FINE BOOKS and manuscripts
2017
NO. 4
KONSTANTINOPEL
RARE & FINE BOOKS
NO. 1
FRONT COVER NO. 137
KONSTANTINOPEL
R. A. van den Graven
NO. 1
Kortenaerstraat 17
7513 AC
Enschede The Netherlands
phone : + 31(0) 53 4324675
e-mail: [email protected]
web:
rare & fine books
www.konstantinopel.nl
MANUSCRIPTS BEFORE 1600
1. [BOOK OF HOURS] Use of Rome, finely decorated in demi-grisaille, in Latin,
illuminated manuscript on vellum [southern Netherlands (probably Ghent
or Bruges), c. 1460] 110 leaves, wanting a miniature from the opening of the
Seven Penitential Psalms (before fol. 74, with vertical cut in previous leaf
with later repair), else complete (stubs after fols. 8 and 9, and glued down
strip in gutter after fol. 11, but with no loss to text and thus apparently just
reinforcing strips of vellum, perhaps making up bifolia from two separate
leaves of vellum)
€ 79.500, - / $ 88,906.Collation: i6, ii-iii8, iv9 (one a singleton with a miniature), v-vii8, viii9 (one a
singleton with a miniature), ix9 (one a singleton with a miniature), x8 (probably;
wanting a singleton added with a miniature), xi8 (probably), xii-xiii8, xiv5 (last a
singleton added to complete text), single column, 20 lines in a fine and
professional late gothic bookhand, capitals touched in red, rubrics in red, ornate
line fillers in red and blue arranged around gold baubles, small one-line initials in
blue or liquid gold with contrasting swirling penwork, 2-line initials in liquid gold
on blue and pink grounds heightened with white penwork, with sprays of single
line foliage with gold leaves gold and blue baubles, and trilobed flowers with blue
and gold tips to their petals, three large initials in black with white penwork (fol.
11r, 13r and 74r) on coloured grounds with tessellated flower infill on gold, the
accompanying text enclosed within gold and coloured bar borders and lavish
borders of swirling foliage in black, grey and dull-gold tones, twenty-two small
square miniatures (the Evangelists, fols. 7r-9r, the first with a blue peacock with a
gold tail in the border), the Pièta (fol. 19r), the Virgin and Child (fol. 20r), God the
Father holding Christ on the Cross (with a tiny additional penmark intended to
obscure Christ’s genitals, fol. 22r), the saints (fols. 22v-29v), eleven full-page
miniatures with limited use of colours for fleshtones, draperies and some interior
features, else finely painted in grey-tones, with metallic silver for windows and gold
for haloes (fol. 15r, 30v, 41v, 48v, 51v, 54v, 57v, 60v, 65v, 69v and 85v), these all facing
large black initials and decorated pages as before, very slight flaking and thumbing
to areas of borders, face of Child on fol. 15v damaged (probably from ritual use) and
retouched, small amount of cockling to some leaves, slight trimming to edges with
very small losses to edges of border decoration in Calendar, but overall in good and
fine condition, last leaf with near-contemporary prayer and later pasted on coat-ofarms (perhaps seventeenth-century) on linen cutout: tour d'argent sur fond de
sable écartelé de gueule au lion d'or, écu de France; 200 by 140mm.; bound in
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MANUSCRIPTS BEFORE 1600
nineteenth-century faded green silk over pasteboards, some wear at spine and at
edges of thongs, but solid in binding
About this book Book of Hours in grisaille a far more rare, then the merely
coloured ones and far more expensive. Then and now. For instance an early royal
book of hours like the invaluable prayer book of Jean of Evreux was executed in
grisaille. While one would think that lack of precious materials such as gold, made
such a book less valuable. The opposite is true. Silver is the hardest of materials to
work with in the book arts. It was listed in one inventory of royal property among
the jewels, not the library. The artistry, emphasized the understated grisaille
technique, signified value, rather than costly materials such as gold leaf, rather
than costly materials such as gold leaf. The grisaille technique, combined with the
double page spread images, may have brought to mind another kind of image, the
ivory diptych (a hinged image in two parts). It was during the extreme outpouring
of wealth into the arts during the rule of the Dukes of Burgundy over the southern
Netherlands that such books where produced.
There in key ducal centres such as Bruges and Ghent, the vast wealth of the dukes
was set towards glorious and novel artistic commissions, and in the search for the
new, groups of artists began to produce entire books almost devoid of colour, as
monochrome treasures. The present manuscript may have been a production for a
very wealthy member of the ducal administration, or an important member of the
local aristocracy with an eye for the latest fashions. Made in Ghent or Bruges in the
mid-fifteenth century. It was expensive then and now, this book was acquired at
auction for 46.500 Euro.
The Litany includes both St. Bavo of Ghent (d. 659 and the patron of the town) and
Amelberga (d. 772, whose relics were held in the town from the eleventh century
onwards), as well as St. Winnoc (abbot of Wormhout, who came from Wales in the
eighth century, also in Calendar on 6 November) and Landoaldus (one of the
teachers of Lambert of Maastricht in the seventh century: feast in March). A nearcontemporary hand, perhaps that of the original owner or his immediate
successor, added other local saints to the Calendar, such as St. Hubert of Liège
(early eighth century: Feast in November), as well as those with a west-central
French connection, such as King Louis of France, St. Symphorian (venerated in
Autun) and Mammès (venerated in diocese of Langres).
Text The text comprises: a Calendar (ff.7-9v); Readings from the Evangelists (ff. 1012v); Hours of the Cross (ff. 13-15); Hours of the Holy Spirit (15v-21v); Mass of the
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MANUSCRIPTS BEFORE 1600
Virgin; the O Intemerata (f.19) and Obsecro te (ff. 20-21); the Suffrages of the Saints
(ff. 22v-29v); the Hours of the Virgin, with Matins (ff. 31-41), Lauds (ff. 41v-48), Prime
(ff. 48v-51), Tierce (ff. 51 v-54), Sext (ff. 54v- 57), None (ff. 57v-60), Vespers (ff. 60v65), and Compline (ff. 65v-68v); the Office of the Virgin variants for Advent (ff. 7480); the Seven Penitental Psalms, followed by a Litany; the Office of the Dead (ff.85
v-109).
Illumination The swirling foliage of the borders and oval faces with eyes formed of
dots suspended from drooping penstrokes shows the influence of Willem Vrelant,
the favoured illuminator of the Burgundian dukes (fl. 1452-1480s), perhaps through
the Mildmay Master.
Silver is the hardest of materials to work with in the book arts, and was perhaps
mastered in the European Middle Ages only twice: firstly during the Carolingian
age of the late eighth and ninth century, and secondly during the extreme
outpouring of wealth into the arts during the rule of the Dukes of Burgundy over
the southern Netherlands. There in key ducal centres such as Bruges and Ghent,
the vast wealth of the dukes was set towards glorious and novel artistic
commissions, and in the search for the new, groups of artists began to produce
entire books almost devoid of colour, as monochrome treasures. The present
manuscript may have been a production for a non-noble but wealthy member of
the ducal administration, or an important member of the local aristocracy with an
eye for the latest fashions.
With 21 small miniatures and 11 full page ones. The large miniatures comprise: (1) f.
15v, The Virgin in majesty; (2) f. 30v, the Annunciation; (3) f. 41v, the Visitation; (4)
f. 48v, the Nativity; (5) f. 51v, Annunciation to the Shepherds; (6) f. 54v, the
Adoration of the Magi; (7) f. 57v, Presentation in the Temple; (8) f. 60v, Massacre of
the Innocents; (9) f. 65v, Flight into Egypt; (10) f. 69v, the Coronation of the Virgin;
(11) f. 85v, Lazarus raised from the Dead.
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.
€ 4000,- / $ 4,474.-
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MANUSCRIPTS BEFORE 1600
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 1440-1520, 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,- / $ 7,272.-
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.
LIVE OF JESUS IN DUTCH, DECORATED MANUSCRIPT ON PAPER SOUTHERN
PART OF THE NORTHERN NETHERLANDS (NORTH-BRABANT?), C. 1475-1500
[Middle-Dutch translation of the PSEUDO-BONAVENTURELUDOLPHIAN, Life of Jesus]
€ 35.000,- / $ 39,164.4. LEVEN VON JEZUS
i+197 + i folios on paper, no watermarks discernible; neither foliated nor paginated;
mostly in quires of eight leaves, quires numbered from 1 to 25 with pencil at the
bottom of the first recto of each quires, complete (collation i-ix8 [ff. 1-72] x8
[lacking 8, ff. 73-79] xi8 [ff. 80-87] xii6 [ff. 88-93] xiii8 [lacking 3, ff. 94-100], xiv4
MANUSCRIPTS BEFORE 1600
xxxiii8 [ff. 101-180] xxiv8 [+ one leaf, f. 181, before 1, ff. 181-189], xxv6 [+ one leaf, f.
191, after 1 and one leaf, f. 196, after 5, ff. 190-197]), no catchwords or signatures,
ruled in blind (justification 98 x 64 mm.), written in a littera hybrida by one hand
(apart from a short addition on f. 181 by another hand) in a single column of
twenty-three to twenty-one lines, many corrections in the margins, one six-line
blue lombard with pen-flourishes in red (f. 1), one four-line littera duplex in red
and blue with pen-flourishes in blue and red (f. 182), five three-line red or blue
lombards with pen-flourishes in blue, red or brown (ff. 27v, 80, 148, 151, 180v), three
two-line red or blue lombards with pen-flourishes in blue, red or brown (ff. 39, 40v,
196v), several three- and two-line red or blue lombards without pen-flourishes,
paragraph signs in red, majuscules in text stroked in red, rubrics in red, some
underlining in red, simple ornamentation and tiny faces in brown and red at the
elongated shafts of letters in the upper margin of nearly every page; a drawing in
green and red of a cross on a hill in the lower margin of f. 79v; in good condition, a
small tear in the lower edge of f. 32 and in the upper edge of f. 47, unobtrusive
stains on ff. 100v–101. Binding from the eighteenth century, plain vellum over
pasteboard, gold fillets on the spine, a shield on the spine with gilt lettering reading
“LEVEN / VAN / ONS HEREN / MANUSCRIT / 1331”, edges speckled in blue. Dimensions
135 x 100 mm.
Neatly written and carefully corrected manuscript of the so-called PseudoBonaventure-Ludolphian Life of Jesus, a Middle Dutch translation from a Latin
account of the life and passion of Christ that encourages the reader to relive and to
identify with these events. This manuscript, written for a woman, reflects the latemedieval need, inspired by the Devotio Moderna, for devotional texts in the
vernacular as aids for private worship.
provenance
The manuscript does not contain any traces of ownership, but evidence of script,
decoration and language suggests it was copied in the Southern part of the
Northern Netherlands (North-Brabant?), c. 1475–1500. Apparently it was made for
a woman, given the feminine form “dierne” in “Ic arme sondighe dierne offer di
huden dijns een gheboren uutgerecte armen” (f. 180v).
Somebody trying to imitate the hand of the scribe wrote “anno .M.CCC.XXXI.” in
red on f. 197v, following the end of the text. This date 1331 is false.
Loosely inserted is a piece of paper with notes by the Belgian philologist and
historian Karel De Flou (1853–1931). He states, among other things, that the
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MANUSCRIPTS BEFORE 1600
manuscript is of Brabant origin, that it dates from the end of the 15th or the
beginning of the 16th century, that it is incomplete (which is not true), and that
“the language is the beautiful and peculiar language of the 14th and 15th centuries”
(“de tale is de schoone en eigenaardige der XIVe en XVe eeuwe”). It is uncertain
whether the manuscript was owned by De Flou himself or that it was shown to him
by an unknown private owner.
The recto of the flyleaf in the front and f. 197v (beneath the false date 1331) bear the
number “1481” in pencil by a modern hand. The number may be an assumed date
for the manuscript, or refer to an auction number.
According to De Bruin the compilation was made shortly before 1400 (De Bruin,
1964, and Tleven ons heren Ihesu Cristi, 1980). This view, however, was challenged
by Walter Baier and Karl-Ernst Gaith, who argued that the Latin original had been
compiled by Michael of Massa (d. 1337), an Italian Augustinian monk living in Paris
(Baier, 1977; Geith, 1987, 1988, 1990). Michael of Massa primarily used the
Meditationes Vitae Christi; Ludolph of Saxony’s Vita Jesu Christi had not yet been
written.
