, Md. (built by Francis
Cassatt Clopper in 1810).
THE CRIMEAN WAR, THE MOST DEVASTING CONFLICT OF THE 19th CENTURY.
20. [CRIMEAN WAR] An archive of English military correspondence from the Crimean War. The letters,
reports, and petitions, are written by officers. The comprise of instructions for troops and sanitary
personnel, reports of sanitary inspections (examinations of newly arrived horses, shooting of injured
animals), hygienic conditions and measures (construction of latrines), disciplinary measures (theft,
leaving battle without permission, remaining at night on the opposite side of the Bosporus, failure to
appear at parade), letters regarding the return to England, etc. Among the signing officers are
important commanders such as Sir James Yorke Scarlett (1799-1871), James Bucknall Estcourt (180255), Lord George Paget (1818-80),
£ 2750
On March 28th 1854, Britain, the superpower of the day, declared war on Russia. The resulting conflict was mainly
fought in Crimea as British forces and their allies laid siege to the main Russian naval base in the Black Sea at
Sebastopol. It began against a backdrop of Russian expansionism as the Ottoman Empire declined. The spark was a
religious dispute over who should be the guardian of the Ottoman Empire’s Christian minority, especially in the Holy
Land: Orthodox Russia or Catholic France. The Crimean War was one of the first conflicts to use modern
technologies such as explosive naval shells, railways and telegraphs It was also the first war to be documented
extensively in written reports and photographs. As the legend of the "Charge of the Light Brigade" demonstrates,
the war quickly became an iconic symbol of logistical, medical and tactical failures and mismanagement. The
reaction in Britain was a demand for professionalization, most famously achieved by Florence Nightingale, who
gained worldwide attention for pioneering modern nursing while treating the wounded.
A CUBAN ROMANCE
21. [CUBA] "FLORES HISTÓRICAS" Traduccion de A. Almeida copia De J.F. Pellon 1884 Habana". Small
4to., 21.5 x 16 cm. A very attractively written copy of a translation of Pierre Larousse's well known
work on eminent and historical personages: " Fleurs historiques des dames et des gens du
monde." Cuban goatskin binding and gilt with wear, corners and spine rebaked, inner hinges
reinforced, triple gilt edges, minor marginal tears, some toning or foxing, but overall a very attractively
written manuscript.
£ 2250
11
MANUSCRIPTS AFTER 1800
The manuscript connects two figures in the upper social echelons of Cuban society. J.F. Mellon, its scribe, is
recorded as the Grand Master of Cuba's Freemasons. The initial E.D. on the foot of the spine and the dedicatory
inscription "A Eugenia Desvernine" refer to Eugenia Desvernine y Galdós (b. 1865), daughter of the famous Cuban
pianist Pablo Desvernine and Carolina Galdós y Echániz. Eugenia was also the niece of Benito Pérez Galdós, the
Spanish realist novelist, who some authorities consider only second in stature to Cervantes. A contemporary social
register remarks that Eugenia she was one of the most beautiful women in Cuba, so it is understandable what
inspired Pellon to present this painstakingly written manuscript in his own hand - and no doubt tribute of his
affection- to the 21 year old Señorita.
ALBERT EINSTEIN: INSCRIBED COPY
22. EINSTEIN, ALBERT. The World as I See It. New York: Friede, 1934. 8vo., original gray cloth, original
dust jacket in the yellow (presumed first) variant, mild toning to pastedowns. INSCRIBED on flyleaf "To
Mr. Burnshaw. Albert Einstein, Princeton, May 1935."
£ 6500
Signed copies, especially in the hypnotic original Covici Friede dust jacket are especially rare in commerce. Please
note this is the original first edition, not the second less desirable one published in 1949. As one of the most
quoted men in history, Einstein's personal philosophy have captured the public's imagination as much as his
scientific achievement and this work reveals his thoughts on many subjects- from his pacifism to the Jewish
Question - to a general audience for the first time.
ARTIC EXPLORATION.
23. FRANKLIN, JOHN. Two autographs by the artic explorer John Franklin. One page letter, octavo.
October 1842. To Webber, surgeon on the emigrant ship Sir Charles Napier and one folio legal
document 1839.
£ 850
Both documents signed at Van Diemens land during his time as governor. Rear-Admiral Sir John Franklin (16 April
1786 – 11 June 1847) was a British Royal Navy officer and explorer of the Arctic. Franklin also served as LieutenantGovernor of Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) from 1837 to 1843. He disappeared on his last expedition,
attempting to chart and navigate a section of the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic.
ORIGINAL DRAWINGS FOR (RUSSIAN) BALLET COSTUMES.
24. KACHUROVSKIY, LEONID. ca. 1930-45. From the private family archives of the choreographer.
£ 1200
38 sheets of various paper (approx. 22 x 16 cm). Pencil, ink and watercolor, a few heightened with gold, most with
pencil inscriptions in French and Russian; rare tears and soiling. Lovely collection of almost 40 smaller watercolour
sketches, some probably for a ‘Mozartiana’ ballet, other evoking traditional Russian dresses, or modern outfits. 67
sheets of thin paper (approx. 27 x 21 cm). Pencil, ink and watercolour, a few heightened with gold, some with
pencil inscriptions in French and Russian; small creases or tears, rare soiling
Kachurovskiy was included in Dyagilev’s Ballet Russe, before being choreographer and producer of ballets,
important operas and concerts in Brussels in the 1930s, and moving to South America after WWII.
12
MANUSCRIPTS AFTER 1800
ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT, BEGINNING 20TH CENTURY.
25. TEARLE, JOHN H, LOWELL, JAMES RUSSELL. The Vision of Sir Launfal, 8vo, 230 x 157 x 18 mm. (9
1/16 x 6 3/16 x 11/16 in.), blue-black morocco, covers with gilt fillet, rules and on laid red morocco
gilt corner ornaments; smooth spine gilt lettered longitudinally in a panel; board edges with gilt fillet,
turn-ins gilt tooled, white watered silk doublures, free endpages and loose interleaves, t.e.g., the
binding unsigned, matching blue-black quarter morocco gilt folding box.
£ 15.000
ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM, 22 leaves, plus 2 blank fly-leaves each at front and back, written on 41
pages, the poem occupying 18 lines per full page, written in a semi-gothic book hand in black and red, the title-
page in blue, green and violet with a 3-line opening initial in gold incorporating a colored and gold three-quarter
border, facing the opening page of the poem, with a tree in a landscape incorporating a colored and gilt vignette of
"the musing organist", one oval miniature of Sir Launfal, framed in colored tracery, occupying a full page, tail-piece
vignette and 2 pictorial headlines in colors and gold, verse capitals in alternating red, green and violet, some
heightened with gold.
Colophon statement: "Designed written out and illuminated by [signed:] John H. Tearle. I certify that this copy
differs in many respects to any other copy done by me. "
A REMARKABLE DOCUMENT: LEAVING ALL HIS POSSESSIONS TO HIS BELOVED WIFE QUEEN VICTORIA.
THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF PRINCE ALBERT 1861,
26. [VICTORIA AND ALBERT] ORIGINAL DOCUMENT. "Will of His Royal Highness The Prince Consort.";
i.e. Last Will and Testament of Prince Albert. 42 x 33 cm. on paper. Originally composed August
1852, this is the attested copy for legal purposes of the original. Carefully examined by the appointed
solicitors Broughton & White and affirmed on 28th March, 1862. 2pgs, minor tears at fold, pink silk
corner attachment.
£ 2000
"The Blue Room in which Prince Albert died remained unaltered for the rest of Victoria’s life, a snapshot of the time
when her life changed forever. The glass from which he had taken his last sip was kept on his bedside table, his
blotting book and pen forever opened at its last entry, fresh flowers delivered every day. Victoria retreated into her
period of mourning, which by the dictates of Victorian society, was expected to be a year. However, the Queen
Victoria doggedly refused to come out of mourning. She wore black for the rest of her life, retired from public life
and matters of the state for many years. Queen Victoria would reign for another 40 years without her husband to
guide her. As Benjamin Disraeli wrote, ‘With Prince Albert we have buried our sovereign. This German prince has
governed England for 21 years with a wisdom and energy such as none of our kings has ever shown’.
13
15th CENTURY : INCUNABULA
JEWS, HERETICS & ISLAM.
27. ALPHONSUS DE SPINA. Fortalitium fidei contra iudeos saracenos aliosque christiane fidei...
inimicos]. Lyon, Guillaume Balsarin, 22. V. 1487. Small folio. 249 leaves. Goff A542; HC 874*; GW
1577. 18th century full calf with panelled boards..
£ 6250
Rare edition, one copy in England. The Franciscan Alphonsus de Spina, himself a Jewish convert, was a celebrated
preacher and Bishop (Died 1491) The first four books of this notorious work are directed against those who deny
the divinity of Christ, and against heretics, Jews, and Muslims. Part 3, on the iniquities of the Jews, is a veritable
encyclopaedia of mediaeval anti-Semitic libel, containing numbered lists of Jewish "cruelties" and refutations of the
Jews' supposed anti-Christian arguments. The section on Islam lists the numerous Saracen wars, while the fifth
book is devoted to the battle to be waged against the Gates of Hell and its resident demons, whose population the
author calculates at over 133 million; this is one of the earliest printed discussions of witchcraft and a precursor to
the Malleus maleficarum (1st ed. 1487).
A monumental Copy of an Early Johann Zainer Imprint
28. BERCHORIUS, PETRUS. Liber Bibliae moralisatus. Ulm: Johann Zainer, 9 April 1474. LARGE Folio (397 x
269 mm. 266 leaves. 50 lines and head-line, double column. Zainer's large two-sided woodcut border with scrolling
flowers and foliage, at top the figure of a kneeling jester among the vines. Some pages rubricated, Two marginal
wormholes to first few leaves, last quire with several wormholes catching an occasional letter, last leaf with several
letters affected. Contemporary German blindstamped pigskin over wooden boards, with impressions of various
circular tools: the agnus dei, Mary and Christ child (Schwenke-Sammlung pl.198, no.35: Nuremberg) and eagle,
upper cover with contemporary manuscript paper label in a gothic hand in red and black ink (top of spine chipped,
wormholes, clasps and catches lacking). Modern bookplate of Estelle Doheny (her sale Christie's New York, 14
December 2001, lot 84). In 1473, Johann Zainer set up the first print shop in Ulm. This work was printed one year
later; on the colophon Zainer expresses a sense of marvel that this volume was produced "not with a quill but with
cast letters."
£ 19.000
A tall and fresh copy, printed on thick paper, in its original binding
FIRST EDITION of the immense commentary on the Old and New Testaments, by Peter Berchorius (Pierre Bersuire, d.
1362), secretary to King Jean I of France, and a friend of Petrarch. ISTC ib00336000; Goff B-336; HC 2794; GW
3862.
PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED INCUNABULUM.
29. BERTHOLDUS. Horologium devotionis circa vitam Christi. Basel, J. Amerbach,
Not after 1490]. 8vo, 66 leaves. Goff B506; H 2990*.
£ 16.500
A true miniature incunabulum and a popular devotional work. The Devotional bell is a book that compares the Life
of Christ is, to that of a natural day, divided into 24 hours. A summary of the main events in the Life is given on
a2v-3. Thus, the 1st hour is the Annunciation and the 24th hour, the Day of Judgment… Contains 36 remarkable
woodcuts, like the Annunciation; Circumcision of Christ, The Adoration of the Magi. The Presentation of Christ in
the Temple, The Adoration of the Magi; The Harrowing of Hell; Christ Resurrected from the Tomb; The Ascension.
Bound in Bound with two other rare tracts:
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II: Thomas Aquinas: Novum insigneq[ue] opusculu[m] pro Christi verbu[m] eva[n]geliza[n]tibus. Ubi plures et
copiosi: et aurei sermones co[n]tinentt[ur]: de septe[m] peccatis mortalibus. Basel, M. Furter, 1514. 36 leaves.
III: Johannes Chrysostomus. Libellus cui est titulus Neminem posse ledi nisi a semetipso. [Basel, A. Petri], 1509. 24
leaves. With a beautiful coloured woodcut, attributed to Hans Baldung Grien.
CHAIN BINDING
30. CARACCIOLUS, ROBERTUS. Sermones de Laudibus Sanctorum. Basel: Nikolaus Kessler, 26.II.1490.
Folio, 189 leaves. Sumptuous contemporary blind-stamped calf over wooden boards, a Nuremberg
binding (Kyriss shop K115), metalwork centre-and cornerpieces, two clasps, chaining staple at head of
lower cover. Presumably with a medieval chain taken from another binding.
£ 7500
Roberto Caracciolo of Lecce (c.1425 - 6 May 1495) was a Franciscan friar, and one of the most famous Italian
preachers of his time, who boasted that he could move any audience to tears. He was a contemporary of Erasmus,
who mocked him on several occasions. Incunabula in their original bindings are rare.
Provenance Dominican convent of Bamberg, contemporary inscriptions on a2 and a5 (the convent was secularised in
the early nineteenth century.) Goff C148; H 4485* citing two copies in the UK, and 7 in the US.
MEDIEVAL PAWNSTARS!
31. CARCANO, MICHAEL DE. Sermonarium de peccatis per adventum et per duas quadragesimas.
Venice: Franciscus Renner, de Heilbronn, and Nicolaus de Frankfordia, 1476. Large 8vo. 161 leaves
(one blank missing). Goff C194; HC 4508* Later vellum binding. 23 cm. Margin of the second leaf
repaired. Some browning to the first leaves. Contemporary annotations throughout. The other volume
usually bound with it Sermones per adventum de peccato is not present here.
£ 3500
A major obstacle to the growth of banks in the Middle Ages was the Church's prohibition of usury, the charging of
interest on loans. As economic activity expanded, however, the papacy became one of the first to insist that interest
should be paid on investments made at a risk. Because they were forbidden to hold land or engage in more
"acceptable" sources of economic enterprise, money changers in the Middle Ages were typically Jews. Christian
rulers gradually saw the advantage of having a class of men like the Jews who could supply capital for their use
without being liable to excommunication, and the money trade of western Europe by this means fell into the hands
of the Jews. The Franciscans indicted in their sermons individual cities for permitting such practices of usury within
their walls. Michele Carcano (1427-1484) was a gifted Italian Franciscan preacher. It was said that Christ appeared
to two Franciscan brothers in Perugia promising them to help them and the people suffering under the joke of high
interest loans by sending a preacher from the Holy Land to give a Lent sermon urging the establishment of a so
called Monte di Pieta. The Monte Pieta was essentially a pawnbroker and it operated as a charity, developed in cities
as a reform against money lending. The organizing principle, based on the benefit of the borrower and not the
profit of the lender, was viewed as a lesser evil than money lending. A pre-determined interest rate would be
applied to the loan and these profits were used to pay the expenses of operating the Monte di Pietà.
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FROM THE GUTENBERG PRESS.
32. [CATHOLICON] Original leaf from the "Catholicon" FOLIO. 1460 (but printed 1469.) In a cloth
folder. Rubricated.