The question of the author of this text is still open to debate, but in any event, the
Dutch translation of this Life of Jesus was very popular. More than forty
manuscripts with the complete text or with parts of the text have survived (lists in
Deschamps, 1972 and Biemans, 1984; see also the online Bibliotheca Neerlandica
Manuscripta and the online Schoenberg Database of Manuscripts). Its popularity
can be explained by the increasing desire among both religious and lay people in
the fifteenth century for devotional and meditative texts in the vernacular to
enhance private worship, independent from the formal corporate liturgy. It was a
desire which was strongly inspired by the Devotio Moderna or Modern Devotion,
the religious movement, founded by the Dutch reformer Geert Groote, which
revived spiritual life in the Low Countries during the fourteenth and fifteenth
centuries. The contents of this vernacular text doubtless appealed especially to
women; the strong identification with the life of Christ and His Passion known as
affective piety or affective meditation was a form of devotion that had special
importance to women, both lay and religious, and indeed may have been created
by nuns (McNamer, 2010).
De Bruin published the text in 1980 after a manuscript dated 1409 (Leiden,
University Library, Ms. LTK 1984). He discerned four versions of the text, but only
as the result of “preliminary research” (“een voorlopig ingesteld onderzoek”). This
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MANUSCRIPTS BEFORE 1600
may explain why De Bruin did not specify very precisely which features
characterize each version. Version I is represented by the text in his edition, and
from that it is certain that our manuscript does not contain that version. Versions
II, III and IV, however, are not described in a way that allows for easy identification
of the version in the present manuscript. It seems likely, however, that it contains
Version IV, described by De Bruin as “an independent version; apparently its
adaptor has attempted to make the text of Version I more fluent and readable,
however without taking the Latin original into account” (“een op zichzelf staande
redactie; de bewerker hiervan heeft er kennelijk naar gestreefd de tekst van I
vloeiender en meer leesbaar te maken, zonder dat hij evenwel rekening heeft
gehouden met de latijnse grondtekst”; Tleven, 1980, p. XXII).
LECTIONARY WRITTEN FOR A NUN WITH RECEIPTS AGAINST SEXUAL
INFIDELITY AND FOR COSMETIC TREATMENTS
5. [LECTIONARY]
with music, and numerous additions offices and readings,
in Latin and German, illuminated manuscript on paper. [southern
Germany or Switzerland, c. 1500]
€ 25.500,- / $ 28,700.143 leaves (including 29 blanks at end), original foliation in Roman numerals to fol.
87, text pages with single column, 16 lines in a late Gothic liturgical hand, music in
hufnagelschrift [preserving the Gothic symbols of medieval manuscript notation]
on a four-line stave with a single red clef line, capitals touched red, rubrics in red,
major words touched in iridescent yellow, initials in iridescent red and formed of
swirling penstrokes, three large coloured initials with large areas of burnished gold
infill with coloured floral protrusions into borders with large bezants (and one
with a chessboard-like panel of red and black decorative squares). Repair to upper
corner of first leaf, occasional small spots, else in good condition. Size: 200 by 140
mm. Contemporary blind-stamped pigskin binding stamped with rosettes, fleurde-lis in lozenges and ferns, five brass bosses on upper and lower cover, two clasps
and catches, brass border-strips at top and bottom.
A handsome manuscript, of probable female monastic use, in a contemporary
binding, and containing touchingly human records of its original owner’s interests
in maintaining her sexual fidelity as well as improving her looks. The volume
contains readings for Matins and Lauds for the Feast of the Visitation with noted
antiphons, invitatory and responsories fols.1-33v; for the Feast of St Anne, mother
7
MANUSCRIPTS BEFORE 1600
of the Virgin fols. 33v-35; for the Feast of the Miracle of the Virgin of the Snow fols.
35-38; for the Presentation of the Virgin fols. 38-40v; for Matins and Lauds for the
Feast of the Transfiguration with noted responsories fols. 41-58; Office for the Feast
of St. Monica with noted antiphons, invitatory and responsories fols. 58v-80v; for
the Feast of St Joseph fols. 80v-86v (at which point the original Lectionary
stopped); for the Feast of St. Erasmus fols. 86v-90v; for the Conception of the Virgin
fols. 91-98; the chant, Kyrie fons bonitatis…, neumes not supplied fol. 99r; the Ave
durchluchte stern des meres, of Sebastian Brant (1457-1521, author of the Ship of
Fools) fols. 100-103; a sequence of hymns: Ecce iam noctis renuatur…, Verbum
supernum prodiens…, Amorem sensus erige…, Audi benigne conditor…, Summi
largitur praemii spe..., Martine confessor dei valens…, noted fols. 103v-112v; and
added recipes fols. 112v-114v, including one effective against infidelity (by putting
ginger in her tea) and two, based on rosewater, for one ‘who wishes to have a good
face’.
Provenance: 1. Written and illuminated for use by a member of an ecclesiastical
community in southern Germany or perhaps Switzerland (compare the strange
elaborate script of the initials here with that of the Eytgnoschafft, written in
Switzerland, sold Sotheby’s, 7 July 2009, lot 27). The importance given to the Office
of St Monica may indicate that the manuscript was made for the use of an
Augustinian nun, and if correct then the inclusion at its end of recipes against
sexual infidelity and for cosmetic treatments (‘who wishes to have a good face’)
suggest that the monastic life may not have been her choice, or at least she was less
than devout. 2. In circulation in the German-speaking market in modern period
(see sale ticket inside front board), and perhaps acquired there by Joseph William
Drexel (1833-1888) of Philadelphia. He was a banker (and often in this role a
sparring partner of the celebrated J. Pierpont Morgan), philanthropist, bibliophile
and trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the present volume formed
part of his 6000 item strong music collection (now mostly forming the foundation
stone of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts). This manuscript
was, however, presented by his wife to the Metropolitan Museum (their no. 5147)
and de-accessioned by them.
8
MANUSCRIPTS AFTER 1600
6. [AMERICAN MOTTO] [MASONIC FRAKTUR].
31 x 18.5 cm., s.d.s.l., but c. 1790s
and by provenance Pennsylvania. Signed with Initials "JB" in base of two
columns, and J.T. Finish in l.r.
€ 2063,- / $2200.A Very Rare Fraktur that underscores the Masonic connection of the official motto
of the US. "In God We Trust" was adopted as the nation's motto in 1956 as an
alternative or replacement to the unofficial motto of E pluribus unum, which was
adopted when the Great Seal of the United States was created and adopted in 1782.
The phrase, insofar as it instills a sense of both divine protection and patriotism,
appears to have originated in"The Star-Spangled Banner", written during the War
of 1812. The fourth stanza includes the phrase, "And this be our motto: 'In God is
our Trust.'" This pious principle of trust in God has however distinguished the
masonic fraternity from the earliest period; the company of Operative
Freemasons instituted in 1477 in fact adopted as their motto "The Lord is all our
Trust." Nevertheless, early American examples appear excessively rare. It is
conceivable that this design was intended as a sketch for an apron. Indeed, a 1706
apron with stylistic comparisons and bearing the the phrase “Cemented with Love"
(but not 'In God is Our Trust') was brought to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania when the
Alexander Stuart McKee family emigrated from Ireland. [See: Masonic apron, 1796,
County
Down, Ireland, National Heritage Museum, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Robert C. Street
er Jr. 79.70]. Condition: Worn with staining, edge chipping, and minor losses at
folds, glue mounted and re-backed in the 19th century
[AMERICAN REVOLUTION] [FRAKTUR] s.d. c. late 18th century, likely
Pennsylvania. 21.5 x 17 cm.
€ 844,- / $ 900.7.
Charming shaped cut-out (composed of several pieces) of a Prussian and
American military officer on horseback purported to be be a depiction of Baron
von Steuben (1730 – 1794) who instilled new confidence and discipline in the
demoralized ontinental Army. The recto is naive but delicately drawn and colored;
the verso bears a faint graphite inscription (later) of Freiherr von Steuben
9
MANUSCRIPTS AFTER 1600
CABALA & LOTTERY: PICK A NUMBER - ANY NUMBER
8. [CABALA.]
A Collection of Fifty Italian Manuscript Treatises and Shorter
Pieces some in Latin on Systems to Predict the Lottery, 'Anonymous, all
apparently in different hands Lotto', with 1 treatise on Arithmetical Tricks,
a few under assumed names the rest anonymous, all apparently in different
hands except for (5) & (6) which are near duplicates, many with Elaborate
Arrays of Numbers in Tables or Pyramids or Triangles, finely drawn
Astrological Diagrams, some folding, and with worked examples, the older
ones also Treat of Divination, by asking a question 'Quesito', then reducing
it in various ways to a number of several digits, then expanding the number
to create an answer 'Riposta', ALL APPARENTLY UNPUBLISHED mid 18th mid 19th Century, 599 sides folio, 28 x 21 cm (binding), 4to. & 8vo,, bound in
19th century marbled boards, vellum spine, lettered 'Cabale' and 'A.C' at the
base, presumably the collectors initials, odd-numbered sides neatly marked
in pencil, item 7 lacks the introductory pp 1-4, but they are otherwise
complete in themselves,
€ 8000,- / $ 8500.An impressive collection of Practitioners' Methods, which circulated only in
manuscript. Lotteries to raise money for the state date from the 16th century in
Europe. In Italy, the chief meaning of 'Cábala' has been for two or three centuries
'the art of foretelling numbers in the lotteries', and in the plural 'far le Cábale' is 'to
play systematically in the lotteries'. The lotteries in this volume draw numbers in
the range 1-90. Re-arranging letters, or replacing letters by numbers to reveal
hidden meanings, is far older than the Jewish Kabbalah. When the Kabbalah
assumed its modern form around 1300 AD, it was a protest against legalism and it
offered a mystical description of the nature of God and of the creation of the
universe. But to justify or reconcile these ideas with Scripture, Kabbalists turned to
likely-looking passages and explored re-arrangements of the Hebrew letters, or
interpreted the letters as numbers, for which letters can also stand in Hebrew. Not
unnaturally it was the numbers that appealed to popular imagination, since few
ordinary people knew Hebrew. It is these practices that have survived here,
together with the impressive superstructures to manipulate the numbers, added by
the practitioners. [A lengthy description of contents is available]
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MANUSCRIPTS AFTER 1600
A SUMPTUOUSLY ILLUMINATED CARTA EXECUTORIA.
9. 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 velvet
€ 5.500,- / $ 6,154.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
AN USUALLY EARLY ALBUM WITH CHINESE COURTESANS.
10. [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.
€ 8.500,- / $ 9,512.11
MANUSCRIPTS AFTER 1600
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 PayerThurn 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).
A BURLESQUE MANUSCRIPT, WITH SIX PENCIL DRAWINGS.
11. [DRAWINGS] Oblong (23 x 31 cm) Later red morocco. The pencil drawings
are not dated (around 1825/1830) Inscription on flyleaf "vente a Dubouloy
dessine par lui". This manuscript is based on the text of Pierre-Jean de
Béranger (19 August 1780 – 16 July 1857) who was a prolific French poet and
chansonnier, who enjoyed great popularity and influence in France during
his lifetime, but faded into obscurity in the decades following his death.
These six pencil drawings are made in his lifetime. Dedicated to him, to
illustrate one of his limericks, called Amphigouri, a style figure for
nonsensical tales or drawings that are deliberately obscure for burlesque
purposes.
€ 2630,- / $ 2800
The word derives from the Italian burlesco, which, in turn, is derived from the
Italian burla – a joke, ridicule or mockery. The six careful pencil drawings depict
mainly Devils and an array of comical figures involved in burlesque acts.
PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS, A SUPERB EXAMPLE OF SECRETARIAL
PENMANSHIP.
[ENGLISH PARLIAMENT]. A Calendar of the Journal of the House of
Lords....A Calendar of the Journal of the House of Lords from the beginning
of King Henry to VIII to latter of Augustus 1642. Manuscript on Paper, 18th
century.[1; title] 616 pgs., [12 blank], [9; table], monogrammed watermark
monogram Royal Folio, 41 x 27 cm.,Early english calf, re-backed, later
12.
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MANUSCRIPTS AFTER 1600
paste-downs and endpapers, very attractive vellum alphabetical fore-edge
tabs in alternating colors. red ruled throughout. This journals represents a
vast cache of highly privileged information about Parliamentary privileges,
precedents, and powers.