£ 2500
The Summa grammaticalis quae vocatur Catholicon, or Catholicon (from the Greek universal), is a 13th-century
Latin dictionary which found wide use throughout Christendom. Some of the entries contain encyclopaedic
information, and a Latin grammar is also included. The work was created by John Balbi of Genoa, a Dominican. who
finished it on March 7, 1286. The work served in the late Middle Ages to interpret the Bible "correctly". The
educated citizen could gather from it the substantial knowledge of his time. From 1286 to the late 15th century it
was available mainly in manuscripts held by monastic libraries. The Catholicon was one of the first books to be
printed, using the new printing technology of Johannes Gutenberg in 1460.
Three issues can be distinguished in spite of identical typesetting: a) printed on vellum or Bull's Head paper; b) on
Galliziani paper; c) on Tower & Crown paper. This has given rise to the theory that issue a) was printed in 1460,
issue b) in 1469 and issue c) about 1472; Paul Needham argued convincingly that some copies of the Catholicon
were printed on Bull’s Head paper in 1460 with solid two-line slugs of cast type, and that these slugs were used
again to print more copies on the later paper stocks c. 1469 and 1472-74.We believe this to be 1469. This leaf
most likely does not come from the "Catholicon" incunabulum that was broken and sold together with an essay by
Margaret Bingham.
FIRST COLLECTED EDITION OF PETRARCHS WORKS IN LATIN.
34. PETRARCA, F. Opera Latina. Basel 1496. Folio. 389 leaves (including the last blank), contemporary
wooden boards. Spine restored. Complete but title page supplied from another copy.
£ 8000
This is the first Latin edition of his collected works, edited by the great humanist Sebastian Brant. It includes all
works of Petrarch (91304-1374), each with a separate title page. A beautiful wide margined copy in its first
binding. 290 mm x 215 mm. Hain 12749; GW M31505, Goff P-365;
EXCEPTIONAL GOTHIC CHAIN BINDING.
35. PETRUS LOMBARDUS/ST. BONAVENTURE. Quaestiones super III-IV libros sententiarum Petri
Lombardi cum textu eiusdem. Nuremberg, Anton Koberger, (after 2 March) 1491. Folio 2 parts in one
volume. 218 leaves plus 272 leaves. H 3540. Goff P-486. GW M32527 (referring to all four sections
plus table). LATE GOTHIC CHAIN BINDING from the Carmelite convent in Bamberg ( Kyriss, 52) and
identified the binder as Johannes de Meien'.
£ 20.000
First edition of the "Sententiae" of Lombardus with the commentary of St. Bonaventure, edited by Johannes
Beckenhaub. This was THE theological textbook in the high and late Middle Ages (the 13th, 14th, and 15th
centuries). A commentary on the Sentences was required of every master of theology, and was part of the
examination system. At the end of lectures on Lombard's work, a student could apply for bachelor status within the
theology faculty. Institutional libraries would fasten their most valuable books to a horizontal iron bar running along
the desk.
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WINE MAKING, AGRICULTURE AND HUSBANDRY.
36. SCRIPTORES REI RUSTICAE. Edited by Philippus Beroaldus (1453-1505) after Georgius Merula
(1430/31-1494) and Franciscus Colucia (fl. 15th century): Marcus Porcius CATO (234-149 B.C.). De re
rustica. Marcus Terentius VARRO (116-27 B.C.). De re rustica. - L. Junius Moderatus COLUMELLA (fl. c.
36-ca. 65 A.D.). De re rustica. Commentary by Pomponius Laetus (1428-1497). - Rutilius Taurus
PALLADIUS (fl. 4th century). De re rustica. Commentary by Antonius Urceus Codrus (1446-1500).
Reggio Emilia: Dionysius Bertochus, 18 September 1496. Folio. 272 leaves. Bibliographical references:
Goff S349; HC 14569, GW M41055. Numerous woodcut initials which are tinted by a contemporary
hand. Sixteenth-century German blind-stamped pigskin over wooden boards, central stamp of Justice
on upper cover and Lucretia on lower cover, 4 bosses on each cover. First few leaves frayed at for edge
with some loss but not touching text, quires C & D soiled at head with a few small wormholes. The
outer edges of the two German books bound in are tin, due told traces of mould.
£ 8500
The texts in this book form the principal source of information on Roman agriculture and rural life, treating the
cultivation of vines and olives, farming, beekeeping, and the breeding and grazing of livestock. Cato's treatise -the oldest surviving complete prose work in Latin -- includes much on ancient customs and superstitions, and
sheds light on the transition from small landholdings to capitalistic farming in Latium and Campania in the second
century B.C. Columella wrote his 10th book, a treatise on gardening in hexameters, as a continuation of Virgil's
Georgics, Virgil having written that he was leaving it to others to write about gardening. This is the first book
printed at Reggio Emilia by the quasi-itinerant Bolognese printer Dionysius Bertochus, who worked in six different
Italian cities between 1481 and the end of the century, moving from Vicenza to Treviso to Venice to Bologna, and
finally settling in Reggio Emilia and Modena. Christies sale record 23 April 2001, 21.150$
BOUND IN :
A. XII Bucher von dem Feldbau und vollkommener Bestellung eines ordentlichen Mayershofs, oder Landguts. Pietro
de Crescenzi Straßburg Jobin 1586. Illustrated throughout with numerous woodcuts. [6] 1-566, [6] Printers mark on
last page dated 1583. No copy worldwide with the title XII Bucher, although other editions exist. Profusely
illustrated.
B. Paralipomena Et Marginalia Hortvlanica. Das ist, Gartenkunst zum Feldbuch angehörig Jobin 1586, 22 pages. last
leaves damaged. Rare.
HOW YOUNG BOYS SHOULD BEHAVE!
37. STATUTA VEL PRAECEPTA SCHOLARIUM. [Leipzig: Printer of Capotius (Martin Landsberg or Andreas
Frisner), about 1488] Bilingual text with Latin and German, with Thomas de Aquino: Epistola de modo
adipiscendi scientiam. 8vo, 8 leaves. ISTC No.: is00758800.
£ 11.000
Exceedingly rare. Two copies worldwide know. There is however a, equally rare variant edition know, in the BSB in
Munich there is a variant edition (GW 6025), this text ends with the words ‘Laus Deo’, our copy with the words ‘Deo
gratias’. The text praises education and spells out the rules of conduct for young boys. It is totally bi-lingual text.
One sentence in German , another in Latin.
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ARAB ASTRONOMY
38. ABD AL-ʻAZĪZ IBN ʻ UTHMĀN. Preclarũ sũmi in astrorũ scientia principis. Alchabitii opus ad
scrutanda stellarum magisteria isagogicum, pristino candori nuperrime restitutum ab ... Antonio de
Fantis Tarvisino, qui notabilem ejusdem auctoris libellum De plantarum conjunctionibus nusquam
antea impressum addidit ... cum ... Joannis de Saxonia commentario
Venetijs : In edibus Petri Liechtenstein, 1521. 8vo. 64 leaves. Large printer's device printed in red and
black at end. Contemporary vellum. Woodcut diagrams in the text.
£ 7500
The author (known in Latin as Alcabitius, died 967), was a famous Arab astrologer and mathematician who lived in
the palace of Saif Al-Dawla Al-Hamdani in Aleppo, Syria. He is best known for his Introduction to the Art of
Judgments of the Stars (Liber isagogicus) a treatise on judicial astrology or the forecasting of events from the
positions of planets and stars. The book offered here is more uncommon, it contains the Liber isagogicus (or in
Arabic al-Madkhal ilā ṣinā‘at aḥkām al-nujūm) but also contains other, less known texts. Preclarum summi in
astrorum scientia principis, Libellus de planetarum, De planetarum conjunctionibus. The last copy at auction was in
1969.
SAMMELBAND OF THREE COMMENTARIES ON ARISTOTLE
39. (A.) ALMAIN (JACQUES). Embammata phisicalia. [colophon] : Paris, Jean Barbier, 14 février 1506.
Moreau, I, 1506, n°5. I-CXV [9] register.
Known copies http://bp16.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb41873669s
6 worldwide. There is variant edition printed by Regnault, same year that is less nice, since it is missing the nice
wood cut of an astromer on the verso side of the title page.
(B.) Perez de Olivan (Agustin). Argutissime totius[que] posterioristice resolutionis questiones īpenso perspicacissimi
artium enodatoris labore. [Au colophon] : Paris, Jean Barbier, 14 octobre 1506. Moreau, I, 1506, n°144. XCIX, [4].
Renouard 97.
A text of the utmost rarity, one copy only in Fribourg. With an attractive woodcut of a scholar on the title page.
(C.) Ailly (Pierre d'). Posterior a Magistri petri de allicao cum additionibus magistri Roberti cenalis. [Au colophon] :
Paris, Olivier Senant, 26 septembre 1506. Moreau, I, 1506, n°1. Armes du roi de France et de la reine Anne de
Bretagne gravées sur bois au titre. 82 (not numbered) leaves. I have traced only one copy worldwide
http://www.sudoc.fr/158483901
£ 8000
Three works in an interesting and beautiful Gothic binding with Griffins and Dragons. Expertly rebacked.
THE BOOK OF THE DEVIL.
40. D'AMERVAL, ELOY. Le livre de la deablerie.
Paris, Michel Le Noir, 1508. Small folio. 23 leaves printed in two columns. With full-page title woodcut
and half-page woodcut at the beginning of the text. Splendid 19th- century red morocco, signed "F.
Bedford”. Corners of ff. M4-5 neatly remargined without loss to text. The first page is most likely in
facsimile, because it is on a different stock of paper.
£ 6500
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Excessively rare! There are worldwide 11 copies (in two variants), only one is in the US in the Pierpont Morgan
Library. Written at the close of the fifteenth century and published in 1508, this long poem by Eloy d'Amerval is
one of the last of the rich series of medieval dream vision poems that includes the Roman de la Rose and the
Pelerinage de la Vie Humaine. The book is classified in literature as a belonging to the Demonomanie The author
eavesdrops on a diabolic dialogue between Satan and his ambitious henchman, Lucifer. The later brags on his
success in luring sinners into the infernal realm. The vices of merchants, innkeepers, tradesmen, peasants,
nobleman and the clergy are all vividly described in every lurid detail.
For example: Gambling and hunting (book II, chapters 1-17), Marriage and family life (II, chapters 126-149). Of
course also scholarship (II, chapters 82-93) has its moral faults, such as concupiscence, cunning and pride.
D’Amerval describes by way of contrast, the behaviour of the virtuous and tell us that he is happy that there are not
more of the latter, because otherwise the devils' domain would be less thronged! Eloy is apt at delivering an
impressive number of profanities. With its humour and richness of language, the dialogue between both devils must
be considered unique for its time. The poem's cultural significance is amplified by its references to music, musical
instruments and musicians heard at French and Burgundy courts during the 15th century. Eloy’s List” has come to
be regarded as a nascent “Who’s Who” of late fifteenth-century composers. The text also sheds light upon April’s
fool’s day in the sentence "maquereau infâme de maint homme et de mainte femme, poisson d'avril." Overall a
fascinating glimpse into the life and customs of a broad spectrum of French society on the eve of the Reformation:
its customs and manners, its food and its dress, its work and its play. And as an historical document, it bears
witness to the medieval conception of Hell and the representatives of Good and Evil.
Eloy, apparently from Amerval in the Pas-de-Calais, was probably born before 1440; he was a singer, choirmaster
and composer of note and spent most of his life serving in institutions connected with the French royal court in the
region of the Loire Valley. Le livre de la deablerie was finally published in 1508, but it is not known how long he
lived after that. King Louis XII granted him explicit permission
A SPLENDID 16th CENTURY COSTUME BOOK, COLORED BY A FRIEND OF BYRON.
41. AMMAN, JOST/WEIGEL, HANS. Habitus praecipuorum populorum, tam virorum quam foeminarum
singulari arte depicti. Trachtenbuch darin fast allerley und der furnembsten Nationen die heutigs tags
bekandt sein. Nuremberg, Hans Weigel, 1577. Folio. 161 plates (instead of 220) hand-numbered
woodcuts in early 18th-century colour, mounted on backing paper and missing parts supplemented by
hand. Later half calf with 18th-century spine label. All edges sprinkled in red.
£ 11.000
First edition of Amman's celebrates encyclopaedic book of costumes. A fragmented copy, as usual; in the early 19th
century, the plates were mounted on backing paper by the owner, the trained landscape painter Jakob Linckh
(1786-1841) from Stuttgart (cf. Thieme/B. 23, 254), who also coloured the volume throughout and supplemented
all missing parts of the images and even of the text by hand. Linckh, who had studied in Rome, visited Greece in
1810. There he met Byron, who commissioned him to provide the illustrations for Hobhouse's travel book. - Wants
59 plates altogether. The remaining plates are trimmed.
Although the present collection begins with the plate showing the Emperor, as originally issued, the remaining
woodcuts follow no apparent order. 20 plates show costumes of Turkey, Arabia, Persia, Egypt, and Ethiopia; others
depict Greeks, Russians, and Englishmen. 28 plates show the costumes of today's Italy; German cities are well
represented, as are France and Spain, Bohemia and Hungary. Also includes the famous picture of the Brazilian
Tupinamba Indians: a man with a crown and belt of feathers, a knife, and a bow and arrow, beside a long-haired
woman carrying a baby in a knotted sling. The illustration is an adaptation of two cuts from the "Recueil de la
diversité des habits" (Paris, 1562; Antwerp, 1572) by Francois Descerpz, "one of the first likenesses of the Brazilian
Indian" (Borba de Moraes). For comparison, in 1994, 53 coloured woodcut engravings made 8050 GBP. Complete
copies are never found in the auction records.
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MAGIC, SEX, CRIME, LOVE AND REDEMPTION IN A POST INCUNABULA
42. APULEIUS, L. (Asinus aureus) cum commento Beroaldi (et) figuris noviter additis. Venedig, G.
Tacuino, 1516. Folio. [14] 168 leaves. Bound in old vellum antiphon leaf. Small repair to the title
page. loss of 1 letter of title and few words verso of title due to repaired tear. Tiny womhole affecting
about 12 leaves. With 36 woodcuts in the text (four repeated).
£ 2550
The Golden Ass by Apuleius is a unique, entertaining, and thoroughly readable Latin novel - the only work of fiction
in Latin to have survived in entirety from antiquity. It tells the story of the hero Lucius, whose curiosity and
fascination for sex and magic results in his transformation into an ass. After suffering a series of trials and
humiliations, he is ultimately transformed back into human shape by the kindness of the Goddess Isis.
Simultaneously a blend of romantic adventure, fable, and religious testament, the Golden Ass is one of the truly
seminal books of European Literature It includes as its famous centrepiece the myth of Cupid and Psyche, the search
of the human soul for union with the divine, and has been the inspiration for numerous creative works of literature
and art since the Renaissance.