€ 1690,- / $ 1800
ARABIC/PERSIAN MANUSCRIPT WITH 48 MINATURES
(D. 1010 AD): Shanama (book of kings) Kashmir, late 18th
century. 374 mm x 228 mm. The famous Persian epic of Firdawsi. Persian
manuscript on paper. 25ll. of black nasta'liq script arranged in two
columns with red and blue intercolumnar divisions, text within brown
frame. 48 (Forty-eight) large inset miniatures, most three-quarter page.
illuminated Qajar-style headpiece and margins, the first opening one with
upper right loss and old repair; catchwords, and evidently complete. Stated
to be form 1601 on inset preserved panel, but more likely copied after a 1601
Safavid Persian manuscript. Binding of unsympathetic modern buckram
and black
€ 25.000,- / $ 27,979.13. FIRDAWSI
The Shahnameh, also transliterated as Shahnama, "The Book of Kings"), is a long
epic poem written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi between c. 977 and 1010 CE and is
the national epic of Greater Iran. Consisting of some 60,000 verses,[1] the
Shahnameh is the world's longest epic poetry written by a single poet. It tells
mainly the mythical and to some extent the historical past of the Persian Empire
from the creation of the world until the Islamic conquest of Persia in the 7th
century boards, but overall a highly interesting and powerfully executed example,
well preserved internally and seldom found complete.
A MANUSCRIPT BIBLE TRANSLATION AID, LIKELY FOR AN ENGLISH BIBLE
[GREEK] Manuscript on paper: " Epitome Graeca Novi Testamenti
Domini Noster in qua derivationes omnium vocabulbrum ad> sontem
exprimuntur: quoq Tempora Verborum: suis pro juris. Radicibus>
adjiciuntur una cum Versione Latina Est Composta Ab Amatore>
Philologiae S.H." small 8vo., 15 x 9 cm., 278 pgs., 17th century English
14.
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MANUSCRIPTS AFTER 1600
paneled calf, worn, front board detached; internally some> toning, but
penned in a delightful array of alternating headers and> paragraph
markers. Ex-libris of Eugene Gaughran.
€ 3299,- / $3500
A philological manuscript of derivations and declension of words in the Greek New
Testament, apparently unpublished and likely intended to be used by Biblical
scholars and translators. Given its approximate> date of creation (early 17th
century England, possibly Oxford), it is> tantalizing close to the translation of the
KJV and worth of further study. The mysterious author, S.H., is otherwise
unidentified. Dr. Gaughran suggested in a note Sir Henry Savile(1549-1622), one of
the translators of the KJV. While that is a loose possibility, given his reputation as a
Greek scholar, there is no other obvious evidence of> that assertion other than the
coincidence of reversed initials
15. HERINGA, JODOCUS Primae lineae theologiae Christianae. [Utrecht], [s.d.,c,
late 18th century ] 2 vols. 4to., 21 x 17 cm., Vol I: 342, [5], Vol 2: 373, [5] : 1/4
calf and marbled boards. Lecture notes in Latin; with notes on verso
including Greek.
€ 470,- / $ 500.An interesting manuscript of lectures of Jodocus Heringa, an important professor
of Divinity at Utrecht University who favored a very academically minded
approach to Scriptural interpretation.
18 th CENTURY UNPUBLISHED BRITISH EAST INDIA MANUSCRIPT
16. [INDIA] O Novo milagre da Cruz no monte de St. Thome ou HISTORIA de
Senhor Tiago Mascaronho que pela verdaderira relação desta foi
convertido. Conforme a copia. Escrita em Madraspatam [Chennai] Cidade
da India Orientale, ano 1728. (Note: The name Madras is derived from
Madraspatnam, the site chosen by the British East India Company for a
permanent settlement in 1639.) [1], 48 pages. 16 x 10 cm on important LVG
watermarked English paper. 18th century calf and marbled boards, front
board detached, some toning. Armorial bookplate of Benjamin
Harrison
€ 1409,- / $ 1500.14
MANUSCRIPTS AFTER 1600
This Portuguese manuscript, evidently copied for someone in the English East
India Company. It is dialog between a Christian and Protestant about a miracle
performed by Thomas the Apostle on ST Thomas Mount in Chennai (Bombay)
Traditional legend claims that he taught the Gospel in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. in
present-day India.
CONFESSIONS OF AN INMATE CRUELTY AND DEBAUCHERIES,
17. SENTIMENS D’UN VRAI CHRÉTIEN DANS LA CAPTIVITÉ
(1741) quarto (25 cm).
215 pages, full calf binding with raised, richly tooled with fleur de lys and
gilded edges and the armorial cover and back of Louis d' Orléans (17031752). This is a manuscript unpublished, dated 1741, dedicate "To the Duke
of Orleans" (The title as well as the armorial was crossed out during the
French Revolution).
€ 4240,- / $ 4500.The book consists of 31 "meditations or chapters" written from a Christian
perspective of the meaning of sin, prayer, sublimation of suffering and redemption
of inmates. For instance in the 3rd meditations we called "Description des miseres
de la prison", although it is said that prisons are not punishment, it is more cruel
torture than one can ever imagine (...) and yet this prison, so frightful in general for
all honest people, is for some criminals a place of delight, where they abandon
themselves to all sorts of licenses and debaucheries, in which God is offended
every moment, while the most reasonable man and the Christian himself is
constantly scandalized. There are other chapters on the prisoner's resignation and
patience, on the prisoner's prayer, "on the fear of dying in prison," on the
conversation and entertainment of prisoners, the necessity of attending mass and
Public prayers,
18. [Siege of Vienna].Vienna assediata del Turco, 1683. Vienna, 1683.
Folio (280 x 190 mm). 70 ff. Italian ink ms. on paper, with a rare engraved
folding map of the siege of Vienna by Johann van Ghelen (1684). 19thcentury Italian blue sponged marbled boards.
€ 5,000,- /.$ 5307.A remarkable, apparently unpublished manuscript chronicle of the 1683 Siege of
Vienna by the Turks, which marked the turning point in the 300-year struggle
15
MANUSCRIPTS AFTER 1600
between the forces of the Central European kingdoms and the Ottoman Empire
and cemented the Habsburgs power. The manuscript begins with a historical
account and background, touching on the problems of religious liberty, the
Hungarian resentment against German domination, and other problems which led
to the interference of the Turks and their aggression against the West. The
chronicle continues in great detail, almost in the form of a contemporary diary,
providing a day-by-day account of the unfolding events from 1 August 1683 until
the end of the siege when the defeat of the Turkish army at Vienna became the
turning point in the long East-West struggle. The story gives, among other things,
detailed figures of the strength of the Christian and Turkish forces, listing all
regiments with their commanders and the number of troops. The pagination,
which despite being a self-contained account begins on 131, and the legible
uncorrected script, indicate this was likely prepared for publication in a larger
work. Includes (before f. 160) a rare engraved folding map of the siege of Vienna
from Johann van Ghelen's "Relazione compendiosa e veridica del famoso assedio
dell'imperiale città di Vienna, attaccata da Turchi li 14. di luglio, e liberata li 12. di
settembre 1683".
ONLY TWO OTHER COPIES KNOWN
[SPANISH RENAISSANCE] España-Alegaciones en derecho. Mitia, Juana
(lit.). Por quanto la serenissima princesa de Portugal doña Juana Mitia, que
aya gloria, fundo el monasterio con su iglesia de nuestra señora de la
consolacion, que dizen de las descalças, en la villa de Madrid, de la primera
regla de santa Clara de Viril observancia, por el año passado de mil y
quinientos y cinquenta y quatro, y desde entonces todo el tiempo que vivio,
hasta que mun'o el año de mil y quinientos y setenta y tres que se enterro,
en el, tuvo gran cuenta y cuydado de socorrer al dicho monasterio con sus
Iimosnas, teniendole principalmente de lo que toca al culto divino, para
que se celebrasse con mayor devocion, religion, decencia, y autoridad, y
que la iglesia del dicho monasterio fuesse mejor servida. S.l., s.n., [1623].
Royal Folio, 38 x 28 cm., [1 blank], 63 lvs. (i.e. 126 pgs.), [ 4 lv. index].
€ 2.858,- / $ 3,200.19.
Vellum binding with ties; internally, with magnificent indigo-dyed patterned paper
endpapers and paste-downs appear which integral to the book, though could
16
MANUSCRIPTS AFTER 1600
conceivably have been added at a somewhat later date. Regardless, they represent
some of the earliest and most attractive examples of their type. Wilkinson and
Lorenzo in Libros Ibéricos Volúmenes II y III note two other copies of this
manuscript in the National Historical Archive in Madrid and the
Convent of Las Descalzas Reales.
This 17th century manuscript is, as inscribed on its cover, a fair copy of the
administrative regulations and rules of the Convent of Our Lady of Consolation
(Nuestra Señora de la Consolación) for the nuns of the order of Poor Clares. The
Convent was founded by Joanna of Austria (1535 – 1573), the mother of Sebastian of
Portugal, and later regent of Spain for her brother, Philip II of Spain. It was also
known as "Discalced Clarisses (in Spanish, clarisas descalzas) because they did not
wear covered shoes, and only walked either barefoot or in sandals, now known as
the Convent of Las Descalzas Reales, or convent of the barefoot royals, partly due
to her affiliation." Windowed and spinster noblewoman with hefty dowries were
drawn to the service of the Convent and it quickly became one of the wealthiest in
Europe. "Tomás Luis de Victoria, Spain's finest Renaissance composer, worked at
the convent from 1587 to the end of his life in 1611..." and among the priceless art
masterpieces are Titian's Caesar's Money, tapestries woven to designs by Rubens,
and works by Hans de Beken and Brueghel the Elder."
IMPORTANT TWAIN LETTER CONCERNING THE MOST PRECIOUS HORSES IN
THE WORLD TO HIM- WRITTEN DURING HIS MOURNING FOR HIS WIFE
[TWAIN, MARK][AUTOGRAPH] [ANIMAL WELFARE] [HORSES] Clemens,
Samuel Langhorne. A horse's tale. :New York : Harper & Brothers, 1907.
8vo., viii, 152 [l] pages ; 21 cm . Full morocco gilt in a signed binding of
George A. Zabriskie, well known book and art collector and member of the
Grolier Club. The book which begins with "I am Buffalo Bill's horse. I have
spent my life under his saddle with him in it..." is one earliest and greatest
Americans to bring animal welfare to public attention. Most appropriately
tipped in to the front endpaper is a ALs of Twain concerned with the
welfare of his two prized horses. The ALs is dated June 19, 1904. 1 pp on
mourning paper, 17.5 x 19.5, was written from the Villa di Quarto, Florence
Jun 19/04, a day before transporting his wife's coffin and arranging passage
for his two precious grey mares.
€ 4710,- / $5000
20.
17
MANUSCRIPTS AFTER 1600
"On June 5 1904, Twain's beloved wife Livy died after a two-year illness. "I cannot
reproduce Livy's face in my mind's eye," he wrote in his diary on 1 July 1904, just a
few weeks after her death. "I was never in my life able to reproduce a face. It is a
curious infirmity—& now at last I realize it is a calamity." [Paine, Albert Bigelow
Mark Twain: A Biography]. Her final journey began when survivors left the Villa di
Quarto on Jun 20 "They stayed four days in a Florence hotel waiting for a
dressmaker to finish mourning dressers... All joined Livy's coffin on the Prince
Oscar and sailed home on Jun 28. On a freighter to the United States travelled two
gray mares, Livy's last gift to her daughters. They wear accompanied by Clemens's
Italian butley and amid, for with Livy's passing, these animals had become "The
most precious horses in the world now" [Ref: Willis, Resa. Mark and Livy, p. 267]
VICTORIA & ALBERT: ORIGINAL DOCUMENT.
21. [VICTORIA]
"Will of His Royal Highness The Prince Consort." 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."The Blue Room in which
Prince Albert died remained unaltered for the rest of Victoria’s life, a
snapshot of the time.
€ 1500,- / $ 1592.-
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THE CITY OF GOD
22. AUGUSTINUS, AURELIUS
(St., 354-430). De civitate Dei. Commentary by
Thomas Waleys and Nicolaus Trivet. Venice: [Bonetus Locatellus], for
Octavianus Scotus, 18 February 1489/90. 268 leaves. [Bound second with:]
AUGUSTINUS, Aurelius. De trinitate Dei. [Basel]: Johann Amerbach, 13
February 1490. 86 leaves. 2 volumes in 1.
€ 6.073,- / $ 6,800.Folio. 29.8 x 21.6 cm., modern unsympathetic leatherette binding; internally, some
marginal worming, clean tear without loss to woodcut image of a1, 2 holes in last
index leaf of second work repaired with slight text loss. Provenance: ownership
inscription of the Hospitale Sancti Matthiae in Breslau dated 1722. Gothic types.
Very handsome full-page woodcut on A1v. depicting St. Augustine and the two
cities of God and Satan. Some occasional annotations in an early hand. Ref: ISTC
No.:ia01244000, Goff A1244; HC 2066*.
PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED INCUNABULUM.
23. BERTHOLDUS.
Horologium devotionis circa vitam Christi. Basel, J.
Amerbach, Not after 1490]. 8vo, 66 leaves. Goff B506; H 2990*.
€ 20.000,- / $ 22,520.A true miniature incunabulum and a popular devotional work. The Devotional bell
is a book that compares the Life of Christ, 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 with two other rare tracts:
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.
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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.
INCUNABULA BIBLE, 17 COPIES WORLDWIDE
24. [BIBLIA LATINA] with an alphabetical table of Gabriel Brunus, guardian of
a Franciscan Convent in Venice. Lyon: Jean Pivard, 29 Jan. 1500/01 432
leaves [17] Black letter text in double column. Contemporary binding with
brass and knobs. Worn but still very pretty. Back cover absent. Large
quarto. Goff B604; HC 3128.
€ 8500,- / $ 9527.Why does it mention 1500 (clearly stated in the colophon) as well as 1501? in the
Middle Ages, not all cities celebrated the New Year on January 1, and many cities
used events in Christ's life and the dates of those to fix a suitable beginning to the
year (Christ's resurrection, Christ's conception etc). So this creates confusion on
modern cataloguing dates of incunabula- the colophon in our Bible is local to that
city. In Lyon the new year started with Easter. So it was still 1500 while in other
parts in Europe it may have been 1501, presuming that the year started with Easter.
It is interesting to see that the events in the life of Christ, still determined the new
year then.
THE FIRST ILLUSTRATED BIBLE PRINTED IN ITALY AND THE PRE-CURSOR TO
THE FAMOUS MALLERMI BIBLES
25. [BIBLIA LATINA] (cum postillis Nicolai de Lyra et expositionibus Guillelmi
Britonis in omnes prologos S. Hieronymi et additionibus Pauli Burgensis
replicisque Matthiae Doering). Add: Nicolaus de Lyra: Contra perfidiam
Judaeorum :Venice: [Bonetus Locatellus], for Octavianus Scotus, 8 Aug.
1489 FOLIO. 350 X 240 mm. Volumes 1 only; Genesis-2 Kings. Sig: a10, b8, cz10, [et]10, [rho]10, [phi]10, Aa-Dd10; 299 lvs.
€ 8000,- / $ 8500
Early limp vellum with calligraphic spine, textblock detaching, signatures g4-o1
with upper corner losses and early repairs with increasing severity and touching
text and some worming, but not too obtrusive and at worst affecting words of nine
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15th CENTURY : INCUNABULA
lines, some leaves with thumbing, some occasional other old repairs or worming,
some general toning or light damp staining.
Pollard explains that the fine vignettes of this Scotus Postilla are the first printed
biblical woodcuts in Venice and evidently the first illustrated bible printed in Italy.
"The volume is adorned with thirty-five very finely drawn and neatly cut woodcuts,
whose importance has been largely overlooked because of the richly illustrated
“Mallermi” Bibles in Italian of 1490 and 1493. The woodcuts in this volume, and a
few more in vol. III of this edition (not present here; vols. II and IV are not
illustrated) have important relationships to the outpouring of Venetian woodcuts
to follow in the 1490’s. Among the more interesting are the full-length Hebrew high
priest, two views of Noah’s Ark, a full-page plan of the tabernacle at Jerusalem, and
two views of the temple, which in reality depict Italian renaissance facades" (Ref:
Laurence Witten Rare Books) References: ISTC No.:ib00616000 Goff B616; HC
3168*; Essling 132; Sander 988;
INCUNABULUM ON WITCHCRAFT AND ANTI SEMITISM.
26. BUSTIS, BERNARDINUS DE.
Rosarium sermonum. Venice: Georgius
Arrivabenus, 1498. In two parts, dated: I) 31 May 1498; II) 16 Aug. 1498. Editio
Princeps. Large 8vo, 22 cm. 290 and 426 leaves (complete). Some
rubricating and a few annotations. Goff B1336; H 4163. It is unusual to find
incunabula that are still in their original bindings. This one is in a strictly
contemporary binding with even the claps preserved.
€ 5950,-/ $ 6300.Bernardino De Busti wrote that "the Devil constantly roams the earth seeking
someone to devour." His 16th sermon is important for the history of witchcraft.
Unlike the Dominican demonologists, de Busti treated witchcraft (for instance in
his 16th sermon) as a form of idolatry and superstition, and as such as a violation of
the first commandment, a kind of improper worship. While being harmful magic it
was not seen as a stereotypical diabolical conspiracy. However the Busti described
woman who practiced magic and renounced the catholic faith as ‘stria’, a species of
female witches that had the credit of getting to the insides of men, and thus
devouring them.
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De Busti is also interesting for his violent antisemitism. In his Consilium contra
Judeos he attacks the Jews on doctrinal grounds, such as not believing in the
evidence of Christian faith and blaspheming Christ in their synagogues, however
he does not attack them on the ground of usury.
FROM THE GUTENBERG PRESS.
27. [CATHOLICON]
Original leaf from the "Catholicon" FOLIO. 1460 (but
printed 1469.) In a cloth folder. Rubricated.
€ 2.500,- / $ 2,795.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" incunabula that was broken and sold together with an essay by
Margaret Bingham.
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WHY THE BLESSED VIRGIN IS SUPERIOR TO GOD.
28. CORONA MYSTICA B.M.V.
Paris: Pierre Le Caron, n.d. not before 1492 or
1495. Goff C927. 8vo. 34 leaves. Rubricated. Some wormholes in the margin.
repaired, Bound in modern marble paper wrappers. 12 copies worldwide (of
which four are held by the Vatican). One copy in the US. With a woodcut of
the Virgin Mary.
€ 6500,- / $.6900.Written by the Franciscan preacher Bernardo de Bustis. Who makes the following
remarkable argument “Since the virgin Mary is mother of God, and God is her son,
and every son is naturally inferior to his mother and subject to her (…) it follows
that the blessed virgin is herself superior to God.”
TWO INCUNABULA IN ONE SAMMELBAND ON THE ART OF LOVE
29. OVIDIUS NASO, PUBLIUS.
De arte amandi et De remedio amoris. (Comm:
Bartholomaeus Merula) Venice: Johannes Tacuinus, de Tridino, 5 July 1494.
56 leaves. THE ART AND REMEDY OF LOVE, The Ars Amatoria is an
instructional elegy series in three books by Ancient Roman poet Ovid. It
was written in 2 AD. Ovidius Naso, Publius. Epistolae Heroides (Comm:
Antonius Volscus et Hubertinus Clericus) et Sappho et Ibis (Comm:
Domitius Calderinus) The Heroides ((Letters of Heroines), Venice:
Johannes Tacuinus, de Tridino, 24 Jan. 1497/98, 96 leaves.
€ 7.500,- / $ 8,389.A collection of fifteen epistolary poems composed by Ovid in Latin elegiac couplets
and presented as though written by a selection of aggrieved heroines of Greek and
Roman mythology in address to their heroic lovers who have in some way
mistreated, neglected, or abandoned them. FOLIO 30 CM, Bound in a 17/18th
century limp vellum binding. Last leaf of the second work damaged with some loss
of text. Some water staining in the last work. A few wormholes in the margin.
The edition of the second work is particular rare with an attractive illustrated title
page. There are 12 complete copies world wide know (15 all together). Only one on
the American continent.tlemanly male and female relationship skills and
techniques.
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MEDICAL WRITING AND THE VALUE OF OLD AGE
30. RENO, JACOBUS DE.
Dialogus de sene et iuvene de amore disputantibus.
Paris: Wolfgang Hopyl, 1492.[after 1 Dec. 1492]. 16 leaves. Complete. Modern
marble covers, some repairs to wormholes in the outer margin. 8vo.
€ 10.500,- / $ 11,145.There are three editions of this work. One published in Antwerp existing in two
complete copies out of four, Antwerpen: Gerard Leeu (HC 6144), one published
Leuven: Thierry Martens in 1499, (HC 6145). The current edition is known in five
copies. See: ISTC ij00062000. FIRST PUBLISHED IN DEVENTER, NETHERLANDS (one
copy known), then republished in Paris (slightly altered).
The author addresses its book to Bertramus Baw, prof of medicine in Cologne and
says he was asked to write it for him. The dispute is between a monk, more than 60
years old, named Olimpius and a thirty-year-old named Florentius. While the latter
represents the position that Love must be praised in the highest tones praise, the
former is opposed to it. At the beginning of the conversation Florentius says that
love is natural and that even the greatest figures of world history have devoted
themselves to love. To underline his point he mentions, he argues that the medical
doctors all agree that love is a healthy thing and is to be promoted. His opponent
says that doctor prescribe medicines against love itself. In particular venereal
diseases. Florentius then says that Olimpus must mean that Platonic and corporal
love are both of no use. Olimpus thinks that love should be directed to ethics and
morality. Florentius goes on by mentioning the healthy effect of music on people,
to which he older opponent replies that musicians should concern themselves with
harmony, not with disharmony that brings love about. The disputes widens that it
is natural for a men to be attracted to the opposite sex, and that not only the
medical doctors but the Bible itself attest of that. The author heavily relies on
antique sources, when writing about love but also includes medieval views. His
sympathy lies with Florentines who defends love against an elderly man, that has
known love but now denunciates it out spite and impotence.Literature: Daphnis
Bd. 38 (2009) S. 449-490 and Old Age and Disease in Early Modern Medicine. By
Daniel Schäfer (2011). ‘Ein Kölner Disput: Über die Liebe Andreas Capellanus, Enea
Silvio Piccolomini und Jacobus de Reno (Dyalogus de sene et iuvene de amore
disputantibus) Haye, Thomas. (2009).
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15th CENTURY : INCUNABULA
WINE MAKING, AGRICULTURE AND HUSBANDRY.
31. 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 (14281497). - 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.
€ 12.500,- / $ 13,983.Numerous woodcut initials which are tinted by a contemporary hand. Sixteenthcentury 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.
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 quasiitinerant 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
25
15th CENTURY : INCUNABULA
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.
A LOST ARABIC TEXT ON THE USE OF DRUGS
32.
SERAPION, JOHANNES, THE YOUNGER. Liber Serapionis aggregatus in
medicinis simplicibus, Add: Galenus: De virtute centaureae Venice:
Reynaldus de Novimagio, 8 June 1479 136 Leaves. 17thcalf rebacked The text
is the Latin translation made around 1290 by Simon Januensis (Simon of
Genoa) and Abrāhām ben Shēm-Tōb of Tortosa of an Arabic treatise on
simple drugs traditionally attributed to a Pseudo-Serapion (also called
Serapion the Younger), but recently identified as the Kitāb al-Adwiya almufrada (Book on Simple Drugs) by Ibn Wāfid (d. 1067) a pharmacologist
and physician from Toledo.
€ 25.000,- / $ 26,535.What characterised Ibn Al-Wafid was his immense knowledge of medical matters
and therapeutics, with the skills to treat grave and insidious diseases and affliction.
He preferred to use dietetic measures, and if drugs were needed, he preferred to use
the simplest ones, before recommending compound drugs, and when he did use
compound drugs, he gave priority to those less complex. If and when he resorted to
the use of compound drugs, he did so only sparingly, preferring the lowest amount
possible The original Arabic version of the book was considered lost. Nevertheless, a
manuscript written in Hebrew-Arabic, and partial translations in Latin and Catalan
are preserved. The only auction record we could find is £ 1500 in 1977 Sothebys.
Literature: P. Dilg, 'The Liber aggregatus in medicinis simplicibus of PseudoSerapion: An Influential Work of Medical Arabism', in Islam and the Italian
Renaissance, ed. by C. Burnett and A. Contadini, Warburg Institute Colloquia, 5
(London, 1999), pp. 221-31, P. E. Pormann, 'Yūhannā ibn Sarābiyūn: Further Studies
into the Transmission of his Works', Arabic sciences and philosophy, 14 (2004), 23362.