The large and attractive cuts in this edition do not seem to be the same as in the 1510 printing, deemed mediocre
by Essling. No copies in the trade.
PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED FRENCH PICTURE BIBLE. BIBLIA BIBLIORVM OPVS SACROSANCTVM
43. BIBLIA LATINA. Lyon, Mareschal august 1532. Folio, full-page woodcut opposite first page of text
and two others, approximate 110 woodcut illustrations within text, woodcut initials. [8], 276, [22]
leaves. Later leather binding, rubbed. Last index leaf repaired with loss of text.
£ 2200
Profusely illustrated French bible. The woodcut of the Nativity scene is a very close copy of Hans Springinklee's
woodcut for the 1520 Lyon edition of the Bible (Mortimer, Harvard French 63), with a different artist's monogram.
ILLUSTRATED LAW.
44. BONIFACE VIII. Sextus decretalium liber, Venice: Antonio Giunta, 1514, 5 parts in one volume.
Modern full calf binding. 7 first leaves missing, but replaced in a 17th century hand. CCLXXXVIII, CXX,
LXIV, LXIV. XI.
£ 1900
An impressive post incunabulum with over 130 woodcuts. Last copy sold in Italy for 3600 Euro, since the first leaves
are replaced in a 17th century hand.
ROMAN TABLE MANNERS.
45. CHACON, PEDRO. De triclinio, sive, de modo convivandi apud priscos romanos, & de conviviorum
apparatu. Accedit Fulvii Ursini appendix. Heidelberg, Hieronymus Commelinus in Zusammenarbeit mit
der Genfer] Officina Sanctandreana, 8vo. 1590. [4], 192, [12] pages. With woodcut printer's device to t.
p. and four large woodcuts. 18th century dark brown calf, rubbed.
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£ 1000
De Triclinio is a treatise about dining habits of the ancient Romans, along with their food, drink, wine, guests,
etiquette, table dressing and background music for eating with four large in-text woodcuts depicting Roman feasts,
and including relevant texts by classical authors such as Ovid, Terence, and Propertius. Last copy sold at Christies in
2005, for 2200 €
EARLY SCIENCE & ESOTERISM.
46. CHAMPIER, SYMPHORIEN. Liber de Quadruplici Vita. Theologia Asclepii, And other Works: Hermetis
Trismegisti discipuli -- Silve médicinales de Simplicibus, cum nonnullis in medice facultatis praxim
introductoriis ... Tropheum Gallorum quadruplicem eorundem complectens his-toriam. -- De ingressu
Ludovici XII. Francorum regis in Urbem Genu am ... De claris Lugdunensibus. -- De Gallorum
Scriptoribus.... De Campis for Stephanas Gueynardus & Jacobus Huguetannus, 31 July 1507. Large 8vo.
140 leaves. Contemporary limp vellum, Ex Libris L Froissart. Title page with two erased stamps,
vaguely legible, water stain in the corner, from leaf 120 onwards. Spine starts to detach from the
woodblock.
£ 6500
First edition of this collection of mostly scientific writings by himself and others, gathered by Symphorien Champier
(c. 1471-1537). The book of quadruple life (mimicking De triplici vita by Ficino], The theology of Ascelpius, disciple
of Hermes Trismegistus, The handbook of Sixtus, a Pythagorean philosopher and others
Title in red within a woodcut-border. On fol. a 6 a curious woodcut of the martyrdom of St. Symphorianus, with S.
Champier and his wife kneeling in prayer beside their armorial bearings, a special prayer to St. Symphorien beneath,
the whole within a composite woodcut-border. This woodcut is repeated six times in this book. --In the second Part
there is a woodcut of St. Louis, King of France, on A III. and two very interesting metal cuts (gravures interrasiles) on
A8 and E8 one of the Adoration of the Magi; the other a bishop kneeling before a pope) printed from the original
blocks, appearing first in the Turrecremata, printed by J. Neumeister at Albi, 1481, (Dibdin : Bibl. Spenc. IV. 39-42.)
Last copy at auction in 1995 (The Collection of Otto Schafer Part III: Illustrated Books and Historical Bindings) , made
8625$ against an 7000 to 10.000 $ estimated.
POLYGLOT EDITION.
47. CHERPONTII, JOHANNIS. Libelli aliquot formandis turn iuventutibus moribus opera & studio Geneva.
1581. 16mo. 335 pages. Modern binding.
£ 300
Rare, small polyglot edition of this compendium, published by the French philologist and teacher Jean Cherpont
(1557-1586). Includes three texts of classical pedagogy: Plutarch's "Booklet of the children discipline," the two
"speeches of Isocrates to Demonikos and Nicocles" and an excerpt from the Christian ethic of the influential
humanist theologian Lambert Daneau (ca. 1530-1595). The text is printed in four parallel columns in the languages
of Greek, Latin, French and German. Every language has been set in a separate type, the German text in an unusual
hybrid of cursive and Gothic type.
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ITALIAN PHYSICIAN ON ARABIC MEDICINE.
48. DELFINO, GIULIO. Quaestiones medicinales nunc primum in lucem editae. Venice 1565. 8vo.
Contemporary vellum binding. 96 leaves.
£ 1000
Not much is known about Giulio Delfino. He was born in Pavia and lived in the mid-sixteenth century and died in
Mantua. This book on medical questions is rare. It deals with the temperaments and the diseases they cause,
cauterization (ways to stop heavy bleeding) fever, but for and foremost there is an entire chapter on the spirit (ruh
in Arabic) by Avicenna page 80-87. There is no auction record for this work and its not be found anywhere In the
trade.
CHRISTIAN MYSTICISM
49. DIONYSIUS THE AREOPAGITE: Cælestis hierarchia, Ecclesiastica hierarchia, Divina nomina, Mystica
theologia, undecim epistolæ, Ignatii undecim epistolæ. Polycarpi epistola una. Tacuino de Tridino,
Venezia, 1502. Folio. Contemporary vellum. [6] CXXXXIII. Last bank not present.
£ 1850
The fundamental thesis of Pseudo-Dionysius is the absolute incomprehensibility of God. We can of course approach
the Divine nature by an affirmative theology, as in the Bible which speaks continuously of the goodness and
greatness of God, but as we realize our inadequacy of human concepts, we may choose the negative approach and
say that God is utterly incomprehensible and thus emphasizes the divine transcendence. It is also a book of great
typographical beauty with a number of engravings in the text.
DEMONS, SPELLS, WIZARDS AND WITCHCRAFT.
50. GRILLANDUS, PAULUS. Tractat[us] de hereticis : et sortilegijs omnifariam coitu: eorumq[ue] penis.
Ite[m] de questionibus: [et] tortura: ac de relaxatio[n]e carceratorum domini Pauli Grillandi Castilionei:
vltima hac impressione summa cura castigat[u]s: additis vbilibet su[m]maris: prepositoq[ue] perutili
reptorio speciales sente[n]tias aptissime continente. Lyon. 1536. Small 8 vo. [16] leaves cxxviij leaves.
Bound in old vellum. Tear to upper corner of title with minor loss to border, a few leaves reinforced at
inner margin, some soiling and browning.)
£ 2200
Grillandus was a papal judge in the witch trials that took place around Rome. The title of the book literally translates
as "Treatise on heretics and witches …" and is probably the most influential work on witchcraft published before the
middle of the sixteenth century. Because it was so frequently quoted, it continued to be an influence on later
demonologists. The text covers a wide area: demonology, pacts with the devil, possession, the witches sabbat,
transvection, maleficia (evil spells), the use of poppets or dolls, and potions. He also emphasized the intense
pleasure of diabolic intercourse of woman with the devil: "maxima cum voluptate." It is said that the cool prose of
his catalogue of horrors makes the thing as vivid as it is gruesome. The titles of the chapters speak for themselves:
Hereticis, Sortilegiis, De Penis' Omnifariam Coitus, De Questionibus Tortura.
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FIRST EDITION OF GREEK LEXICON PUBLISHED IN A GERMAN-SPEAKING COUNTRY.
51. HESYCHIUS OF ALEXANDRIA. Dictionarium. Hagenau: Thomas Ansheim, Dec, 1521. Folio, half
vellum, with marble boardsl. 19th C binding, clean copy. Text in double column in Greek, partly
rubricated in red and yellow. [1] 1-776 [1].
£ 2200
The first Greek book printed at Hagenau. Accordingly the work is of great value to the student of Greek dialects and
in the restoration of obscure texts generally: in the case of author's such as Aeschylus and Theocritus who often
used unusual words it is more or less essential. It is also valuable in the deciphering of inscriptions and it often
presents a correct reading where this has been replaced in the Greek literary text by an easier synonym. Hesychius'
explanation of many epithets and phrases has also revealed important information about the religious and social
life of ancient Greece which would otherwise be lost. According to the author his lexicon is based on that of
Diogeniarius, itself an extract from an earlier work of Pamphilus and he also employed in its compilation similar
works by Aristarchus, Apian, Heliodorus and others. The printer's emblem by Hans Baldung Grien is called "one of
his best works" .
AN IMPORTANT BOOK PLATE
52. JUVENAL-PERSIUS. [Satyrae]. Venice: Aldus and Andreae Torresani, August 1501 (but ca 1515).
Venetiis in aedibus Aldi, et Andreae Soceri mense Augusto MDI). 76 pages. Bound With...CATULLUS. C.
Valerii Catulli Veronensis liber I. Alb. Tibvlli Eqvitis Romani Libri IIII, Sex. Basil : Henricus Petrus, 1530.
[8], 192 2 vols. in 1, 8vo.,16 x Blindstamped calf over wooden boards, rubbed with loss to spine.
Front cover detached. Provenance: The Pomer-Kloss-Soaper copy; sold at the celebrated auction of Dr.
Kloss (1835), then in 1927 in the ABPC for $13.00 (incorrectly listed as 'Powers-Kloss-Soaper')
£ 2500
The value of this book lies in the unusual early bookplate of Hector Pomer, in-situ, 145 x 87 mm with full borders; a
fine impression. The bookplate does not appear in Strauss (Albrecht Durer Woodcuts and Wood Blocks. NY,
1980), but bears strong resemblance to the other known large bookplate with the Coat of Arms of Hector Pomer
attributed now to Sebald Beham, but formerly attributed to Albrecht Dürer. Hector Pomer (1495-1541) was
ordained priest in 1520, and became provost of the church of St. Laurence at Nuremberg. The four corners
escutcheons are interpreted as those of his father, Hector Tomer (d.1499) (the arms), his paternal grandmother,
Brigitta Kummel (two cocks), his mother, Anna Schmiedmaier (three roses), and his maternal grandmother, a
Bergmeute (geese) [See: BM Catalogue of Early German and Flemish Woodcuts, Vol 1.]
EXCEEDINGLY RARE HEBREW GRAMMAR.
53. [KITSUR IN HEBREW] Sive compendium, quantacunque ratione fieri potuit, amplissimum, totius
linguae sanctae, Iochannis Bolezaei arrotensis diligentia, in iuventutis gratiam collectum. 1566. Paris
Martinum Iuuenem. Folio, wide margins, 39 pages. Contemporary limp vellum binding.
£ 2250
Very rare Hebrew grammar in Latin by Johannes Bolezaeus. The full title is Sive Compendium, quantacunque Ratione
fieri potuit, ampliffimun, totius Linguae Sanctae. The pressmark on the title page is of a serpent coiled about a staff
, which is held at the bottom by two hands. There is a Latin preface, followed by a nine column chart showing the
numbers letters of the Hebrew alphabet in square and cursive form with Hebrew and Latin names. Following pages
show punctuation, rules of grammar in Latin, pages of conjugations, some entirely in Hebrew others with detailed
Latin explanations. The compendium is a thorough and comprehensive introduction to Hebrew grammar. Less then
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ten copies worldwide. Not at Princeton. Harvard or Yale. One copy in the Folger library in the US, one in the Middle
Temple Library in London. No copy in Germany.
SAMMELBAND WITH THE MACROBIUS WORLDMAP.
54. MACROBIUS, AMBROSIUS THEODOSIUS. In somnium Scipionis Libri duo: et septem eiusdem libri
Saturnaliorum Macrobius, Ambrosius Theodosius. Cologne: Eucharius Cervicornus, 1521. [5 leaves]. ICXLVI. Printers mark on Verso Bound in: Auli Gellii noctium atticarum libri undeviginti : cum gratia et
privilegio imperiali ad sexennium. Printed in Strassburg 1517. Aedibus Ioannis Knoblouchi, Mense
Mario. Anno M.D.XVII. Ductu Matthiæ Shurerij. [10] 106 pages [26]. Folio. The entire work has scattered
needle like wormholes throughout, although not affecting the important Macrobius map. Bound in: M.
Fabii Quintiliani Oratoriarum institutionum lib. XII. una cum Declamationibus eiudem argutissimis, ad
horrendæ vetustatis exemplar repositis, diligenterque impressis. Coloniæ in ædibus Eucharii Cervicorni
& Heronis Fuchs. Anno virginei partus. M.D.XII. mense martio. (1521). [6] I-CLIX.
£ 4850
Macrobius wrote his Expositio In Somnium Scipionis ex Cicerone [Commentary on the Dream of Scipio by Cicero] in
the early fifth century, Macrobius transmitted to future generations some part of classical science when the original
works were lost. The value of this work lies in the Macrobius world map. The phantom of Terra Australis, an
unknown south-land, haunted the minds and maps of cosmographers for more than two millennia. It was felt that
an undiscovered southern continent had to exist because the known land masses of the southern hemisphere were
not sufficient to balance those of the northern half of the globe. The notion of such balance is enshrined in the
Macrobian world map, first envisioned in the 5th century and presented here in the version from 1521. Te polar
extremities are declared frozen (frigida). The southern continent, is called temperata antipodum nobis incognita
(“the temperate zone of the Antipodes which is unknown to us”). In the North you can see the mythical Island of
Thule also spelled Thula, Thila, or Thyïlea.
Please note that this version is not comparable to the latter maps much reduced in size!
Attic Nights is, a commonplace book, or compilation of notes on grammar, philosophy, history, antiquarianism and
other subjects, preserving fragments of many authors and works who otherwise might be unknown today. The
Institutio Oratoria (English: Institutes of Oratory) is a twelve-volume textbook on the theory and practice of rhetoric
by Roman rhetorician Quintilian. It was published around year 95 CE. The work deals also with the foundational
education and development of the orator himself.
DUELLING AND FENCING.
55. MAROZZO, A. Opera nova. Venice, M. Sessa Erben, 1568 (Colophon 1567). Quarto. With woodcut
title and 83 (55) full page woodcut, a greatly enlarged edition. Lightly browned, somewhat spotted in
places, light water staining to a few leaves. [4] 131 pages. This is one of two editions that where
published the same year.