26
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ALDINE SAMMELBAND
33. AESCHYLUS.
Tragoediae sex. Greek text, edited by Francesco Torresani.
Venice: House of Aldus and Andrea of Asola, February 1518 113, [1] leaves,
including colophon leaf. 8vo, 148 x90 mm. Venice: EDITIO PRINCEPS of
the plays of Aeschylus. Renouard, page 85(9); Hoffmann I, 32-34. BOUND
WITH.... [II] OPPIANUS De piscibus libri V. Eiusdem de venatione libri IIII.
Oppiani de piscibus Laurentio Lippio interprete libri V. [colophon:]
Venice, Aldus, December 1517. 166, [1] leaves... BOUND WITH [III] [Hero and
Leander] [ Orpheus] Mousaiou poiemation ta kath' Hero kai Leandron.,
Orpheos Argonautika., Tou autou hymnoi., Orpheus Peri lithon. = Musaei
opusculum de Herone & Leandro., Orphei argonautica., Eiusdem hymni.,
Orpheus de lapidibus. :Venetiis : In aedibvs Aldi et Andreae soceri, mense
novembri MDXVII [1517] Second Aldine edition of the Greek text of Hero
and Leander accompanied by the Latin translation of Marcus Musurus. The
Orphic texts in Greek only. Imprint from colophon.Signatures: b-k⁸; lacking
full signature a. Aldine device on t.p. and verso of final leaf; 72 of 80 leaves :
woodcut illustrations. ALL THREE WORKS OF CONSIDERABLE RARITY.
€ 13.370,- / $ 15,000.The whole bound in 18th century Italian vellum, some splitting at hinges and
peeling of spine; l.r. old restoration to t.p. of Aeschylus just touching anchor, minor
corner damp-stain affecting preliminary leaves, some light toning or spotting.
Provenance: Ex-Libris of Thomas Day Seymour (1848 – , 190), the was an American
classical scholar and Professor of Greek at Yale University.
EMBLEM LITERATURE
34. AMMIRATO,SCIPIONE.
Il Rota, ouero, Dell'imprese : dialogo. In Napoli :
[Appresso G.M. Scotto], M D LXII. [1562] 8vo., 14.5 x 9.5 cm. 230, [8] pages.
Early limp vellum, old label to spine and titling; internally some general
toning.
€ 580,- / $650.Learned Italians of the 16th century considered the art of making emblems and
devices one of the choices pursuits of the human intellect. This is the first edition
of Ammirato's highly regarded philosophical treatise on emblem making. In his
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pursuit of an appropriate 'devise' of profound meditation, "compounded of Figures
and Words in which discover some gallant and heroic design," he forbids the use
of things "too vile and abject, [such] as Kettles, Frying-pans, Dripping-pans,
Chafing-dishes, and Bellows" with special abhorrence to the use of imagery
containing "Pigs, Wolves, Foxes, Vipers, Moles, Basilisks, and Dragons."
RARE BIBLE WITH EDITS ATTRIBUTED TO THE GREAT RENAISSANCE
POLYMATH MICHAEL SERVETUS
[BIBLE] Biblia sacrosancta veteris, et Novi instrumenti : iuxta vulgatam
& consuetam æditionem, tum ad Hebraicam veritatem, tum ad
vetustissimorum simul & emendatissimorum voluminum fidem, post
omneis omnium æditiones, studiosissimè castigata, simul & recognita, ac à
mendis quàm plurimis, quæ sciolorủ incuria foedissimè irrepserảt, maximo
củ negocio repurgata. Lugduni (Lyon) : Gasparis Trechsel, 1532.
€ 1413,- $ 1500.35.
Title within architectural border: motto in upper border: Verbvm Domini manet in
aeternvm (trans: The Word of the Lord Endures Forever). 8vo., 18 x 12 cm.,
Complete: [7], 506, [5] leaves. English paneled calf, rubbed and with wear, later
paste-downs and endpapers, t.p., worn and partially re-laid, few leaves thumbed,
some general toning, edges triple-gauffered with stars. Provenance: English
Provenance with a 1725 inscription of Robert Forbes to verso of last leaf and a
manuscript memoranda to front paste-down regarding the Psalms. An edition that
is very rare in commerce. Printer's mark on verso of last leaf of text [8er] and on
verso of leaf [8er] (recto blank) Baudrier, nos. 2, 4. "This seems to be the first of a
series of Bibles which, while reproducing in the main, br; not exactly, the text of R.
Stephanus' first edition, differ somewhat in the marginal and supplementary
matter. It is suggested that these changes were first made by Michael Servetus .
who about the same time was employed as corrector at the press of the Viennese
printers M. and G. Trechsel." Ref: British and foreign Bible society, Historical
catalogue, II, p. 927-928.
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SCARCE 1541 BIBLE WITH A HANDSOME SERIES OF APOCALYPSE WOODCUTS
[BIBLE] [ILLUSTRATED] Biblia. Iconibus artificiosissimis, quò Lectoris
memoirae consulatur, tanquàm emblematis quibusdam exornata. Additae
sunt in interiori margine ex vetustissimis quibusque codicibus, partim
manu scriptis, partim ab ipsius typorgraphices iuuenta excusis...,
Hebraeorum, Chaldaeorum, Graecorum, Latinorum nominum difficilium,
explicato, Antwerp: Joannes Steels, 1541. Folio., 33 x 21 cm; [8], 370, 86, 54
leaves : illustrations (woodcuts).
€ 1650,- / $ 1750.36.
New Testament has a separate t.p.: Sanctu[m] Iesu Christi Evangelium. Secundum
Matthaeum. Secundum Marcum. Secundum Lucam. Secundum Iohannen. Acta
Apostolorum. D. Pauli Apostoli Epistolae omnes vnà cum catholicis. Apocalypsis.
Beati Ioannis. At the end of the New Testament the colophon reads: Antwerpiae
Typis Martini Merani. M.D. XLI. Woodcut printer's device on verso of final leaf:
"Steelsius Concordia res paruae crescunt." Woodcut initials, head and tail pieces
and numerous illustrations.
A scarce folio Latin Vulgate bible based on the 1540 Paris edition by Robert
Estienne with the addition of the Third Book of Maccabees at the end of the Old
Testament. Includes indexes. The third Estienne folio Bible on which this Antwerp
edition is based was the monumental edition which became the foundation of the
official Roman vulgate. Ex-libris of Eugene Gaughran and Coker Court, the
substantial manor house in East Coker, Somerset, England. Early boards rolled in
blind and relaid, spine renewed, later paste-downs and blanks, t.p. somewhat tight,
small small but extensive worming, but not very obtrusive, and overall a handsome
work. Six copies listed in OCLC and quite scarce in commerce.
PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED FRENCH PICTURE BIBLE. BIBLIA BIBLIORVM OPVS
SACROSANCTVM
37. [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
biding, rubbed. Last index leave repaired with loss of text.
€ 3500,- / $ 3,912.29
16th CENTURY
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.
DANCE OF DEATH - AMONG THE BEST OF ENGLISH SIXTEENTH CENTURY
WOOD-ENGRAVINGS
38 .BOCCACCIO (GIOVANNI)
A Treatise excellent and compendious, shewing
and declaring in manner of Tragedye, the falles of sondry most notable
Princes and Princesses vvith other Nobles. through ye mutabilitie and
change of vnstedfast Fortune together with their most detestable & wicked
vices. First compyled in Latin by the excellent Clerke Bocaticus, an Italian
borne. And sence that tyme translated into our English and Vulgare tong,
by Dan John Lidgate Monk of Burye. And nowe newly imprynted,
corrected, and augmented out of diuerse and sundry Olde writen copies in
parchment. In aedibus Richard, [September 10 1554]. Folio, 28 x 19 cm., [ix
4] cxxxiii lvs.;
€ 12720,-./.$ 13,500.Binding: early 19th century marbled paper over boards and later calf spin with
raised bands, gilt lettering and ex-lbris markings in gilt. Ref: S.T.C. 3177 Title within
woodcut border (McKerrow & Ferguson 68) but torn at upper margin and
repaired, rather heavily wormed also and slightly torn at fore-margins, worming
throughout heavy at at first but withering into a single hole, with the 12 fine large
woodcuts, printed in BLACK LETTER, marginal tears in leaves 1, 47 and 224, slight
damp-staining to upper portions of leaves. Interesting early inscription to upper
title page with partial loss of owner Theo Coke. From Sion College Library with the
library stamp on the verso of the title. The last six leaves of the Dance of the
Macabre appears only in this edition, and is often lacking. The blocks for the
woodcuts are from Pynson's second edition of 1527 and are copies of those used in
Pynson's 1494 edition. "Ranked as among the best of English sixteenth century
wood-engravings" (Pforzheimer 74).
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CHRISTIAN MYSTICISM
39. 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.
€ 2750,- / $ 3,073.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.
CHARMING 16TH CENTURY COSTUME BOOK OF ISLAMIC INTEREST
40.
[DIVERSARUM NATIONUM HABITUS.] "Album des Gostumes [!] de tous les
pays à la fin du XVIè siècle." [Padua, 1594-1596].
Collection of 56 costume engravings, all c. 120 x 90 mm, mounted in early
19th century album (laid paper) with marbled wrappers (4to; edges
chipped).
€ 695,- / $ 776.56 of the 256 costume engravings of the world's various peoples that the Italian
artist Pietro Bertelli produced between 1589 and 1596 in various editions. Apart
from the Italian costumes (16 specimens in all), the present collection is strongest
in the Near and Middle Eastern cultures, with 16 engravings showing the costumes
of an "Arabs Nobilis", "Arabs, habitu Gentili", "Mammalucus", "Janizeri
Contantinopolitana uxor", as well as several members of the Jewish community;
two others show a Persian nobleman and his wife. Other costumes include France,
Greece, Russia, India, Britain, Germany, but also Native Americans. Thieme/Becker
III, 488.
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41. [ENGLISH BIBLE] The
Bible : That is, the Holy Scriptures conteined in the
Olde and New Testament. Translated according to the Ebrew and Greeke,
and conferred with the best translations in diuers languages. With most
profitable annotations vpon all the hard places, and other things of great
importance, as may appeare in the epistle to the reader. Imprinted at
London by the deputies of Christopher Barker, printer to the Queenes most
excellent Maiestie Anno 1597 (Deputies of Christopher Barker, 1597)
FOLIO. 29 x 19.5 cm., [STC 2168; Herbert 235]. Preceded with the The
booke of common prayer : with the Psalter or Psalmes of David. :London :
R. Barker, 1607. STC (2nd ed.), 16332.
€ 4240,- / $ 4500.2 woodcut maps and a few illustrations, 19th century full calf in period style with
likely sterling silver bosses, spine labels relaid. Internally, some staining to to,
creasing to blank. Red-ruled and relatively wide-margined and overall a very
attractive copy of the small folio edition that is becoming increasingly scarce in
commerce. Provenance: William Frank Buckley Jr, the American conservative
author (with some correspondence enclosed.
42. [GREEK PRINTING] Homer .. Opus utrumque Homeri Iliados et Odysseae .
.adjecta est etiam eiusdem Batrachomyomachia. Greek text with the
scholia of Didymus, and the Homericae quaestiones and De antro
nypharum of Porphyry; edited by Jacob Micyllus and Joachim Camerarius.
Basel: Johann Herwagen, 1551 Folio., 27.5 x 17.5 cm., . [20], 394 [i.e., 410], [2];
314, [1 of 2] pages, wanting last leaf, largely blank save printer's device and
not in all copies.
€ 895,- / $ 950.2 volumes in one. Binding: contemporary pigskin over pasteboard blind-tooled
with allegorical design and monogram "A L I" stamped in black on front cover, old
vellum repairs or restrengthening to corners. Internally, partially effaced early
owner's name to front blank and minor worming, t.p. toned and slightly thumbed
with tight inner margin, a3 present but detached form text block, some general
toning and light dampstaining notably to upper margin of last leaves, some leaves
with lower right margin with very slight gnawing. Third edition by Herwagen, with
commentaries by J. Micyllus and J. Camerarius. Ref: VD 16 H 4593, Adams H 754,
Ebert 9551, Hoffmann II, 461
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DEMONS, SPELLS, WIZARDS AND WITCHCRAFT.
43. 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.)€ 2750,- / $ 3,073.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.
44. HERO OF ALEXANDRIA.
Heronis mechanici Liber de machinis bellicis.