£ 3700
Marozzo is generally looked upon as the first writer of note on the art of fencing. It would be perhaps wiser to
consider him as the greatest teacher of the old school, the rough and undisciplined swordsmanship of which
depended as much on dash and violence and sudden inspiration as on carefully cultivated skill. Marozzo was a
Bolognese, but he kept his school in Venice. His reputation was very great, to judge from the numerous editions of
his works, five of which were published between 1536 and 1615." (Castle). After an introduction how to handle the
sword, Marozzo explains how it can be combined with a shield, a dagger, a cape... he then proceeds with some
remarks on "fast" weapons such as the lance, and ends with a philosophical approach to the subject.
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AN EARLY TRAVEL GUIDE TO THE STATUES OF ROME.
56. MAURO, LUCIO. Le antichità della città di Roma, brevissimamente raccolte da chiunque hà scritto, ò
antico, ò modern. Venezia Ziletti 1562. Without the last printers mark.
£ 750
As the title states, the 1562 edition is „in questa quarta impressione ricorretta“. It contains additional pages, ones
which are missing from the 1556 edition, where several collections are not reported Ulisse Aldrovandi's Delle statue
antiche is unquestionably the most important source for the collection of ancient statuary in Rome in the first half of
the sixteenth century. It is also an early and important work on statuary and sculpture in general, a topic treated by
relatively few treatises. Aldrovandi’s work has been fundamental for documenting the sculpture gardens and
collections of antiquities that existed in Rome around 1550, for reconstructing the contents and the appearance of
single collections, and for establishing the provenance and tracing the history of single statues. In the edition of
1562, “questa quarta impressione ricorretta“, as Ziletti prints on the title page, the pages which obviously had been
inadvertently omitted in first edition were added. The visitor to Rome begins his itinerary in the papal gardens of the
Vatican, whence he proceeds to other, mainly private collections; in addition to statues, portrait heads, and busts.
The work is rare at auction and not available in the trade.
THE FIRST PRINTED MEDIEVAL WORLDMAP EVER!
57. MER DES HISTOIRES. Le premier volume de la mer des histoires & Auquel & le second ensuyuãt. Est
contenu tant du vieil testament que du nouueau toutes les Hystoires / Actes et Faictz dignes de
memoire / puis la creation du Monde. [LES ANGELIERS ] 1543. Large folio, [12] I-CCLVIII/[4], I-CCIV. A
very pleasing clean copy. A few small tears in some of the pages. The world map is in perfect condition
(40 cm x 32.5 cm) The Holy Land map is slightly trimmed on the left and the right side
£ 14.500
This is an illustrated historical encyclopaedia in Latin and one of the earliest printed universal chronicles. The
Rudimentum Novitiorum as the work is called in Latin, was first printed in Lübeck by Lucas Brandis as his most
ambitious work. It runs to 475 pages, richly illustrated with more than 150 woodcuts. The account starts with the
creation of the world and ends with the year 1473, with the usual subdivision into the six aetates. It presents a
synopsis of Christ's ancestors, of Jewish high priests, judges and Biblical rulers and of Roman Emperors It was
printed in French, in 1491 and is considered one of the most extensively illustrated French incunables. La Mer des
histoires ( A sea of stories) This Rudimentum combines secular and ecclesiastical history, ancient history and pagan
mythology; twenty-nine Aesop's Fables are incorporated into the "Fifth Age". The French translation contains
additional material on the kings of France and is accompanied by a martyrology by Usardus. In the Latin edition the
world map is identical, only much bigger in size, making it more valuable. The 1475 edition sold for over 1 million
dollars in 2013. This French edition was printed in 1543. It contains, the world map and the map of the Holy land.
Numerous woodcut illustrations in text, one full-page, one of the crucifixion 3/4-page, many full-page woodcut
genealogical tables.
The maps
The world map in this book, is the FIRST printed world map EVER! Asia is at the top, Europe and Africa below the
diameter where Asia ends. Paradise is located in the far east, with the four rivers issuing forth from the Garden of
Eden and flowing through the lands of the earth. The Holy Land is in the centre of the map with the Pillars of
Hercules at the bottom.
The map seems to focus on the large continental divisions rather than on the exact geographical relationship
between places. Thus the cartographer wanted the readers to know that Alexandria was in Africa, Persia was in Asia,
and Venice belonged to Europe, rather than to give the precise location of each place. The placement of countries
within their respective division of the world often seems to be based on other factors than distance and direction.
Thus Rome is placed near the centre of Europe, and Carthage occupies the similar position of honour in Africa. The
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inclusion of places from Biblical history, classical times, and mythology emphasize that the function of the map was
not to provide a picture of the world as it was in 1475 but to present an interesting view of the world with some
essential things that a beginning student should know about it. This is why the book is called in Latin, a Handbook
for beginners.
The 1475 map of the Holy Land however is regarded as the first modern printed map of Palestine because it is not
derived from a classical source (Ptolemy), nor is it in the circular schematic format characteristic of medieval maps.
It does retains two attributes of earlier maps: it is "oriented" with east at the top, and Jerusalem is at the centre. The
geographic information is taken largely from a now lost manuscript map made two centuries earlier by a Dominican
pilgrim, Burchard of Mt. Sion. In this bird's-eye view, topographic features are portrayed with reasonable accuracy,
and cities and regions are depicted as stylized hills.
APOCALYPSE NOW!
58. MIRABILIS LIBER QUI PROPHETIAS Revelationesque necnon res mirandas preteritas presentes &
futuras aperte demonstrat] Mirabilis liber qui prophetias Reuelationesq[ue] necnon res mirandas
preteritas presentes & futuras: aperte demonstrat : ... In duas partes presens liber distinguetur.
Paris, Guillaume Bossozel for Girault, around 1531]
CX, XXXIII Bl. ; 8vo. Text in Latin & French. Bound in 19th century pastiche Gothic binding by Gruel.
£ 3200
The Mirabilis liber (Mirabilis liber qui prophetias revelationesque, necnon res mirandas, preteritas, presentes et
futuras, aperte demonstrat...) is an anonymous and formerly very popular compilation of predictions by various
Christian saints and divines that was published in France in 1522 (though purportedly published in Rome in 1524,
probably because it was the date of an important and long-anticipated planetary alignment) and reprinted several
times thereafter. It is not to be confused with the almost contemporary Liber mirabilis. As the above indicates, the
book—whose only known complete translation (by Edouard Bricon) was published in French in 1831—had two parts,
the first in Latin and the second, shorter, in French. It contained prophecies of fire, plague, famine, floods,
earthquakes, droughts, comets, brutal occupations and bloody oppressions. The Church would collapse, the Pope
be forced to flee Rome. Such predictions made it extremely popular at the time of the French Revolution, when
crowds besieged the French Bibliothèque Nationale to see it. Indeed, many nineteenth-century catalogues
suggested that it had predicted the Revolution itself. But above all the book predicted a supposedly imminent Arab
invasion of Europe, the advent of the Antichrist and the subsequent End of the World. The Mirabilis liber seems to
have served as a major source for the prophecies of Nostradamus, and was placed on the Lisbon version of the
Church's Index of Forbidden Books in 1581.
16th CENTURY LOVE LETTER WRITING.
59. OPERA AMOROSA , che insegna a componer lettere et a rispondere a persone d'amor ferite over in
amor viventi, in toscha lingua composta, con piacer non poco et diletto di tutti gli amanti, laqual si
chiama il Rifugio di amanti. 1533. 32 leaves. Modern card board binding.
£ 650
An Amorous Work that teaches how to write letters and to reply to persons wounded by love. Renaissance woman
had available manuals on how to write letters for all occasions. These books where bestsellers in their own right,
catering to a new bourgeois class that was discovering (and rewriting at the same time) the rules of conduct. One of
the most popular handbooks was the one by Giovanni Antonio Tagliente. It is the first printed letter book to
concentrate exclusively on love letters and appropriate replies to such declarations of love. With a nice woodcut on
the verso side of the last leaf, depicting the Archangel Michael, Tobiah and the dog. A well know subject in
Renaissance paintings, that alludes to love, since it deals with the marriage of Tobias and Sarah at the end of the
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story. This edition published in 1533, first published in 1527 as Rifugio di amanti. The book has not come up for
auction since 1974 and is not be founded in the trade.
PLUTARCH IN A CELEBRATED TRANSLATION.
60. PLUTARQUE. Les Oeuvres morales & meslees de Plutarque, translatees de Grec en François, reveuës
& corriges en ceste troisieme Édition en plusieurs passage par le Translateur. Paris, Michel de
Vascosan, 1575. Folio. Renaissance binding. 5 leaves, dedication to Charles IX, 668 pages, privilege du
Roi and index. Two volumes in one. Ongoing pagination. Front and back cover, hinges weak and
starting to detach.
£ 1100
Translated by Jacques Amyot (30 October 1513 – 6 February 1593), French Renaissance writer and translator, a
celebrated translation. The Moralia loosely translatable as Matters relating to customs and mores of the 1st-century
Greek scholar Plutarch of Chaeronea is an eclectic collection of 78 essays and transcribed speeches. Many
generations of Europeans have read or imitated them, including Montaigne and the Renaissance Humanists and
Enlightenment philosophers.
A LANDMARK BOOK ON RENAISSANCE NUMISMATICS.
61. POIS, ANTOINE LE (1525-1578). Discours sur les medalles et graveures antiques, principalement
Romaines. Paris: Mamert Patisson at the premises of Robert Estienne, 1579. Quarto. 20th-century
quarter calf preserving early paper-covered boards. Estienne's engraved device on title, engraved
portrait on title verso, four full-page woodcut illustrations, the image of Priapus uncensored but with a
modesty flap bound-in, 20 engraved plates, woodcut illustrations (Without the final blank, title
repaired in the margins with small loss to the frame of the portrait, faint damp stain throughout, short
worm-track in the bottom margin of a few gatherings.)
£ 2000
FIRST EDITION of The work is witness to the importance given then to coins in the study of history. Le Pois is cited
in Alden and Landis, European Americana, because he records here the discovery in Brazil of an ancient coin, which
cast doubt on the anteriority of Columbus's discovery of America. The fine illustrations include the four statuettes
found at Soisson; that of Priapus, which is often defaced or torn, is here uncensored. Martin Folkes (1690-1754)
was a distinguished antiquarian and numismatist, whose extensive library was sold over the course of 40 days.
Adams L-522; The H. P. Kraus copy made 4,000 $ in 2003. No other complete copy in the trade.
EARLY LAW.
62. [SAMMELBAND ON LAW] Printed in Ingolstadt, Alexander und Samuel Weyssenhorn, 1567, 1566
and 1567. A. Dienstbarkheiten, Stattlicher und Bawrischer Erbaigen. [18] leaves 128 pages. B. De iure
emphyteutico. Baurecht die man sonst nendt Erbrecht. 27 leaves, last leaf blank. III. De iure et
privilegiis dotium. Recht und Freyhaiten der Heuratguter. [6] leaves, 42 pages. Folio. Bound in a 15th
century vellum antiphon leaf.
£ 1300
Third German publication. The main part consist of building regulations. The other parts deal with inheritance and
marriage law. Martin Pegius (1508? -1592). was a professor in Roman Law and counsellor to the Bishop of
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Salzburg. He published important legal works that where reprinted several times, stretching all the way to the first
half of the XVIII century. Pegius was also know for translating parts of the codex of Justinian.
TRAGEDIES OF SOPHOCLES IN GREEK.
63. SOPHOKLES. Tragoediae . Una cum omnibus Graecis scholiis & cum Latinis I. Camerarii.
Annotationes Henrici Stephani in Sophoclem & Euripidem, seorsum excusa, simul prodeunt. Geneva, H.
Estienne, 1568. Quarto [4], (461), pages; 242 pages. Modern vellum binding with marble boards.
£ 950
First Estienne edition. "The Greek text is followed by the commentary of Joachim Camerarius, and his Latin version
of Ajax and Electra. In his preface Henri Estienne states that his forthcoming Greek 'Thesaurus' will cite the text of
Sophocles after the page-reference of the present edition. He has again employed his peculiar system of diacritical
notations"
La Gierusalemme liberata. Commentary by S. Gentili and G. Guastavini.
64. TASSO, TORQUATO (1544-95). La Gierusalemme liberata. Commentary by S. Gentili and G.
Guastavini. Genoa: Girolamo Bertoli, 1590. 3 parts in one volume.4to., (240 x 175mm). Complete: 11
[1]; 225 [1 blank]; 71 [1]; 40 [8] pp; Title within an engraved border with a portrait of Tasso and inset
etching of harbor view. 20 full-page engraved illustrations after Bernardo Castello by Giacomo Franco
and Agostino Carracci (11 are engraved by Giacomo Franco, and 9 by Annibale Caracci), woodcut
cartouches, initials and head- and tailpiece. Internally, some general foxing as always, light lower
marginal damp stain affecting some leaves. Contemporary vellum with some spoiling; monogrammed
SBS green morocco bookplate to from paste-down. Adams T-243; Mortimer Harvard Italian, 494.
£ 2500
FIRST ILLUSTRATED edition of this famous text and considered one of the finest illustrated books of the period, a
project that combined the talents of painter Bernardo Castllo with the skills of Annibale Caracci who cut the plates.
It includes the Guastavini’s commentary (third B 3--6), sometimes missing likely as the result of an original
binding/collation error at printing. Brunet notes as well that in many copies, the illustration to Canto IV and Canto
V, " is an imperfection which greatly dimities the value of the book"; in this much rare copy both separate plates are
present. Nicola Francesco Haym as early as the late 17th century calls the edition with both plates "si rara, ch'è
difficile il invenirla".
A CELEBRATED POEM ON FALCONRY.
65. THOU, JAQUES-AUGUSTE DE. Hieracosophiou, sive de re accipitraria libri III. Paris, Robert Etienne
for Mamert Patisson, 1587. 8vo. 126 pp., final blank f. With printer's device on title page. Half vellum
(c. 1900) with marbled boards and giltstamped spine title. Edges sprinkled in red.
£ 3300
Third edition of the famous "Hieracosophion", the second to contain the third book. - "Celebrated poem on
falconry" (Schwerdt), written in Latin hexameters by Jacques-Auguste de Thou (1553-1617), a distinguished and
highly erudite French nobleman. "His poem was reprinted by N. Rigault in 'Rei Accipitrariae Scriptores' in 1612 and
also translated into Italian [...]
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He was in his twenties when he composed the elegant verses on hawking, which were probably inspired by the
experience he gained of this noble sport during his sojourns at foreign courts" (ibid.). On p. 7, we find "an
important note on the various kinds of hawks used for Falconry, with the Latin and French names for them"
(Harting). -. Cf. Brunet V, 840 (first ed. 1584). Not in Renouard or Schreiber. No other copy in the trade.
VENICE & VERONA.
66. VENIERO, BENEDETO. L’Unica maniera d’irigare Campagne Veronesi da due parti del’Adige,
principalemente con l’escrescenze sue facendo Navigationi, et Esicationi. Verona, Stamparia di
Girolamo Discepolo, 1594. 8vo. [6], 36, [119–126], [2], [41] - 108; printer’s mark to title, decorated
initials. Modern binding.
£ 800
First edition of an interesting and very rare proposal for the canalisation of the river Adige, both to gain arable land
rather than flood plains, and to make the river navigable. Since Venice had lost the supremacy of the seas, the Adige
had become of vital economic importance as the main trade route between Venice and the market places in
northern Europe. The project caused a lively debate the last decade of the sixteenth century because of the
diverging economic interests between Republic of Venice and the city of Verona, each represented by different
engineers. The rivalry between the engineers added to the highly polemical tone of this public planning debate.
Literature: L. Carpane-M. Menato, Annali della tipografia veronese del cinquecento. Baden-Baden, Koerner, 1994,
p.489, n. 543, see also Pietro Ricardi (Biblioteca Matematica Italiana, I, pt I, c. 587, and I, serie V, c. 16)
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AN EXCITING RARE WORLD MAP.
67. BONGARS, JACQUES. Orientalium expeditionum historia. Gesta Dei per Francos, sive Orientalium
expeditionum, et regni Francorum Hierosolimitani historia [...]. Hanau, typis Wechelianis, apud heredes
Joan. Aubry, 1611. Folio [56], 621, (1), 625-1207, (1) pages. Bound with: Sanudo, Marino. Liber
secretorum fidelium crucis super Terrae Sanctae recuperatione et conservatione [...] Orientalis historiae
tomus secundus. Ibid., 1611. [12], 361 pages (a double-page-sized folding plate numbered as 283f.).
Contemporary vellum with gilt stamped spine title.
£ 9500
Only edition of this early, important source book for the history of the crusades and the Kingdom of Jerusalem and
its vassal states. The much-sought maps, usually found in the second part, are here bound after the preliminary
matter of pt. 1. With double-page circular world-map centered on Jerusalem with the Mediterranean relatively well
defined. - Shirley 276 & plate 217, p. 300; A rare Portolan map of the World, the earliest surviving printed evidence
of Pietro Vesconte's World map created circa 1311, generally considered to be one of the earliest surviving
examples of a modern map of the World. 2. Double-page engr. "map of the Holy Land oriented to the east, divided
among the Tribes on both sides of the Jordan... the source for all the 'modern' maps of Palestine published in the
printed editions of Ptolemy's atlases. The original map was, however, first published in print in this edition" 3.
Double-page engr. map of the Eastern mediterranean oriented to the south with Cyprus, pictured as centre of the
eastern half with 14 names of places. - Not in Stylianou and Bank of Cyprus. 4-5. Sketch plans of ancient Jerusalem
& Acre, 2 full-page engravings. A copy in modern half vellum (severely browned, with some worming) commanded
13,000 Euros at Reiss's spring auction in 2009.
A PILGRIMAGE TO THE HOLY LAND WITH MERCATOR WORLD MAP (1632)
68. BUNTING, HENDRICK. Itinerarium Sacrae Scripturae: dat is: Het Reys boeck der heyligher Schrift. ...
Laurents z, Boeck-verkooper op t'Water in't Schrijf-boeck, 1635. Three volumes in one. 8vo
Contemporary vellum binding.
£ 1250
Early edition in Dutch of this famous travel book on the Holy Land. Rare on the market with the maps, that are
usually sold separate. Illustrated with 6 folding woodcut maps and plans. 1. World map (Typus Orbis Terrarum by
Mercator), 2. The Holy Land with sea monsters, 3. Mediterranean (with the Persian Gulf) 4. Jerusalem 5. Egypt and
Sinai with the red sea 6. Travels of St Paul.
SAMMELBAND OF FOUR TRACTS.
69. A. DONI, GIOVANNI BATTISTA. Delle Lodi della Cristianissima Maria, Regina di Francia e di Nauarra.
Orazione funerale. Florence 1643, 21 pages. Doni (c. 1593 – 1647) was an Italian musicologist who
made an extensive study of ancient music. On returning to Florence in 1622, he entered the service of
Cardinal Francesco Barberini, and went with him to Rome where Barberini became Dean of the College
of Cardinals, afterwards accompanying the cardinal to Paris, Madrid, and back to Rome. After the death
of his brother, he returned to Florence around 1640, where he married and settled down as professor
at the university.
£ 550
Bound with B. Delle Lodi Del Gran Dvca Di Toscana, Cosimo Secondo : Orazione ... Recitata pubblicamente ... nella
Accademia degli Alterati il di` xiij. di Febbraio 1621. In Firenze Appresso Igivnti [1] 47 leaves by Cerchi, Vieri
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Referenced by: Bruni & Evans. Italian 17th cent. books in Cambridge libraries, 1347. Bound with C. Giovanni
MOLLINELLI. Orazione...recitata nell'essequie fatte a...Francesco de Medici. Ibid., 1587. Woodcut device on title,
woodcut emblem of the Compagnia di San Niccolo on last page. Funeral oration. 14 pages Rare. In the UK one copy
only. Bound with D. Francesco Rinuccini: Delle lodi di Luigi xiii, il giusto, rè di Francia, e di Navarra, orazione.
Firenze, Stamperia di SAS alla Condetta 1645. 19 pages. All four tracts bound in a simple cardboard binding.
17TH CENTURY FEMINISM.
70. GUILLAUME, JACQUETTE. Les Dames illustres ou par bonnes & fortes raisons, il se prouve, que le
sexe feminin surpasse en toute sorte de genres le sexe masculin. Paris: Thomas Jolly, 1665. 12mo, [4],
443 pages. Contemporary French mottled calf.
£ 750
A radical book which argues for women's moral and intellectual superiority over men. Guillaume's tract, which is
dedicated to Mademoiselle d'Alencon, is written in a mixture of prose and verse, and considers various
characteristics of and distinctions between the two sexes, including female fidelity (contrasted with masculine
infidelity); the greater cruelty of men than of women, and the vices which accompany that cruelty, in contrast to the
humanity and douceur of women. Exemplars identified for their virtues include Christine de Pisan, Judith, Joan of
Arc, and other historical figures. See an Encyclopedia of Continental Women Writers, Volume 1(Katharina M. Wilson).
Page 502. World catalogue lists aroud10 copies in institutions, no copy in the trade. Last copy at auction sold for
450$ at Swann in 1989
A HANDSOME EMBROIDERED BINDING.
71. NUNS OF LITTLE GIDDING. The Book of Common Prayer and administration of the sacraments : and
other rites and ceremonies of the Church of England. :London : Printed by Robert Barker, and by the
assignees of John Bill, 1642 ... 32 mo.. Some wear to spine, hinges tender; small corner loss to title
page of Common Prayer.
£ 4500
Bound with... The Holy Bible: London, By Robert Barker and by the assignes of John Bill, 1641... Bound with... The
Whole Booke of Psalmes: Collected into English Meter by Tho. Sternhold, John Hopkins, W. Whittingham, and others
... With apt notes to sing them withall, etc. London : By G. M. for the Companie of Stationers, 1642.
A most attractive specimen, housed in a turn-of-the-century morocco silk lined case, front cover of box detached.
Beautifully embroidered and well-preserved binding in a floral design with silver braids arranged in curved stalks.
As early as 1899, Cyril J. Davenport in his English Embroidered bookbindings, questioned whether the famous Nuns
of Little Gidding, were skilled enough to make embroidered bookbindings. This is reaffirmed by modern
scholarship in Howard Nixon and Mirjam Foot, The History of Decorated Bookbinding in England (1992), p.54, "In
the early part of this century one of the most persistent myths in booksellers' versions of bookbinding history was
that all English embroidered bindings of the first half of the seventeenth century were the work of the Little Gidding
community.
Nevertheless, the designs of several known floral embroidered bindings of the same period are so similar in
execution and technique, that if not by Nicholas Ferrar's establishment at Little Gidding, they were likely executed
by the same unknown workshop(s). Comparison of the present example may be made with the Embroidered
Binding (1636) Special Collection F-f.8 at the University of Glasgow Library.
33
17th CENTURY
THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST 666
72. POTTER, FRANCIS. An Interpretation of the Number 666. Woodcut numerological text diagrams in
text; engraved illustration of altar on page 175. [18], 214, last blank page not present. Front cover
reattached. Full calf 19th century binding.
£ 1500
First edition of a treatise on the Number of the Beast, applying considerable ingenuity in finding ways to associate
the square root of 666 with the Roman Catholic Church. Auction records at 1500 to 2000 $
ASTROLOGY & NUMEROLOGY.
73. ROUSSAT, RICHARD. Livre d'Arcandam Occult Livre d'Arcandam docteur et astrologue, traitant des
prédictions d'astrologie. Lyon. Printed by Pierre Rigaud. Lyon 1610. 8vo. 282 p [3]. Modern pastiche
binding. 1-166 on the signs of the Zodiac 166, 167-169 on numerology 170-282 plus one table and
two fly leaves with sun signs. Upper margins closely cut but no loss of text.
£ 950
Richard Roussat was a contemporary of Nostradamus but has remained up to know an obscure physician and
astrologer. (approx. 1490-1550) None of Roussat’s works are discussed in Thorndike’s monumental history of
magic and experimental science. Each of the work’s twelve major divisions is devoted to a sign of the zodiac and
headed with an appropriate woodcut vignette. It was translated in the 17th century, and became to judge by the
great number of editions that appeared a bestseller. The most excellent, profitable, and pleasant book of the
famous doctor, and expert astrologian; Arcandam, or, Alcandrin: To find the fatal destiny, constellation,
complexion, & natural inclination of every man & child by his birth [sic]. With an addition of physiognomy, very
pleasant to read. Rare, there only one other 16th century edition in the trade. World catalogue lists one copy only in
LYON.
74. SCOTO, FRANCESCO. Itinerario overo Nova Descrittione de 'Viaggi principali d' Italia, 3 parts in one
vol., woodcut device on titles, 37 folded plans of towns and maps, contemporary vellum, wrinkled.
12mo. Venice, 1665.
£ 1450
Rare edition of this travel guide by Andrea Scoto, later ascribed to his brother Francesco. The 1st part describes
North and part of Central Italy, the 2nd part describes Rome and the 3rd part gives an account of a travel from
Rome to Naples. At the end a poem on Italian cities in italian. Often lacking plates, but this is a complete copy with
37 plates as called for. Folding map of Italy and folding birds eye views of the Italian cities. A later edition sold at
Reiss for 2000 € in 2006.
34
18th CENTURY
A BOOK IMPORTANT TO THE HISTORY OF THE ANTI VACCINATION MOVEMENTS.
75. ALLEN, M.J.: Abregé de toute la medecine pratique : Où les sentimens des plus habiles médecins
sur la nature des maladies, de leurs causes, & des remedes qui leurs conviennent, confirmées par des
observations, avec quelques augmentations dans la deuxiéme edition de cet ouvrage, A Paris : Chez
Huart l'aîné, 1728. 12 mo. 3 volumes. Frontispiece in volume I,
£ 550
Contemporary bindings with raised bands. Notes Translated by Jean Devaux. Other names Devaux, Jean, 1649-
1729. Hôtel-Dieu de Paris. John Allen, (c1660 1741), was an English physician and inventor, mainly remembered for
writing medical text books. This work claims to be entirely practical, and not to deal with the new views and
hypotheses which abounded in the medicine of the time, but makes no pretensions to originality. It gives, under the
head of each disease, the opinions of various authors, ancient and modern. Of importance is a note dated Augustus
1817 on the verso side of the title page, in French the following.
Have there not been voices from the depths of our provinces, and weak they are not, that oppose the practice of
vaccination? It is, if one has to believe them, a diabolical invention because the small ....... ? [probably the name of a
disease] comes to us from God, and one can not rise against the dispositions of providence, which, in her
unfathomable ways often sends us diseases for our greater good. Does the vaccine not prevent physical deformities,
does it not increase the fragile beauties that ignite the Passions, which unleash storms in the hearts and brings
disarray to whole families? Besides, the scourge from which it has freed us weakens eyesight and for some people it
is a great misfortune that we can see thus clearly.
THE OLDEST TIBETAN GRAMMAR PRINTED IN A WESTERN LANGUAGE.
76. ALPHABETUM TANGUTANUM SIVE TIBETANUM. Rome, 1773. 8vo. XVI – 138 pages. Modern vellum
binding over Marble Boards. Folding table facing p.106, [Cordier 2929; Lust 1069].
£ 450
The oldest Tibetan Grammar compiled in a western language, using the oldest Tibetan letters cut in the west
BIBLE IN GREEK WITH SEVERAL MAPS,
77. VETUS TESTAMENTUM EX VERSIONE SEPTUAGINTA INTERPRETUM, Secundum Exemplar Vaticanum
Romae editum, Accuratissime denuo recognitum. Quarto. Utilitarian modern binding. Published by
Halma 1709.
£ 500
The book has a fine map of the Holy Land, also depicting the Sinus Arabicus. A worldmap with Californa as an island
and one of the Middle East with the upper part of the Persian Gulf.
FIRST PICTURE BOOK FOR CHILDERN.
78. COMENIUS, JOHANN AMOS. Orbis Sensualium Picti Pars Prima. Hoc est Omnium principalium in
mundo rerum, & in vita actionum, Pictura & Nomenclatura . Der sichtbaren Welt Erster Theil (u. Anderer
Theil). Das ist: Aller vornehmsten Welt-Dinge, und menschlichen Handlungen Abbildung und
35
18th CENTURY
Benahmung. Noribergae, In Bibliopolio Joh. Andr. Endt (Nürnberg, Endter, Johann Andreas; Erben)
1756-1769., [11] 315 p, [53], 449 p, [28]. In Latin & German.
£ 1100
Orbis Sensualium Pictus (Visible World in Pictures) written by Czech educator Comenius and first published in 1658
is something of a children's encyclopaedia and is generally considered to be to be the first picture book intended for
children. The work was to be used in schools and is illustrated with numerous woodcuts and gives encyclopedic
information on more than 150 different topics. The work became widely popular and was soon translated into many
different languages. All editions of this book are rare.
HEBREW PRINTING IN CONSTANTINOPLE
79. ḤABIB, MOSES BEN SOLOMON IBN. Sefer šemot ba-ʼArez̲ : Yom teruʻah , we-tosefet Yom ha-kipurim,
we-kapot temarim. Nidpas poh Quśṭandina [Constantinople] : Bi-defus ... Yonah bkmwhrʺr Yaʻaqov
[Jonah ben Jacob], [5]427 [1727] Folio. First edition. [1], 16, 35, 51 ff. folio 270:175 mm. Modern
buckram binding.
£ 550
Moses ibn Habib (1654–1696) was the Rishon LeZion (Sephardic chief Rabbi of Israel), Hakham Bashi (chief rabbi of
the Ottoman Empire) and the head of a major yeshiva in Jerusalem. The first part is Yom Teru'ah on tractate Rosh
Ha-Shanah, followed by Tosafot Yom ha-Kippurim on tractate Yoma, and Kappot Temarim on the tractate Sukkah. 2
copies in the UK, the other 36 in the United States. No copies recorded in Germany or France.
A SECRET PLOT TO OVERTHROW THE OTTOMAN SULTAN.