Venice: Francesco Franceschi, 1572. 4to. 20 x 14 cm. A-T4 V2. Early calf,
rebacked and recornered, t.p. with small u.r. chip touching S of Heroinis,
some light toning and foxing. Provenance: Thomas Digges (ownership
signature dated 1575 and Latin inscription to upper margin title page and
curatorial note in pen to that effect on inner paste-down); Ex-libris Robert
Honeyman IV (morocco bookplate).
€ 17.884,- / $ 20,000.The provenance of this copy is remarkable. Thomas Digges (1546-1595), was an
eminent English mathematician and the most important astronomer of the reign
of Queen Elizabeth I. Digges was the first introduce Copernicus's heliocentric
model of the Universe to England. He " went further than Copernicus, however, by
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proposing that the universe is infinite, containing infinitely many stars, and may
have been the first person to do so." (Edward R. Harrison). Digges has been
connected to Shakespeare's circle as well. Carole Jahme, in a recent article stated
that "Shakespeare was friends with the British astronomer Thomas Digges who
believed the universe to be infinite and that the sun not the Earth was the centre of
our solar system. Digges would have been aware of Galileo’s work The Starry
Messenger, published in 1610, about his observations of the heavens and may well
have kept Shakespeare informed about the latest on Copernican philosophy."
Whether this is just journalistic speculation is unclear, but it is known that after
Digges' death, his widow, Anne, married Thomas Russell of Alderminster, 'whom in
1616 William Shakespeare named as an overseer of his will'. This book itself itself is
an illustrated account of Heron of Alexandria's (10–85 AD) mechanics of warfare.
The ancient techniques of military strength, as revived by the Italians since the 15th
century, were of great interest to Elizabethans navigating increasingly complex
foreign turmoil and continental armies that that has benefited from the experience
of the religious wars of the 16th century. Unobtainable in the trade, one copy at
auction the last 30 years!
HERODOTUS'S HISTORY OF THE PERSIAN WARS, EDITIO PRINCEPS IN GREEK.
45. [HERODOTUS] Herodoti libri novem ... [ed. M. Musurus] ALDINE PRESS. Venice:
Aldus Manutius, September 1502. FOLIO seventeenth-century vellum over
pasteboards, covers blind-panelled, small split at bottom of front joint, top edge of
last four leaves torn away and renewed with portions of two lines text supplied in
ink,small repair to upper corner of title, finger soiling to title and a few other pages,
cloth slipcase, FIRST EDITION, woodcut title in Greek and roman letter, verso with
dedication in Latin, text in Greek letter throughout with spaces for capital letters,
woodcut device on title and last page. Renouard, p. 35, no. 8 (... belle edition ...,
Tune des meilleures qu'Alde ait publiees d'aucun livre grec.); Printing and the
Mind of Man 41 Bookplates of Albert May Todd, A. E. Neergaard and Stuart B.
Schimmel.
€ 27.260,- / $ 30,495.The Editio Princeps of Herodotus's history of the Persian Wars, remains a coveted
highlight of Aldus's singularly important output. The text was edited by Aldus
himself. Not only was it a monument of scholarship and typography, but through
modern eyes, it is fascinating example of the 'information age' of the Renaissance.
Indeed, it is a highly important example of humanistic interest in the ancient
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classics and the reinvigorating and dissemination of a manuscript through textual
transmission. Aldus famously states in the dedication that he himself corrected
the text from multiple surviving manuscript exemplars (underscoring new
techniques of literary scholarship and 'error correction'), and indeed this is one of
the few instances where this has been independently verified as true and not
publisher's bluster. Aldus had access to Lorenzo Valla's 'Florentine codices, and
most interestingly, the actual printer's copy was more re-discovered in Nuremberg
by Brigitte Mondrain in 1993 (Scriptorium 49 [1995], pp. 263-273)
IMPORTANT RENAISSANCE BINDING BY CLOVES EVE
46. HOMER.
Homeri Ilias, id est, De rebus ad Troiam gestis. Parisiis : Apud
Adr. Turnebum typographum Regiu[m]., M.D. LIIII [1554].:Signatures:
[alpha]² A-Z⁸, a-l⁸ m⁶. Printer's device on title page. Text in Greek; part of
title page in Latin. 8vo.,[4], 554, [2] pages, 17.0 x 10.6 cm., A MAGNIFICENT
PARIS BINDING, nevertheless, attributed by early cataloger as "A FINE
BINDING BY CLOVIS EVE.
€ 23.261,- / $ 26,000.It is seldom that it is possible to attribute bindings to Clovis Eve, but in this
specimen we undoubtedly have one of his fine creations. The original owner,
Nicolas de Villars, Bishop of Agen, was a friend of Marguerite de Valois, Queen of
Navaare, for whom Clovis Eve executed his finest bindings. The presence in the
binding of the marguerite, appears to indicate that the book was bound for the
Queen who presented it to de Villars. Guigard states that the marguerite is
incontestable proof of the binding having been executed by Eve for Marguerite de
Valois" Brown crushed morocco, "covers with three double gilt fillets enclosing
an outer border of small gilt foliage tools and an inner border of small gilt flowers,
around a large panel with gilt foliage tracery cornerpiece ornaments incorporating
a large gilt lozenge of similar tooling with flowers, enclosing the gilt-stamped arms
of NICOLAS DE VILLARS, BISHOP OF AGEN (from 1589-1608)." Evidence of ties,
expertly re-backed and housed attractive maroon crushed velvet-lined morocco
box by Sangorski & Sutcliffe; internally, quite a handsome book, red-ruled, faded
but all edges gilt, and printed in a elegant and minuscule Greek letter. Ref: Olivier
1519
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ALCHEMY AND THE SECRETS OF NATURE
47. LLULL, RAMON. De alchimia opuscula quae sequuntur. Apertorium. Item,
Magica naturalis. Item, De secretis naturae; seu, De quinta essentia liber
unus. Jam non mutilus, ut in prioribus editionibus omnibus. Adjecimus
enim Tertiam distictionem de transmutatione metallorum, quae plusquam
dimidia pars est totius libri. Norimbergae, Apud Johan Petreium, 1546.
€ 2950,- / $ 3,286.The Corpus of the alchemical writings ascribed to Ramon Lull, the Catalan author,
mystic, and missionary (c. 1235-1315). The 'Apertorium' is the treatise which starts
with the words “the sages assert that there is only one stone composed of the four
elements’. It is an outline of the principles of alchemy. It was praised in a 16th
century manuscript as "the chief key to all our books we have made in this art" (see
Thorndike IV, 52). The second work in this collection is the 'Compendium of the
Art of Magic', a short alchemical tract in twenty-four chapters, promising "that
without sin, enchantment, or disturbance of sense and intellect, one shall see
spirits in the air in monstrous forms of men and animals moving to and fro like
clouds." The third work is 'De Secretis Naturae', part of which was published in
Venice in 1514, under the same title. The book deals with the transmutation of
metals into gold and silver. In the beginning chapter, the author rejects the works
of Geber, Avicenna, and Albert the Great. Palau IV, 298: "rara obra"; Caillet 6863;
this edition not mentioned by Ferguson, Thorndike; no copy in the
B.M.http://ustc.ac.uk/index.php/record/689790 Bound in a contemporary limp
vellum binding. 8v, 113 pages. Some water staining. aI. aa.II lower margin torn with
the loss of of one world and a few syllables. Some contemporary annotations. No
auction record for the last 35 yeara, exceedingly rare and unobtainable in the trade.
SAMMELBAND WITH THE MACROBIUS WORLDMAP.
48. MACROBIUS, AMBROSIUS THEODOSIUS.
In somnium Scipionis Libri duo: et
septem eiusdem libri Saturnaliorum Macrobius, Ambrosius Theodosius.
Cologne: Eucharius Cervicornus, 1521. [5 leaves]. I-CXLVI. 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
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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.
€ 5500,- / $ 6,147.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.
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RENAISSANCE BINDING
49. MARCELLINUS, AMMIANUS. Rerum
Gestarum Libri Decem et Octo Lyons,
Gryphius, 1552. 16 mo., 12 x 7 cm., 736, [3] pp. Printed in italic type, in
Latin. Occasional marginalia of a 1622 owner with his inscription to top
margin of t.p.
€ 2230,- / $2500.Binding: 16th-century French gold-painted calf with contemporary strapwork and
likely a Lyons binding based on style and imprint; spine relaid or possibly later
spine in a sympathetic style, slight bumping to corners, with small loss to lower
right front corner, all edges gilt and lightly gauffered; internally some toning. A
really delightful volume of a rather scarce Gryphius imprint.
DUELLING AND FENCING.
50. 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.
€ 3950,- / $ 4,414.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.
51. 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,- / $ 838.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!
52. 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
€ 17.500,- / $ 19,560.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
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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 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
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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!
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.
€ 3500,- / $ 3,912.53. MIRABILIS LIBER QUI PROPHETIAS
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 longanticipated 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.
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A SAMMELBAND OF RENAISSANCE MUSIC OF LEGENDARY RARITY
54.
[music] Orlando Lassus & others) Small oblong (15 x 10 c)
Contemporary brown vellum binding (worn).
€ 17.500,- / $ 19,559.The Air de cour was a popular type of secular vocal music in France in the late
Renaissance and early Baroque period, from about 1570 until around 1650. Le Roy
and his cousin Robert Ballard (ca. 1525-1588 ] founded the printing firm "Le Roy &
Ballard", and they where awarded the title of "imprimeur du Roi en musique". This
office, which was renewed by successive monarchs, gave the company legal
protection against competitors and commercially valuable prestige. Royal
patronage was a major factor in the company's success since it ensured both a
ready supply of new music from the court musicians and a market for its
publications. Over the following two decades other rival companies dropped out of
the market and from the 1570s onwards Le Roy & Ballard enjoyed a virtual
monopoly in music publishing.
This sammelband, a bibliographical treasure contains nine Tenor parts of
musicians and composers, that are, without exaggeration, all of legendary rarity
Late 16th c. editions of vocal music like this are almost always found as incomplete
sets. If a contemporary singer or collector assembled a sammelband from nine
editions (each comprising four part-books for cantus, altus, tenor & bassus) as
here, then instead of binding the nine editions separately, he split the editions and
bound all the vocal parts separately in four separate volumes, one for each singer.
It is therefore almost impossible to find a complete set of parts today; even the
André Meyer collection Sothebys sold, originally bought shortly after the Second
World War, contained scarcely any complete sets. A later Sammelband of 3 tenor
parts of Lassus only (all in later edition ad here, 1596,1599, 1596) sold in Paris in the
André Meyer sale (16/10/2012) for 25.950€. That copy had 140 pages total, we got
290 pages in total, with some works not in any public collection or even no copy
known.
1. Tenor Airs et villanelles mis en musique à 4. 5. & 6. Parties, par Pierre Bonnet.
Paris, Par A. Le Roy, & R. Ballard, 1588. 52 leaves. Newbery library, Lesure no. 270
2. Tenor. Premier livre d'airs tant françois, italien, qu'espagnol, reduitz en musique,
à 4. & 5. parties : par M. G. Tessier. A Paris : par Adrian le Roy, & Robert Ballard,
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M.D.LXXXV. 40 leaves. This edition only in private collection, of the 1582 edition,
two copies, BL and Bibliothèque nationale de France. Lesure no. 271
3. Tenor. Airs mis en musique à quatre parties par Iean Planson Parisien. Paris : A.
Le Roy & R. Ballard, 1588, 40 pages. Only know through private collections. Lesure
no. 301
4. Tenor. Airs mis en musique à quatre parties. Premier liure / par Fabrice Marin
Caietain sur les poësies de P. de Ronsard, & autres excelens poëtes A Paris : Par
Adrian le Roy & Robert Ballard M. D. L X X VIII. [1578] 39 leaves, page 26 with slight
loss, page 33 missing! Tenor. British library
5. Title missing, Le Blanc Airs de plusieurs musiciens. {3} Tenor Paris, Adrian Le
Roy et Robert Ballard, 1582, 40 pages London (UK), British Library K 2 b 7 (2) Paris
(Fr), Bibliothèque nationale de France MUS. Rés. 24
6. Tenor. Chansonnettes mesurees. de Ian-Antoine de Baif mises en musique a
quatre parties par Iacques Mauduit Parisien. 1588, 24 pages Bibliothèque Sainte
Geneviève Vm 223 Rés. Private collection,
7. Tenor. Vinctcinquieme livre d'airs et de chansons à quatre parties. D'Orlande de
Lassus et Cl. Le Jeune Adrien Le Roy : Robert Ballard, 1585. REFERENCES: Lesure
no. 275 LIBRARY COPIES: Private collections. 24 pages.