80. JOSEPH II OF AUSTRIA & CATHERINE THE GREAT. Mi Josif Vtoriy, Bozhiyeyu Milostiyu [...]. [Vienna?],
no date. Folio. 8 pp.
£ 600
Very rare official document relating to the "secret alliance" between Joseph II and Catherine the Great, possibly
forged in order 'to share with Russia the spoils of the Turkish Empire' (Coxe, Austria III, 519). - As an early attempt
at tackling the 'Eastern Question' of the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, Catherine believed that an alliance with
Joseph would render her powerful enough to bring about her so-called 'Greek Project' - "the overthrow of the
Ottoman Empire and the establishment of an Orthodox Christian successor state to Byzantium ruled by Catherine's
grandson Constantine"
A MASTERPIECE OF FRENCH ROCOCO BOOK ILLUSTRATION.
81. LA FONTAINE, JEAN DE. Contes et nouvelles en vers. Amsterdam: [i.e., Paris: David jeune], 1762. 2
volumes. 8 vo., 170 x 120 mm. 80 plates by Eisen engraved by Aliament, Barquoy, Choffard,
Delafosse, Filipart, Lemire, Leveau, de Longueil; additionally, 4 vignettes and 53 culs-de-lampe by
Choffard with the additional 7 rejected plates. Full red morocco gilt by Morrell in a neoclassical style,
inner gilt dentelles, all edges gilt. Vol 1. spine expertly relaid. Vol. 2 with very minor splitting to upper
hinge.
£ 11.000
A splendid copy of one of the masterpieces of 18th century book. Illustration in its first and rarest state, First state
36
18th CENTURY
with plates 'découvertes' and before letters. Complete with the additional plates inserted by Chafford and with Le
Cas de conscience, Le Diable de Papefiguière, Les Lunettes, Le Rossignol et Richard Minutolo in the decouvertes
state. While the Le Cas de conscience and Le Diable de Papefiguière are more commonly encountered découvertes
the other plates in that first and more unabashedly erotic state are extremely rare.
The work was described by the Goncourt brothers as "one of the handsomest disbursements of witty and sensual
money of Louis XV 's reign" Thankfully, it was money well spent: the designs of celebrated genre painter Charles
Eisen (1720-1778) have secured its place as an acknowledged masterpiece of French rococo book illustration. At
Christies, Importants livres anciens, livres d'artistes et manuscrits, 25 June 2009 Paris Lot 66. A first State Copy
with the very rare decouvertes plates but without the additional rejected plates like in our copy: made $38,219.
ILLUSTRATED FRENCH EDITION OF GULLIVERS TRAVELS.
82. SWIFT, JONATHAN. Voyages de Gulliver. Seconde edition. Old calf gilt.
Swift, Jonathan. Translated by abbe Desfontaines. Published by A Milendo: Chez les Freres Pigmeos.
Avec Privilege de l Empereur de Lilliput, [Fictitious imprint] 1727. 16mo. Contemporary calf. i-vi, viiixxxix, (xl-lxiv), blank leaf, 1-277, (278) blank; (i-viii), 1-325, (326) blank.
£ 400
The first edition of the first French translation is A La Haye: Chez P. Gosse & J. Neaulme, 1727. The translator is
unknown. This is the second edition printed in the same year and one that is considerably more rare. With four
engraved plates.
83. TRAITÉ SUR LES TOILES PEINTES, dans lequel on voit la maniere dont on les fabrique aux Indes, & en
Europe ... / par M. Q**. 8vo. Amsterdam 1760. 109, [1] last leaf in facsimile. Title page laid down.
£ 500
A rare treatise on textile printing. Mainly printing on cotton, one copy of the original edition in Germany only, in the
UK, only one copy in the British Library and one in the library in Scotland.
MUSIC THEORY.
84. TURNER, WILLIAM. Sound anatomiz'd in a philosophical essay on musick. Wherein is explained the
nature of sound.
£ 350
William Pearson, London, 1724. Bound in Antiphonal Leaf. 8vo. [4], 80 + 7 pages. A rare book on music theory.
37
19th CENTURY
A PHOTOALBUM ON THE RUSSIAN NAVY OF THE UTMOST RARITY.
85. GEISER, JEAN. Navires de Guerre de la Marine Imperiale Russe. Algiers, Geiser, [1896]. Oblong folio.
36 original photo prints (vintage), 3 of which tinted blue, showing a total of 37 ships as well as a naval
manoeuvre on deck. Calligraphically hand-captioned and signed by the photographer throughout.
Publisher's half calf binding with gilt stamped cover title.
£ 7250
Photographer Jean Geiser, who worked in Algiers was at the end of the 19th century a minor celebrity. He was
rewarded in all exhibitions in 1856, 1878, 1893, 1900, Paris, Vienna, Amsterdam. Being the offical photographer of
her Majesty the Empress of Russia Maria Feodorovna (1847-1928), he took many family pictures of the Imperial
Family. No other copy worldwide known. It presents the entire imperial Russian Fleet in the Mediterranean engaging
in the naval blockade of Crete in the wake of the 1896 Cretan riots, the Hamidian massacres and the war with
Ottoman empire. Possibly a privately printed presentation album to the Russian Empress.
SPLENDID PORTFOLIO ON DOME BUILDING IN ORIENT AND OCCIDENT.
86. GOSSET, ALPHONSE. Les coupoles d'Orient et d'Occident: étude historique, thêorique et practique
accompagnée de 26 planches gravées sur acier & de plus de 70 vignettes dans le texte. Folio. In three
parts. 272 pages. Paris 1889.
£ 1500
A rare monograph (no copies in the trade, no auction records found) on dome building with 25 (not 26 as the title
erroreously specifies) in the Orient and Occident with magnificent architectural drawings of Byzantine, Ottoman,
Persia and European domes. Alphonse Gosset traveled in the Orient and his research into religious and civil
monuments which culminated in two publications, Anciennes églises et mosquées de Constantinople in 1887 and
Les coupoles d'Orient et d'Occident in 1889. The architect compares the domes of the Hagia Sophia with that of the
Ottoman mosques, like the Suleymaniye and the Sultan Ahmet Camii.
SECRET PASSAGE WAYS AND TUNNELS UNDER JERUSALEM.
87. WARREN, CHARLES. Underground Jerusalem: an account of some of the principal difficulties
encountered in its exploration and the results obtained. With a narrative of an expedition through the
Jordan Valley and a visit to the Samaritans. London, Richard Bentley & Son, 1876. 8vo. [20] 559 pages.
With 10 plates and 19 text illustrations. Original pictorial cloth.
£ 850
Charles Warren of the British Royal Engineering Corps to Jerusalem instructions were to investigate the site of the
Temple, the line of fortifications, the City of David, and the authenticity of the traditional Church of the Holy
Sepulchre. In February 1867, Warren, a buddy from the Gibraltar climb named Corporal Henry Birtles, two other
corporals, a photographer, a surveyor and 8 mule-loads of equipment including crowbars, ropes, jacks, handspikes,
blocks and wheels, arrived in Jerusalem.
It was Warren who stripped the rubbish from the rocks and showed the glorious temple standing within its walls
1,000 feet long and 200 feet high, of mighty masonry. It was he who laid open the valleys now covered up and
hidden; he who opened the secret passages, the ancient aqueducts, the bridge connecting the temple and the town.
38
20th CENTURY MODERN PRINTING
MARCO POLO, LIMITED EDITION. ONE OUT OF TEN
88. LYDIS, MARIETTE. Marco Polo Le livre de Marco Polo, Gentilhomme Vénitien 1271-1295 Les Cent
Une, 1932. Quarto 9 delicately hand coloured etchings. Two of them are signed by the artist. 10 copies
where printed, this is no 2. To Monsieur Kretch. unsewn in original wraps and uncut
£ 1000
Mariette, Comtesse Govone, lived an extraordinary life of adventure and sexual intrigue. She was born Marietta
Ronsperger in Vienna in 1887. She married Jean Lydis in 1922, but left him for the Italian writer Massimo
Bontempelli, who took her to Paris. In 1928 Mariette Lydis married the art publisher Comte Giuseppi Govone. Lydis
had a great artistic success in 30s Paris, starting with a solo show at the Galerie Bernheim Jeune, after which she
became a member and a juror at the Salon d’Automne. Mariette Lydis fled the Nazis invasion of France with her
lover Erica Marx, taking refuge in the sleepy Cotswold town of Winchcombe, before making a perilous voyage to
Buenos Aires. Lydis was also close to the aviator Amelia Earhart. Mariette Lydis lived in Argentina for the rest of her
life. Her style was influenced by that of the Japanese artist Tsuguharu Foujita, whom she knew in Montmartre. There
is always an edge of ambiguous sexuality and danger in the art of Mariette Lydis, well-represented in our prints,
hand-coloured drypoints for Verlaine’s Parallelement and etchings and aquatints illustrating the poetry of
Baudelaire and Rimbaud. Her work is in many major museums and collections worldwide.
FIRST EDITIONS OF FOUR WINNIE THE POOH BOOKS
89. MILNE, A.[LAN] A.[LEXANDER] When We Were Very Young; Winnie-the-Pooh; Now We are Six; The
House at Pooh Corner. London: Methuen & Co., 1924-1926-1927-1928. All volumes in the first
edition, first impression. When We Were Very Young, increasingly scarce in commerce, in the first state
with page ix un-numbered. All jackets bear the 7/6 price on the spine. Winnie-the-Pooh has the
requisite "117th thousand" designation for When We Were Very Youngon the rear flap. Jackets with
some light foxing, some toning as always, and wear to extremities, notably some chipping to heads
and heals, inner flaps of d.j. When We Were Very Young with old replacements. Original publisher's
pictorial cloth gilt of blue, green, red and salmon respectively, all with minor rubbing. 1925 and 1926
ownership inscription to When We Were Young an Winnie the Pooh respectively. Overall a very
attractive set of Winnie the Pooh.
£ 8000
RARE ALBUM OF ORLOV PAINTINGS WITH A PREFACE BY TOLSTOY
90. RUSSKIE MUZHIKI. Kartiny khudozhnika N. Orlova, s predisloviem Lʹva Nikolaevicha Tolstogo Spb.
[Sanktpeterburg] : R. Golike i A. Vilʹborg, 1909. Folio, 8 (introduction), with 9 full-page plates
comprising black and white photographic reproductions of paintings mounted on thick paper with
printed descriptions beneath; photographic portrait of Tolstoy mounted on title-page within a coloured
border of cascading leaves, text within ornamental border; original paper boards, with mounted full
colour illustration of a peasant scene by the artist Stefan Kolesnikov.
£ 650
First and only edition of this album of nine black and white reproductions of folk-art paintings by the peasant artist
Nikolai Orlov, prefaced by an 8-page introduction by Tolstoy. In Leo Tolstoy’s personal library there was an album
39
20th CENTURY MODERN PRINTING
of reproductions of Orlov’s works “Russian Peasants,” published in St. Petersburg in 1909. This edition contains
Tolstoy’s introduction, in which the writer confessed: “It is a wonderful thing to publish an album of Orlov’s
paintings. Orlov is my favourite artist, and is my favourite artist because the subject of his paintings is my favourite
subject. This subject is the Russian people, the real Russian peasants...” Tolstoy kept photo reproductions of the
following seven of Orlov’s works in his study at Yasnaya Polyana: “After Work,” “For Christ’s Sake,” “The Settlers,”
“After Service,” “The Dying Woman,” “The Tavern Keeper,” and “Monopoly.” According to his family members, Tolstoy
used to say: “Every time I walk through my study I stop in front of Orlov’s works. What a talent! Both an artistic
talent and a heightened comprehension.”
SCARCE RUSSIAN EMIGRANT JOURNAL
91. ZARNITZA. All published journals 1925-127. Issue -1-18 Stapled illustrated wrappers by Robert
Van Rosen. Quarto. Published : New York, N.Y. : Gruppa "Zarnitsa", 1925-1927.
£ 750
Wrappers illustrated by Robert E. Van Rosen (1900 or 1904-1966), the Russian-American artist and designer, who
also edited the "Art" section of the journal. Born in Kiev, Van Rosen worked as an illustrator and cartoonist in his
youth, before immigrating to the US in 1923. Van Rosen remains little known among scholars of the Russian
emigration and Russian-American art. One copy of a single issue in the trade available.
40
VOYAGES AND TRAVEL
UNOBTAINABLE TRAVEL ACCOUNT ON THE HOLY LAND
92. AMMANN, HANS JAKOB. Reiß In das Gelobte Land : Von Wien auß Oesterreich/ durch Ungariam/
Serviam/ Bulgariam und Thraciam auff Constantinopel: Ferner Durch Natoliam/ Cappadociam/
Ciliciam/ Syriam und Judaeam/ auff Jerusalem: Von dannen Durch die Wüste und Aegypten gehn
Alexandriam/ etc. 8vo. [8] 288 pages. Contemporary vellum.
£ 4000
Hans Jakob Ammann (1586 in Thalwil -1658 in Zurich) was a Swiss surgeon, Egypt traveler and travel writer. As a
personal physician, he accompanied in 1612 the imperial Austrian ambassador Andreas Nigroni to Istanbul.
Ammann continued the journey accompanied by Turkish merchants across Anatolia to Jerusalem and Egypt. On his
onward journey along the historic caravan route to Cairo Ammann was accompanied by his Dutch friend Pieter
Dircksz Graeff and two Italians. On a Sicilian merchant ship Ammann finally returned from Alexandria over Rome in
the homeland. This travelogue shows its author as an unorthodox and unusually open rapporteur, who also had a
good eye for architectural issues and a keen interest in all things medical.
Paul Kainbacher lists this book as of the greatest rarity. VD17 23:278575E, lists two copies in Germany only
(Wolfenbüttel, Herzog-August-Bibliothek and Halle, Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Sachsen-Anhalt). Other
copies in Bern, Zurich, Amsterdam, Strassburg. No copy in the United Kingdom, nor in the United States. Princeton,
Harvard, Yale separately checked. No auction record found. Exceedingly rare.
93. ANDREOSSY, ANTOINE FRANÇOIS. Constantinople et le Bosphore de Thrace, pendant les années
1812, 1813 et 1814, et pendant l'année 1826, avec un atlas composé de six planches gravées, et de
quatre paysages lithographiés. Paris, Théophile Barrois & Benj. Duprat, J. S. Merlin, 1828. 8vo. (4), XLIV,
525, (1) pp. Contemp. half calf with gilt stamped spine title. With the folio atlas: 6 engr. maps and
plans and 4 lithographic views. Contemp. half calf over marbled boards, with original printed wrapper
cover on upper cover.
£ 3300
Andreossy, a participant in the French Expedition to Egypt, was French ambassador to the Porte between 1811 and
1814. Some of the plates show, aquaducts, waterways and fountains in Constantinople, a particular interest of the
author's. The Atlas and text volume are rarely found together. Last complete copy at auction was in 2002, Sothebys
where it made 4182 GBP. Currently no copy in the trade to be found.
A SELDOM SEEN WORK, DEALING WITH THE PERSIAN GULF.
94. BOUSSINGAULT, R.P.: nouveau théâtre du monde ou l'abrégé des états et empires de l'univers.
Paris, Estienne Loyson, 1681.
Tome I : L'Europe [12], 503 pp, [4].
Tome II : L'Europe, seconde partie Paris, Loyson, [1] 442 pp, [5]
Tome III : L'Asie, [1] 391 pp [2]
Tome IV : L'Afrique et l'Amérique. [3], 207 pp [2], 285 [3]
£ 1600
Rare collection of travels. No other copy in the trade, no auction record found. Vol III discusses the Arabs, de cities
of Medina and Mecca, Mascate on the Persian Gulf and Aden (page 1-16). Page 136-143 deals with the Island of
41
VOYAGES AND TRAVEL
Bahrein, or Baharem, in the Persian Gulf and Ormus. Volume IV deals with Canada (recording an earthquake in 1663)
and has a large chapter on Florida and the Antilles.
AN UNOBTAINABLE CATALOGUE.
95. CATALOGUE OF THE ORIENTAL MUSEUM. Great Globe, Leicester square.
London. Goulbourn. 1857, 60 [1] . 18 cm. Original printed wrappers, given the Title in Turkish as well.
30 pages plus one leaf of advertisements, back cover gone.
£ 450
Wyld's Great Globe (also known as Wyld's Globe or Wyld's Monster Globe) was a kind of Madam Tussaud, an
attraction situated in London's Leicester Square between 1851 and 1862, constructed by James Wyld (1812–1887), a
distinguished mapmaker and former Member of Parliament. The Oriental Museum illustrated life in Turkey,
Armenia, and Albania, with life-like models of the interiors of palaces, harems, bazaars, offices of State, and courts
of justice, with priests, soldiers, and janissaries.
This brochure is exceedingly rare. One copy only in the British museum, mentioning a later date (1860).
A LARGE PAPER COPY OF ONE OF THE FINEST WORK ON CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS OF THE LEVANT.
96. BRUYN, CORNELIS DE. Reizen door de vermaardste Deelen van Klein Asia, De Eylanden Scio,
Rhodus, Cyprus, Metelino, Stanchio, &c. Mitsgaders de voornaamste Steden van Aegypten, Syrien En
Palestina. Delft, H. van Krooneveld, 1698. Folio. Large paper copy, A normal copy is 34 cm x 22cm, this
one 40.5 cm x 26 cm. . [11] 398 [8] Large paper copies were sold at a higher price for top end
Complete copy with all 122 plates in its original vellum binding with the often missing map. 18 (very)
large folding panoramic views, 28 folding plates and 56 full-plates, numerous half-plates text-
illustrations. End of spine repaired with old vellum. Binding stained, a few stains here and there, but a
very fresh and crisp copy.
£ 7500
Cornelis de Bruyn, the Dutch painter and traveller, travelled between 1678 and 1685 in the Levant. Unlike other
travellers who relied on hearsay, the drawings for these engravings where made on the spot. De Bruyn was primarily
a landscape artist and this manifests itself in the several fine panoramas which include Smyrna, Constantinople (3),
Rhodes, Tyre, The piramides of Gizeh, Alexandria, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Aleppo, Palmyra, Alexandria, Antalya, and
others. De Bruyn's costume plates are mostly of the different types of Greek and Turkish head-dresses.
All panoramas in fine condition. not creased, or torn (like often), only the panorama of Izmir is printed with smaller
margins.
THE PANAMA CANAL, SIGNED COPY
97. BUNAU VARILLA, P. Accompagné de vues, cartes, plans et d'un atlas a part. -- Plans annexes. Paris
1892. Quarto. 2 volume. Text + Atlas. 176 p. (and errata list) plus Atlas with two maps. Original
wrappers, stained, and grubby. With GARELLA (Napoleon): Projet d'un canal de jonction de l'ocean
Pacifique et de l'ocean atlantique a travers l'isthme de Panama. Paris, Carilian-Goeury, Paris 1845.
Original printed wrappers. 233 p. unopened.
£ 650
42
VOYAGES AND TRAVEL
Signed copy! By Bunau Varilla To Monsieur Gournay. With the election of the more supportive President Theodore
Roosevelt, canal planning resumed in the United States. Bunau-Varilla vociferously promoted construction of the
canal. With aid from the New Panama Canal Company's New York attorney, William Nelson Cromwell, he persuaded
the government to select Panama as the canal site, as opposed to the popular alternative, Nicaragua. Bunau-Varilla
convinced the U.S. Senate to appropriate $40 million to the New Panama Canal Company. The funds were
contingent on negotiating a treaty with Colombia to provide land for the canal in its territory of Panama.
The second book contains the result of the work of research and calculations for the construction of an interoceanic canal in Panama, through the Saint-Simonian engineer Felix-Garella Napoleon (1809-1858). Nicely
illustrated with 2 large folding maps showing the profiles and track proposed for the junction of the two oceans
through the piercing of the Isthmus of Panama.
98. CHANTREAU. Voyage Philosophique Politique et Litteraire, Fait en Russie Pendant les Annees 1788
et 1789... VOL I & II. PARIS 1794. 3 engravings plus a map. Full calf bindings. A fine set.
£ 300
A study from Russian society, religious views, their scientific progress.
TRAVELS THROUGH SPAIN AND PORTUGAL.
99. DALRYMPLE, W.. Voyage en Espagne et en Portugal. Dans l’année 1774. Avec une Relation de
l’expedition des Espagnols contre les Algeriens en 1775. Paris. 1783. 8vo. 257 pages. Splendid copy.
£ 275
With folding map and one costume print.
67 FINE HANDCOLORED PLATES ON THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE.
100. FERRARIO, GIULIO. Le Costume ancien et moderne ou histoire du gouvernement, de la milige, de
la religion, des arts, sciences et usages de tous les peuples anciens et modernes... Europe Ier vol. IIIme
partie. Milan 1827. Folio. 462 p.
£ 9000
67 hand-coloured engraved plates, 462 pages. Marble boards, with gold tooled spine with raised bands.
Untrimmed. This is part 3 of the first volume on Europe, containing plates depicting the costume of the Ottoman
empire. According to Brunet this immense work was published in 143 parts simultaneously in French and Italian
between 1816 and 1834. This section devoted to the Ottoman Empire, and its capital Constantinople is the work of
the Abbe Carlo Magnetti. The engravings include not only many costumes, but also buildings, objects of religious
and of everyday use, monuments, historical scenes and much more. The Topkapi palace, the Eyup cemetery the
Bosporus and the Blue Mosque. The plates are printed on wove paper and bear the publisher's drystamp. The
colouring is truly superb throughout. The Atabey copy which made nearly 9000 GBP in the year 2002, speaks of 69
plates, but this must be a typo. According to the index there should 67.
43
VOYAGES AND TRAVEL
A SEMINAL WORK ON THE ARCHITECTURE OF CONSTANTINOPLE.
101. GURLITT, CORNELIUS. Die baukunst Konstantinopels. Berlin (Wasmuth) 1912 Two elephant folio,
112 pp. detailed critical text on the architectural history of Constantinople under Greek, Byzantine, and
Turkish domination, ext. notes incl. bibliographic material, indices, 224 text illus. (some in colour),
205 plates (2 in colour) showing photographs, measured drawings, ground plans, etc. Folio. Contents
loose as issued in original boards portfolios, spines repaired with tape. Some plates evenly browned (as
usual) Few plates a bit frayed.
£ 11.000
A RARE AND IMPORTANT SURVEY OF THE ARCHITECTURE OF CONSTANTINOPLE. A panoramic and comprehensive
overview of many centuries of architectural evolution in Istanbul. This extensive scope covers the major mosques of
the Ottomans, as well as Topkapi Palace, Hagia Sophia, Hagia Theodoros and the Byzantine Land walls. The plates
depict interior and exterior views, architectural details, street scenes, plans and elevations. This is a very scare
book, and virtually impossible to obtain. Last copy at Sothebys sold for 13.150 Pound in 2002! There is one other
ex-library copy available in the trade that has library stamps on every plate.
PROFUSELLY ILLUSTRATED WORK ON THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE WITH OVER 500 WOODCUTS.
102. HÖNIGER VON KÖNIGSHOVEN, NICOLAUS. Erste Theil Hoffhaltung des Türckhischen Keysers und
Othomanischen Reichs beschreibung. Ander Theil der Türkischen Historien. Basel: Sebastian
Henricpetri: 1578. Folio. Two parts in one, each with separate title page [3 out of 4 index leaves] 1cccliii, [4] cclxxviij. Last leaf with printers mark missing. Attractive 16th binding.
£ 2200
The main text derives from Geuffroy’s Estat de la court du grand Turc, first published in 1542; the other works
include Bessarion’s and Pius II’s exhortations against the Turks, Breydenbach on the Armenians and Aventinus’s
panegyric on Charles V. This edition also contains reports on events up to 1595, amongst which are descriptions of
the Battle of Lepanto (1571), the wars over Cyprus, the Turkish attacks on Malta (1590) and the rout of King
Sebastian in Africa (1578). The second work deals almost exclusively with the reign of Sultan Suleyman, the
magnificent. Including plans, maps, of Vienna, Cairo and Constantinople. Atabey 492 (1573); Gôllner 1621.
AN ENCYCLOPADIA ON THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE.
103. KNOLLES, RICHARD. The generall historie of the Turkes, from the first beginning of that nation to
the rising of the Ottoman familie [...]. Together with the lives and conquests of the Ottoman kings and
emperours. [London], Adam Islip, 1638. Folio. (10), 1500, (20), 31, (33) pp. Original half vellum over
wooden boards. Gilt embossed red label to spine. All edges red.
£ 2550
First published in 1603, this edition continues the history up to 1636. "Knolles spent twelve years on the completion
of his great history, which is based on the works of such authorities as Busbecq, Giovio, Georgievitz, Barletius etc.
44
VOYAGES AND TRAVEL
RARE BOOK ON THE ARABIAN PENINSULA AND THE SINAI DESERT.
104. LOTTIN DE LAVAL. Voyage dans la Peninsule Arabique du Sinai et l'Egypte Moyenne, 2 vol.
including Atlas. Paris, 1855-59. Folio & 4to. Atlas with double page engraved map, 15 tinted
lithographed plates, 17 photolithographed plates of inscriptions on stone printed by Lemercier using
the Poitevin process, 80 plates of scripts on 40 sheets. Original red leather bindings with marble
boards.
£ 4100
Pierre-Victorien Lottin (1810 - 1903) was a French archaeologist, writer and painter. From 1839 to 1851 he
undertook three archaeological travel on official business of the French Government The third official mission led
Lottin 1850-1851 on the Arabian Peninsula, the Sinai Peninsula and Central Egypt. In the desert he found Arabic
and Syrian inscription. An important book for the study of the origin and evolution of the Arabic language. The copy
at auction in Paris made 6875 € in 2013.
No other copy in the trade. Not in Blackmer or Atabey.
MALTA & THE TURKS
105. LA MALTEIDE, POEMA: Composto a grado del serenissimo Don Ranuccio Farnese. Venedig, Zaltieri,
1596. Quarto. [8] 125 pages. Modern half vellum binding with marble boards.
£ 1500
First edition, issue with colophon on Q5v. Rare first edition. An poetic account of the siege of Malta by the Ottoman
Empire in 1565. The poem itself is a narrative of the events leading up to, during, and shortly after the Ottoman
invasion of the island of Malta which at the time was in control of the Knights of Malta. The poem was created by
the Italian poet Giovanni Fratta a number of years after the siege and is made up of twenty-five chapters of rhyming
Italian poetry. Though certainly a biased work this poem does tell a dramatic version of the events of the siege and
is a fine example of Italian poetry of the sixteenth century. Last copy at auction made €1160 in 2006.
TRAVEL BOOK ON PERSIA IN THREE LANGUAGES 1818.
106. MELIK SCHAHNAZAR, MÎR DÂVOUD ZÂDOUR DE. Langlès, Louis. Chahan de Cirbied, Jacques-M.
Notices sur l'État Actuel de la Perse, en Persan, en Arménien et en Français. Paris 1818. First edition.
12mo, [iv], 360 pages. . With two engraved plates (including frontispiece) and engraved title-page in
two states (uncolored and hand-colored) inserted throughout. Text in French, Persian, and Armenian.
Contemporary full red straight-grain morocco.
£ 1300
Uncommon travel book on Persia, in three languages.
EARLY & RARE WORK ON THE OTTOMAN COURT.
107. RAMBERTI: COSE DE TURCHI. Nel primosi descriue il uiaggio da Venetia a Costantinopoli: Nel
secondo, la Porta, cive la corte de Soltan Soleymano: Nel terzo il modo del reggere il stato & imperio
suo. Venice 1541. Small 8vo.
37 pages [1] Colophon on last leaf. Modern vellum binding.
45
VOYAGES AND TRAVEL
£ 1550
Ramberti was the secretary of the Venetian envoy in Istanbul in 1533/1534. He describes the Ottoman court, the
appearance of Sultan Suleiman and his relation with the grand vizier Ibrahim Pasa. The 1541 edition of Ramberti's
text (offered here) allowed the map maker Gastaldi an indirect access to Ottoman sources on Anatolian geography.
The account of his contemporary Giovio, Paolo is common, this work is rare. No auction records exist and it was not
part of the famous Atabey collection.
HANDCOLORED MAP WITH THE FIRST DEPICTION OF VIETNAM.
108. RHODES, ALEXANDRE DE. Histoire du royaume de Tunquin, et des grands progrez que la
prédication de l'Évangile y a faits en la conversion des infidelles. Depuis l'année 1627 jusques à l'année
1646. Composée en latin par le R. P. Alexandre de Rhodes,... et traduite en français par le R. P. Henry
Albi,... Lyon 1651. Quarto [16] 326 p. Utilitarian modern binding.
£ 2600
Alexandre de Rhodes was born in Avignon, France. He entered the novitiate of the Society of Jesus in Rome on 24
April 1612 to dedicate his life to missionary work. He arrived in Indochina about 1619. A Jesuit mission had been
established in Hanoi in 1615; Rhodes arrived there in 1620. He spent ten years in and around the Court at Hanoi.
While he was in Vietnam, he wrote the first Vietnamese Catechism and he published the first Portuguese-Latin-
Vietnamese dictionary. Rhodes returned to Rome by 1649 and pleaded for increased funding for Catholic missions
to Vietnam. After returning to Rome Rhodes convinced the pope (1658) to send two French missionaries to be
bishops who would represent for the Catholic Church in Vietnam: Tonkin (the North) and Cochinchine (the South).
And, also in this time, the Foreign Mission of Paris was established.
The map in contemporary hand colouring is of special importance since it was one the first depictions of Vietnam.