8. Tenor. Vingtquatrieme livre d'airs et chansons à quatre parties. D'Orlande de
Lassus et Cl. Le JeuneParis: Adrien Le Roy: Robert Ballard, 1585. Paris (Fr),
Bibliothèque nationale de France Rothschild 983. 16 pages.
9. CANTIQVES DV Sr. DE MAISON- || fleur mis en Musique à 4. parties || Par le S.
Antonio Condomirio. || Grec de nation. || A PARIS, || M. D. LXXXII. | no known
copies, 15 leaves, last leaf missing.
POST-INCUNABLE WITH WOODCUTS
55. PETRUS DE ROSENHEIM. Rationarium evangelist arum. Pforzheim, Thomas
Anselm, 1507. [18] leaves; Collation: a-c6; 19.5 x 13.5 cm. Woodcut printer's
device at end; 15 full-page mnemonic woodcuts. This edition appears to be
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the fifth, preceded by two from 1502, another printed in 1503, and a 1504
edition. Binding: 19th-century Jansenist-style crimson morocco by Canape
& Corriez, with small dent in center of front cover; light marginal
dampstaining toward end, bookseller's catalogue description tipped to
front pastedown. Ref: Adams P926; Brunet I: 499-500; VD16 ZV
12363.
€ 10.370,- / $ 11,000.A wonderfully illustrated and curious book, based on the the 15th century blockbook "Ars Memorandi'', with the cuts adapted from the originals. The purpose was
twofold: first, a method of memorizing the contents of each Gospel by means of
woodcut figures worked into compact symbolical form; second, a method by which
the priest might instruct those who could not read, using the accompanying key in
explaining the pictures to the illiterate. Of the cuts, 3 are for St. John's Gospel, 5 for
St. Matthew's, 3 for St. Mark's, and 4 for St. Luke's. Each is constructed with one
great figure in the back-ground, on whose arms, legs, head, body, etc. are crowded
the other symbols. Thus the background for the St. John is a Phoenix. Such curious
objects appear as a leper's clappers. money changers' dishes, and early musical
instruments."
FIRST BOOK TO BE ENTIRELY PRINTED IN GREEK IN ROME.
56. PINDAR. Olympia, Pythia, Nemea, Isthmia. Rome: Zacharias Kallierges for
Cornelio Benigno, 13 August 1515. 4to., 237 x 160 mm., wide-margined.
Greek type throughout. Text surrounded by commentary. Kallierges and
Benigno devices on title, a different Kallierges device on final verso, a few
woodcut initials, also some capital-spaces with guide letters.
€ 16.052,- / $ 18,000.Late 17th century mottled calf and gilt spine, some rubbing to hinges. Overall, a
very fine and particularly large copy of the first book to be entirely printed in Greek
in Rome. It is the celebrated second edition, but the first with the important
scholia of the Epicinia (Odes of Victory), a collection of 44 odes divided into four
books. The printer Kallierges of Crete went from Venice to Rome, and under the
protection of People Leo X, produced this remarkable volume. He records in the
colophon that the book was published at the expense of Augustino Chigi and at the
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urgings of the learned Cornelio Benigno of Venice. Hoffman III, 97; Adams P-1219.
'His clientele was small and select: a couple of dozen book dealers in Milan, Paris,
London, Barcelona and Lausanne . . . for whom thousands of dollars depend on
whether something is parchment or vellum or three centimetres wider in the
margin.'' (The Dumas club) We priced it accordingly
RENAISSANCE BIOGRAPHY
57. SPINEO, PIETRO.
Historia della vita, et fatti dell'eccellentissimo capitano
di guerra Bartolomeo Coglione :In Vinetia : Appresso Gratioso Percaccino,
MDLXIX [1569]. 4to., Engraveda rchitectural title-page; head- and tailpieces; initials; register. Splendid portrait of Colleoni on leaf A4 recto.
Coats of arms on leaf inserted following leaf A4. Printer's device on leaf 2O3
verso. 4to., 23.5 x 18cm., [12], 283 pgs. [3] [1]. Limp vellum with wear and
some chipping, loss of yapp edge, text block with some separation, some
thumbing and some general toning, some manuscript binder's waste visible
Adams P1601.
€ 1.070,- / $ 1,200.First edition of this biography of Bartolomeo Colleoni by Spino Bergamo (15131585), professor of rhetoric and history, poet, and biographer. Bartolomeo Colleoni
(1400 – 2 November 1475) was an Italian solider of future, " an Italian condottiero,
who became captain-general of the Republic of Venice." Colleoni "gained
reputation as the foremost tactician and disciplinarian of the 15th century". In one
of the more intriguing emblems of the 16th century, Colleoni's machismo is on full
display as his shield depicts his famous "three testicles"- not even the Medici balls
'palle' by comparison.
PICTURE BIBLE
solis, virgil. Biblische Figuren dess Alten Testaments gantz fünftlich
gerissen Getruckt zu Franckfurt am Mayn : Durch Johannem Wolffium,
1565. Oblong 8vo., 21 x 16.5 cm. [102], [116] pages : chiefly illustrations
(woodcuts) Note: Bartsch calls for only 214 plates, but this copy has 216.
Title printed in red and black, within ornamental border. € 3580,- / $ 3800.
58.
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"Biblische Figuren dess Newen Testaments gantz fünftlich gerissen" has separate
t.p. and register Woodcuts printed one to a page, with Latin captions above and
German legends below each cut. Signatures: A-M⁴ N⁶ ( -N6) a-p⁴. Binding: early
vellum with double headed eagle center supralibros stamped in blind with black
outline and traces of gilt. Congregational Library ex-libris to front paste-down.
Internally, some small marginal staining to t,p., some general staining or light
toning, but overall a very handsome copy. Virgil Solis was a German mannerists
who partly followed in Dürer's tradition and became one of the most most prolific
artists of the sixteenth century.
LA GIERUSALEMME LIBERATA. COMMENTARY BY S. GENTILI AND G. GUASTAVINI.
59. 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 headand 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 pastedown. Adams T-243; Mortimer Harvard Italian, 494
€ 2.500,- / $ 2,794.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".
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RARE FIRST ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF "THE INVENTION OF THINGS'
60. VERGILIUS (POLYDORUS) An Abridgemēt of the notable worke of Polidore
Vergile conteygnyng the deuisers and first finders out aswell of Artes,
Ministeries, Feactes & ciuill ordinaunces, as of Rites, & Ceremonies,
commonly vsed in the churche: and the originall beginnyng of the same.
Compēdiousely gathered [and translated] by Thomas Langley. B.L. Richard
Grafton, 25 January 1546. 8vo., 138 x 92 cm., [8], 156, [10] leaves; A8, a-v8,
xl-7 wanting x8 (? blank)].
€ 14.137,- / $ 15,000.Binding: 18th century blind-panelled calf, front hinge weak and starting, Black
letter, corner of mi torn off with loss of catchword, a few side-notes shaved and
lower margins of most leaves slightly wormed, added front blank with old
notations to verso and mor modern ownership to recto. At foot of title page: Cum
priuilegio ad imprimendum solum as well as a manuscript addition below in an
early hand indicting another edition printed by John Tysdale (mentioned by
Lowndes; also note the Ferguson's discussion of the complex history early edition
in his Hand List of Editions of Polydore Vergil's Deinventoribus Rerum). A
translation and abridgment of: Vergil, Polydore. De inventoribus rerum. Ref: STC
24655. Provenance: Sold Sotheby's 1965, presumably to Blackwell's and purchased
in 1979 (Centenary Antquaria Catalogue), in private collection since. De
Inventoribus Rerum was published in 1499, having been written in only three
months. It was a history of origins and inventions. Due to its comprehensive
nature and brief investigations of so many diverse subjects , even in its
abridgement in translation, it lays fair albeit not definitive claim to many "firsts" or
at least early mentions in English; i.e. as some of many examples, it contains in
English one earliest mentions of dentistry, the "pluckying out teeth" (xxx-xxxi), one
of the earliest explicit mentions of prostitution (li) , that "common women were
long before Venus tyme,' and a discussion of Islam (ci-cii), the "Origins of the
Mahometes Secte" with explicitmention of Arabia.
Vergil's works were an important part of the intellectual culture in Elizabethan and
Jacobean England. As an established author, and a representative of Italian
humanist learning, Vergil was received in England as a minor celebrity, and was
welcomed at court by King Henry VII. He was sufficiently prominent that he was
commissioned by the King to write a history of England which would, among other
things, establish the right of the Tudors to the throne.
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ORIGINS OF MELANCHOLY
61.
[VITTORI, BENEDETTO] Consilia medicinalia ad varia morborum genera ;
Consilia medicinalia ad varia morborum genera Benedicti Victorij. 1556
Impressum: Ziletti Venetiis ; 314 Bl. [2] Contemporary vellum binding. 8vo.
€ 795,- / $ 888.Benedetto Vittori, 1481-1561. Medical doctor, professor in medicine and philosophy
Vittori at Padua and later Bologna. He was chiefly interested in the theoretical and
philosophical aspects of science and did not publish a large number of medical
works. This book was written during his life. Vettori occupied himself extensively
with the origins of Melancholy. However, they were very popular and were
reprinted numerous times, although they are now extremely rare and hard to find'
(Eimas)It made neary 600 GBP in 2001 at Sothebys, there are no copies in the
trade. Durling 4663; Eimas 188 (note)
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ONE OF THE PRINCIPAL SEX COMEDIES OF THE RESTORATION
62. BEHN, APHRA.
Sir Patient Fancy : a comedy : as it is acted at the Duke's
Theatre London : Printed by E. Flesher for Richard Tonson ... and Jacob
Tonson ..., 1678. 4to., 20.5 x 15cm., ([6], 91, [1] pages). Ref: Wing,
B1766. Modern paper wraps; internally, some toning and foxing, some
pages closely cropped. Generally, pleasing. Very Rare. No copies recorded
at auction since 1982.
€ 7590,- / $ 7000.Aphra Behn was one first English women to earn her living by her writing.
Virginia Woolf's famously wrote that "All women together ought to let flowers fall
upon [her] tomb ... for it was she who earned them the right to speak their minds."
The Play here, Sir Patient Fancy, is one of the principal sex comedies of the
Restoration period. Unlike the drag performances witnessed on the Elizabethan
stage, the 1670s saw female performers and the rise of plays with unprecedented
sexual explicitness. Sir Patient Fancy is borrowed in part from Molière' s "Malade
Imaginaire" and "M. Pourceaugnac." Mrs. Behn was criticized for her borrowing
but even more for the extraordinary indelicacy of her writing.
63. BEHN, APHRA
(1640-1689). The Town-Fopp: or Sir Timothy Tawdrey. A
Comedy. As it is Acted at his Royal Highness the Duke's Theatre. London:
Printed by T.N. for James Magnes and Rich. Bentley, 1677. 450., 213 x 155
mm). Wing B-1769. Rare in commerce with only one copy listed in
RareBookHub since 1937; OCLC cites only 2 copies.
€ 4235 / $ 4500.Behn's comedy is considered one of her darker ones and emphasized deception
and infidelity. It has particular interest in being her first London comedy and
underscores her sense of metropoltican culture: A nurse says to Sir Timothy, `I live
without Surgeons, wear my own Hair, am not in Debt to my Taylor... who wakes
thee every Morning with his Clamour and long Bills, at thy Chamber-door.' "The
Town-Fopp was staged in the autumn season of 1676 probably in September. No
cast list is given, but Betty Currer may have played the aptly named mistress of Sir
Timothy, Betty Flauntit. The vivacious Currer from Ireland was one of the new
actresses at the Duke's, her whorish reputation offstage being eminently
exploitable in the double entendres of prologues and epilogues... The play was
successful enough to be revived in November when Nell Gwyn went to see it and it
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was printed in 1677 by Magnes and Bentley [Ref: Todd, J. The Secret Life
of Aphra Behn.]