The map oriented with the north to the right, "Regnu Annam" shows the extent of seventeenth-century Vietnam,
then divided between two rival dynasties, one in the north and the other in central Vietnam. To the west, are the
highlands occupied by "Rumoi" (upland minority groups). The limited Western knowledge of the interior is
illustrated by the large region labelled "Solitudo." Bibliographical information: Sommervogel, Bibliotheque de la
Compagnie de Jesus, T. I, col. 136 - T. VI, col. 1718-1719, 1 et 4 ; Lowendahl - Von der Borg, Sino-Western
Relations..., disclosed in western printed books, 1777-1877, 100 (Ed. italienne).
MAGNIFICET PICTORIAL CLOTH BINDING, RARE WORK ON CONSTANTINOPLE.
109. SPRY, WILLIAM. Life on the Bosphorus. Doings in the City of the Sultan, Turkey, Past and Present
Including Chronicles of the Caliphs from Mahomet to Abdul Hamid II. Quarto. [10] 330 pages.
£ 1300
A rare title, profusely illustrated, in an extremely pretty pictorial cloth binding, stamped in gold, with the Blue
Mosque and the Tugra of the Sultan. Not in Atabey or Blackmer. No copy in the trade. Not in Blackmer or Atabey.
ATHENS & CONSTANTINOPLE.
110. WHELER, GEORGE. Voyage de Dalmatie, de Grece, et du Levant.
Amsterdam/Antwerp. 1689. 8 vo. Contemporary full calf bindings with raised bands. VOL I: 1
engraved frontispiece, 1 map of Greece, 40 engravings, one table. 8 plates of coins. VOL II: 31
engravings, 3 fold out plates with inscriptions, one plate with inscriptions. Complete. Beautiful copy.
46
VOYAGES AND TRAVEL
£ 700
This is one of the most important accounts of travels in the Levant, and the first description of Athens “which was
systematic, detailed and trustworthy" (Blackmer). The first Volume has also gives an extensive description of
Constantinople with engravings of the Sultan Ahmet mosque and the monuments of the Hippodrome. Please not
that this later French edition carries more plates then the previous ones.
RARE MONOGRAPH ON THE PALACE OF DIOCLETIAN IN SPLIT.
111. ZEILLER, JACQUES. HÉBRARD, ERNEST. Spalato, Le palais de Dioclétien. Préface de Ch. Diehl. Paris :
Librairie générale de l'architecture et des arts décoratifs 1912. Large folio. 2 p., viii, 232 p out of 234
(one errata leave missing), XVII loose-leaf plates. One coloured. Profusely illustrated throughout. Some
tears to the plates.
£ 1950
A splendid monograph on the palace of Diocletian in Split, meanwhile an UNESCO World Heritage Monument. Very
rare. No copies in the trade. I found in the US one copy in the Metropolitan, one copy at Harvard.
47
PHOTOGRAPHS, MAPS & PRINTS
ONE OF THE MOST OUTSTANDING EARLY 18th CENTURY MAPS ON CANADA
112. [CANADA] DE L'ISLE, GUILLAUME. Carte du Canada ou de la Nouvelle France et des Decouvertes qui
y ont ete Faites Dressee sur Plusieurs Observations. Paris: 1703 [but later]. Around 1720, Coloured.
Engraved map, hand-coloured in outline, 505 x 705 mm.
£ 700
One of the most outstanding maps of Canada of the 17th and early 18th Centuries. De L'Isle's careful research
resulted in the first map of Canada to present the whole of the Great Lakes correctly. In addition, the position of
the lakes relative to Hudson's Bay is also correct, and the Avalon Peninsula is shown much more realistically than on
previous maps of Canada. Of considerable significance, the geography of the coastal regions of James and Hudson
Bays, together with their major rivers systems, is presented by De L'Isle with a surprising degree of accuracy.
This is the scarce 5th state of the map, the first to include Buache's name, but otherwise unchanged from earlier
editions.
LARGE WALL MAP OF EUROPE
113. CARTE GENÉRALE ET ITINÉRAIRE DE L'EUROPE : Divisée En Tous Ses États D'Après Le Congrès De
Vienne & autres traités postérieurs : [dedicated] Charles de Schwarzenberg. 1821. A very large,
detailed, and impressive engraved wall map, linen mounted, dissected, coloured in outline, extending
when unfolded to a single sheet 173 x 140cm composed of 60 sections, in its contemporary chemise.
£ 500
Following the Napoleonic Wars and the re-drawing of boundaries at the Congress of Vienna there was a great
demand for up to date maps. On this map Greece is still part of the Ottoman Empire. This is 1821 reissue of the
1818 map, that is considerably more scare then the 1818 map,
LARGE WALL MAP OF EUROPE, AFTER NAPOLEON DEFEAT
114. CARTE POLITIQUE, routière et statistique de l'Europe d'après les derniers traités / dressée par H.
Brué...1816. Large wall map, lined mounted, dissected, coloured in outline, extending when unfolded
to a single sheet 125 x 110 cm. In a contemporary chemise with leather spine label.
£ 500
A RARE 19TH CENTURY CHINESE ATLAS.
115. CHINESE ATLAS . Xylographic printing 55 MAPS On double leaves, oriental style, depicting the
Region of CANTON. 28 x 18 cm Woodblock printing. Around 1850/1860
£ 1900
19th century Chinese atlases are rare on the market.
48
PHOTOGRAPHS, MAPS & PRINTS
AN EXCEPTIONAL SUITE OF ANIMAL PRINTS unknown in any bibliography
116. COLLAERT, A. Animaliumquadrupedum omnis generis verae et artificiosis-simae delineationes in
aes incisae et edita ab Adriano Collardo. Antwerpen, (ca 1612). Oblong 8vo (188 x 124 mm). 19
beautiful and contemporarily hand-coloured engravings including the engraved title page depicting
Orpheus taming the birds and beasts of the forest. All are mounted on contemporary paper and nicely
framed in five sections in a tortoise-shell frame setting.
£ 7500
Exceptional suite in vibrant colouring, some heightened with gold. Nissen quotes an engraved title and 19
engravings, therefore we are lacking 1 plate, but of the 19 plates only 2 have the normally present numbering and
engaved signature: “Adrian. Collaert fecit et excud”, the other 16 are likely proof prints before letters and numbers,
which is exceptional and completely unknown in any bibliography nor was it known by the leading expert, Sam
Segal, whom we consulted. He also confirmed the contemporary colouring.
Adriaen Collaert was born in Antwerp around 1560, into the family of master engraver Hans Collaert, who likely
apprenticed him in his own workshop. At the age of twenty Adriaen was registered as a master in the Guild of St.
Luke in Antwerp and with time took on his own apprentices and began to work as an independent print publisher.
Collaert’s attention to detail has been called exemplary: the animals’ are portrayed in high resolution. Nissen ZBI,
924 Bridson & White, Animal and Anatomical Illustration in Art & Science, D61 only quotes numbered and signed
suites of prints.
FAMOUS 16th CENTURY BIRD EYE VIEW OF CONSTANTINOPLE.
117. [CONSTANTINOPLE] PANORAMA FROM SEBASTIAN MUNSTER. Fine detailed woodcut bird's-eye view
of Istanbul as seen from the usual perspective showing it out on a spur, with Pera across the water to
the right and the asia side below. Seemingly, all the buildings are shown, including the Topkapi Palace,
the Hagia Sophia and the Hippodrome.
From the French edition. Around 1550. 39 cm x 32.5 cm
£ 450
118. [ CONSTANTINOPLE] SEBAH & JOAILLIER: PANORAMA DE CONSTANTINOPLE PRIS DE LA TOUR DE
GALATA. 1890. Landscape folio (313 × 372 mm).
Original red leather-backed morocco-grained cloth, title gilt to the front board. With the Tughra of the sultan and
text in Arabic, surrounded with Star and Crescent. In pristine condition!
£ 2600
10 albumen prints mounted on card panels and joined with linen tape, leporello-style to form a panorama. length
of panorama when extended 3290 mm. Superb panoramic view of the city taken from the Galata Tower. Bahattin
Öztuncay, B: Photographers of Constantinople. Vol I, page 281.
49
PHOTOGRAPHS, MAPS & PRINTS
EARLY PHOTOGRAPHY: THE STUPA OF BHARUT.
119. CUNNINGHAM, ALEXANDER. The Stupa of Bharhut: A Buddhist Monument Ornamented with
numerous Sculptures illustrative of Buddhist Legend and History in the Third Century B.C. London.
1879. Folio.57 plates, including 115 Woodbury types, mounted by hand.
£ 1100
Sir Alexander Cunningham (1814-1893), a British archaeologist and army engineer, spent 28 years in the service of
the British Government of India and became the first Archaeological Surveyor to the Government of India (18611865). Whilst in India he developed his life-long enthusiasm for Indian archaeology and antiquity. Cunningham
visited the Stupa of Bharhut in 1873 on his way to Nagpur and was amazed to find a site of such historical
significance. The Stupa of Bharhut was a Buddist Monument built around 150bc, during the period of the Sunga
kings. A richly carved stone railing was also built on this site. The railing was carved with lotus designs, pictures of
deer, peacocks and elephants, images of Lakshmi and scenes of everyday life. Images and scenes relating to
Buddha. A detailed study of Buddhist literature and excavation of the site led to the publication of this volume, a
wonderful and richly illustrated record of Cunningham's excavation.
EDMOND HALLEY: THE EARLIEST WEATHER MAP EVER
120. HALLEY, EDMOND. TRADE WIND MAP with an early depiction of the Australian continent 48 x 20
cm This map of the trade winds and monsoons in the seas of the tropics was drawn up by Edmond
Halley (1656-1742), and is enclosed in the 'Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society' (1686). It is
the earliest ever weather map, showing prevailing winds on a geographical map covering the tropical
and sub-tropical regions of the Earth.
£ 600
Having collected information from navigators familiar with ocean transits, and also from his own tropical experience
on St. Helena (1677–1678), Halley sought to rectify the work of earlier writers on the subject. He attributes the
circulation of prevailing winds to the solar heating of volumes of atmosphere as the earth revolves, which thus draw
air after them, forming a generally easterly wind; as the sun departs, the air reverses direction to establish
equilibrium. He argues that the effects of continents (and other landmasses) and latitudes complicate but do not
compromise the basic principle. In the map, rows of brief lines show the course of the winds; the sharp ends of
those lines point to wind sources. Where winds go back and forth, notably in the monsoon-prone area of the Indian
Ocean, the lines are thicker than elsewhere and point both ways. Halley’s statement about his map is a very early
affirmation of thematic cartography. It also interesting to note that map gives us an early depiction of the Australian
continent. There is also a French version of this map, but that one was considerable reduced in size and was
published several months later. Along with the map is the no 183 issue of the Philosophical Transactions, with
Halley’s text, published in 1686.
121. [HONGKONG] Two panorama’s of Honkong and three albumen prints. [1868-69]
A. Panorama: Hongkong, seen from above headquarters , looking North-West. 525 x 370 mm.
B. Panorama: Hongkong, seen from the Harbour. 480 x 350 mm.
C. Hongkong Harbor 330 x 340 mm
D. Honkong from a painting by Professor Hildebrand. 292 mm x 180.
E. Honkong (Harbour), 275 mm x 243 mm
50
PHOTOGRAPHS, MAPS & PRINTS
£ 4000
A to D probably by William Pryor Floyd (1830 - c.1900). A British photographer active between 1865 and 1874. He
worked as an assistant in the Shanghai photography studio of Shannon & Co in 1865. He moved the following year
to Macau to establish his own studio along the Praya Grande. One year later he went to Hong Kong. In 1868 William
Prior Floyd took over a photographic company in Hong Kong known as The Firm.
FINE DOUBLE HEMISPHERE MAP OF THE WORLD
122. ORBIS TERRARUM Tabula Recens Emendata et in Lucem Edita. 1682. Size 46,5 cm X 36cm
Large and splendid world map from a folio Dutch Bible published by Hendrik and Jacob Keur in 1680.
Hand colouring modern (?). Not to be confused with the smaller maps from the later editions.
£ 1000
Within each corner classic scenes representing the abduction of Persephone, Zeus being carried across the heavens
in an eagle-drawn chariot, Poseidon commanding his entourage, and Demeter receiving the fruits of the Earth. The
northern part of California (as an island) is flat, based on Briggs model. California depicted as an island with a flat
northern coast labelled Nova Albion. The Great Wall of China is shown in Asia. Western Australia and New Zealand
are shown with incomplete coastlines. Shirley No 513.
51
OBJECTS
HOLY QURAN
123. SILVER CASE FOR AN ILLUMINATED QU'RAN [s.d. s.l., likely c. 1825,
North India.] 27 cm length.
£ 550
The large size indicates that the scroll once likely held an illuminated Qur'an rather than an amulet (which were
significantly smaller and often hung). A Rare example showing how fragile paper Qur'ans were protected and
transported.
UNIQUE PORTRAIT OF DICKENS BY HIS ILLUSTRATOR
124. BROWNE, HALBOT K. Watercolour portrait of Charles Dickens c. 1858-1860
Signed with initials.
£ 4000
Hablot Knight Browne (1815-82), was an eminent nineteenth-century British book illustrator. Browne pseudonym
was "Phiz", an an artistic name well suited for the creator of "phizzes" — delightful, effervescent drafts of humour
and caricature. Charles Dickens and Browne collaborated for twenty-three years, until they eventually had a falling
out in 1860. There are some drawings know by his hand of Dickens but no watercolour has been attributed to him
according to our research.
http://photohistory-sussex.co.uk/DickensCharlesPortraits.htm.
Based on the features of Dickens depicted in paintings, drawings and photographs, the portrait must date from the
last years of their friendship. Around 1858-1860.
A BEAUTIFUL ORIENTALIST PAINTING IN THE STYLE OF INGRES.
125. CHERIER, BRUNO JOSEPH (1819-1880): ODALISQUE SIZE 75 x 61 cm without frame.
£ 25.000
Chernier was a French painter, who painted mostly religious scenes. This beautiful odalisk or odalisque (Harem
Lady) was exhibited in 1849 at the Salon du Palais des Tuileries, which was prestigious event (no 384 Odalisque).
She is aloof, of porcelain beauty, unabashedly nude and proud! Next to her lies a lute, for the Arabs it was the amir
al -'alat, the sultan of instruments. From ancient times onwards it has symbolized youth and love.
Literature:
Bruno Chérier, 1817-1880: peintre du nord, ami de Carpeaux. By Catherine Guillo, published 2010.
52
TERMS OF SALE
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We accept Visa, Master Card and American Express through AbeBooks. Paypal accepted.
General Terms of Sale of the NVvA, the Dutch Association of Antiquarian Booksellers
can be viewed at: http://www.konstantinopel.nl/termsofsale.html
All items are securely packed. They are also fully insured; unless instructed to the contrary.
Shipping
Orders are usually shipped within a week using the Dutch postal service or Fedex depending on the value of
the order.
Returns
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for the customer.
KONSTANTINOPEL
R. A. van den Graven
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7513 AC
Enschede The Netherlands
phone : + 31(0) 53 4324675
rare & fine books
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