A PURITAN SEPTUAGINT WITH AMERICAN INTEREST
64. [BIBLE] [GREEK]
Hē Palaia Diathēkē kata tous Hebdomēkonta. = Vetus
Testamentum Graecum ex versione Septuaginta interpretum. Juxta
exemplar Vaticanum Romae editum. Cantabrigiae, : Excusum per Joann
em Field, typographum academicum., 1665. 12 mo., 14 cm., [4], 19, [1], 648,
647-694, 685-755 (i.e. 767), [1], 516 p. Title vignette: printer's device: oval
device of a woman with the sun in the right and a cup in the left, into which
drops of liquid are falling from the clouds; with Alma mater Cantabrigia
and the motto, Hinc lucem et pocula sacra (McKerrow, 327). Title within
double rule border; head-pieces; initials; text printed in double column.
17th century calf, peeling at hinges and wear to spine. Ex-libris of Eugene
Gaughran; internally some toning and first blank excised. The preface is by
John Pearson (1613-1686), famous for Exposition of the Creed (1659), Bishop
of Chester. Edited by the Unitarian writer John Biddle (1615-1662). Ref:
Darlow & Moule 4701; Wing B2719.
€ 1130,- / $ 1200.This small Septuagint has particular American interest as the source for the first
publication of a direct translation into English of the Greek Septuagint in America,
and the first Bible ever to be printed by a woman, Jane Aitken. "Charles Thomson
(1729-1824). best known as the first translator of the Septuagint, or Greek Old
Testament, into English —or for that matter into any modern language. He is less
well known as the first American translator of the New Testament ... His
achievements are remarkable, for he was no professional scholar but a layman—
early American patriot, Secretary to the Continental Congress, and friend of
Thomas Jefferson —who taught himself Greek in order to carry out the task. When
his political career ended in 1789, he devoted the rest of his life to the study of
Scripture in Greek. He is said to have translated from the Septuagint because he
came across a volume of the 1665 edition of the Septuagint published in Cambridge
by John Field and edited by John Pearson.' This edition is known as a Puritan
Septuagint because it had been conformed to the shorter Protestant canon by the
omission of the books of the Apocrypha and the additions to Esther and Daniel, as
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well as by following the order of the books in the KJV.' See: Michaels., J. Ramsey
Charles Thomson and the First American New Testament The Harvard Theological
Review Vol. 104, No. 3, pp. 349-365, and David Daniell, The Bible in English (New
Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2003).
THE BOOK OF SECRETS
65. CAROLUM BATTUM.
Het secreet- boek vol heerlijcke konsten, in veelerley
materien ; uyteen groot getal Latijnische, Italiaensche, Francoische, Hoogen Neder-duytsche autheuren vergadert. Leeuwarden : H. Rintjes, 1664. 573,
[II] p. Contemporary vellum, complete.
€ 3250,- / $ 3,632.Carel Baten or Battus, was born around the middle of the 16th century in Ghent,
between 1588 and 1601 he was a surgeon in Dordrecht.
The secreet boeck, (the book of secrets) starts with secretes of fire, air, water, earth
(for instance how to separate water from wine, how the make from sea water
drinking water), then it proceeds with receipts for longevity, cures against the
plaque, headaches, making of creams, ointments, paints, etc. There is a chapter
how to make wine and improve it, cures against amnesia, insomnia, and
headaches. The widest range of receipts are discussed. Apparently it holds some of
the oldest cooking receipts in Dutch. A curious mixture of medicine and magic.
The book of secrets was expressly intended for the 'common folk'. No copies in the
trade are to be found.
EMBLEM BOOK MOSTLY DEPICTING ANIMALS
[CHESNEAU (AUGUSTIN)] Emblemes sacrez sur le tres-saint et tresadorable sacrement de l'Eucharistie. Paris, Florentin Lambert, 1667.
66.
€ 1650,- / $ 1,844.-
8vo. 205 pages. Contemporary binding with raised bands and decorative spine.
First edition in French. The Latin version was printed in 1657 under the title
Orpheus Eucharisticus. With 101 enigmatic emblems, with most depicting mostly
animals. Thus it is a very different book, that the ones that have purely religious
imaginary. Landwehr 225. - Praz 304.
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SAMMELBAND OF FOUR TRACTS.
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.
€ 450,- / $ 502.67.
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 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.
THE EROTIC MELANCHOLY
68. FERRAND, JAMES.
. Erotomania; or, A treatise discoursing of the essence,
causes, symptomes, prognosticks, and cure of love, or erotique melancholy
...Oxford, Printed by L. Lichfield and sold by Edward Forrest, 1640. 12mo.,
143 x 94 mm. [39], 363 pgs, Title-page printed in red and black within
ornamental border. Very Rare: STC 10829 (citing only 5 copies). 19th
century calf and gilt, upper hinge just starting, light rubbing, later pastedowns and blanks; minor marginal stain to t.p. and some light toning and
other minor stains, but overall a very good copy. First edition in English.
€ 5178,- / $ 5500.-
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One of the chief discourses of lovesickness of the 17th century, and certainly the
most beautifully titled one. Ferrand states in the preface that his reason for writing
the treatise, was at least in part, to argue against the generally prescribed cure
of lust and fornication offered by supposedly moral Christian physicians. Drawing
on many classical and literary sources, and clearly poetic in nature, Ferrand
nevertheless attempts a serious empirical medical treatment of the affliction.
Of worthy note is that Romeo and Juliet is alluded to with commendatory verses
by Richard Goodridge, of Christ Church :
Were thy story of as much direful woe
As that of Juliet and Hieronymo,
Here is that would cure you."
IMPORTANT & RARE HISTORY OF HUNGARY
69. ISTHVANFIUS, NICOLAUS.
Historiarum de rebus Ungaricis libri XXXIV.
Cologne, 1622. Folio. Title within engraved historiated border with a
portrait of the emperor Ferdinand II and a battle scene at head.
FIRST EDITION of Isthvanfius' comprehensive history of Hungary from the
death of Matthias Corvinus in 1490 up to 1606. Last copy sold at Christie's in
2000 for $ 3500.
€ 4000,- / $ 4243.SECOND ONLY TO CLEOPATRA
70. LEE, NATHANIEL. Sophonisba, or,
Hannibal's overthrow : a tragedy, acted
at the Theatre-Royal, by Their Majesties servants :London : Printed for R.
Bently and S. Magnes ..., 1685. 4to., 20.5 x 15.5 cm., [4], 60 pgs., Modern
paper wraps, upper corner lightly crushed. First Edition. Internally, some
toning and occasional minor foxing. Wing, L872. Rare in commerce with
only one copy listed in RareBookHub in 1982; OCLC cites only 4 copies,.
€ 2354,- / $ 2500.Sophonisba, the Carthaginian noblewoman, drinking her poison, became the
subject of tragedies (and later operas) from the 16th to the 19th centuries second
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only to Cleopatra in popularity. Nathaniel Lee (1645/52-1692) was "he son of a
prominent clergyman, Lee was briefly an actor but turned to writing for the stage,
starting with an unsuccessful tragedy, Nero, at Drury Lane Theatre in 1674. In 1675,
however, his second tragedy, Sophonisba, proved to be an enduring success at the
same theatre... Lee wrote a string of plays with varied success. He had some trouble
with the authorities, three of his plays being banned for various reasons, The
Massacre at Paris (1678), Caesar Borgia (1679) and Lucius Junius Brutus (1680),
while a play co-authored with Dry-den, The Duke of Guise (1682), was temporarily
prohibited. Lee was a friend of John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester, and like him pursued a dissolute lifestyle that led to mental derangement and his incarceration in
Bethlem Hospital from 1684 to 1688." [Ref: Grantley, D. Historical Dictionary of
British Theatre: Early Period]
RARE TREATISE ON GEORGIAN MUSIC, ONLY 4 COPIES WORLDWIDE KNOWN.
71. MONSERRATE, A. DE.
Arte breve, y compendiosa, de las dificultades que se
ofrecen en la musica pratica del canto llano (..). Valencia, Pedro Patricio
Mey, 1614. With woodcut title-vignette (depicting the Virgin of Monserrat)
and noted music of Gregorian chants. 124 pages. Small 4to., late 19th-/ early
20th-century vellum, gilt ribbed spine with 2 red morocco letterpieces.
€ 6500,- / $ 7,264.Exceedingly rare manual for the study of (the history of) Gregorian chants. No
auction records. We located four copies worldwide BnF Paris, Biblioteca Nacional
– Madrid, National library Barcelona, British library, London. No copy in Germany
Andres de Monserrate served for the church of St Martin in Valencia where he
wrote a plainsong discourse entitled "Arte breve, y compendiosa de las dificultades
que se ofrecen en la musica practica del canto llano". This is one of the only
theoretical works on music from Spain published during the seventeenth century.
He was unsympathetic toward the amateur musician who knew nothing
concerning the strong and traditional foundations of the musical arts. Monserrate's
own treatise paid great homage to previous authorities. The work was divided into
two portions: fundamentals and examples. Historically his work became important
in Spanish musical theory as it was often quoted by later theorists. The corpus of
the work contained the usual categories of notation, accidentals, cadences, modes
and solmization" Some light foxing but else good.
54
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72. MONTE-SNYDER, JOHANNES DE. Reconditorium ac reclusorium opulentiae
sapientiaeque numinis mundi magni, cui deditur in titulum Chymica
vannus : obtenta quidem & erecta auspice mortale coepto : b sed inventa
proauthoribus immortalibus adeptis, quibus conclusum est, sancitum &
Decret. Waesberge, Amsterdam, 1666.
€ 3500,- / $ 3717.Waesberge, Amsterdam, 1666. First Edition. 392 [i.e. 292], [2], 76, [2] p. (the last
blank) : ill. (engravings) ; 20 cm.The first part is a compiliation of writings on
Alchemy. Illustrated with beautiful emblemata of of the planets (the other plates
are diagramatic). The second part, ‘Commentatio de Pharmaco Catholico’ is
usually attributed to MonteSnyder and is a translation of his ‘Von der universal
Medicin’. It is said that work was favoured by Newton. Bound in 18th century
cardboard with marble wrappers.
A HANDSOME EMBROIDERED BINDING.
73.[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 tite pae of Common Prayer.
€ 6495,- / $ 7,259.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
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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.
QUAKERISM
74. PENINGTON, ISAAC. The scattered sheep sought after : 1. In a lamentation,
over the general loss of the powerful presence of God in his people, since
the dayes of the Aposttles [sic]; with a particular bewailing of the withering
and death of those precious buddings forth of life, which appeared in many
at the beginning of the late ttoubles [sic] in these nations, with the proper
way of recovery for such. 2. In some propositions concerning the only way
of salvation; where is an answer given to that great objection, that the light
which convinceth of sin, is the light of a natural conscience; and a brief
account rendered of the ground of mens misunderstanding Scriptures. 3. In
exposing to view the fundamental principle of the Gospel, upon which the
redeemed spirit is built. 4. And in some questions and answers (by way of
catechisme, for the sake of the simple-hearted) directing to that principle,
and fixing in it. London: printed by G.D. for Lodowick Lloyd, and are to be
sold at the sign of the Castle in Cornhill, 1659. 4to., 18 x 13.5 cm., [4], 28 p.
€ 984.- / $1,100.Modern full calf in period style, stamped in blind with gilt. No copies in the trade,
nor any auction recorded. Pennington was perhaps the greatest and most gifted
Quaker writer of the first generation and an influential promoter of the movement.
Starting in 1661, he was imprisoned six times for his beliefs. Ref: Wing P1187.
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A FORGOTTEN BOOK WRITTEN BY PERRAULT
75. PERRAULT:
Histoire poetique de la guerre nouvellement declarée entre
les anciens et les modernes ("Poetic history of the war recently declared
between the ancients and the moderns"), 1688. Duodecimo. Contemporary
calf with an allegorical map (the French poets fighting the classical). 263
pages.
€ 894,- / $ 950.The famous author of fairy tales, about the question if the classical culture is
superior over the modern. Disputes among scholars concerning the superiority of
classical Greek and Roman authors over contemporary writers have occurred at
least since the time of the Renaissance. In the late seventeenth and early
eighteenth centuries, however, such debates turned into heated conflicts,
particularly in France and England. In these two countries the Querelle des
Anciens et des Modernes and the Battle of the Books pitted the Ancients—who
upheld the authority of the writers of antiquity in intellectual matters—against the
Moderns—who maintained that writers of the present day possessed greater
knowledge and more-refined tastes than their predecessors.
The authors book was not itself strictly partisan of one side or the other. Charles
Perrault (1628 – 1703) was the famous French author and member of the Académie
Française, who laid the foundations for a new literary genre, the fairy tale, with his
works derived from pre-existing folk tales.
No copy in the trade, or at auction. There around 12 copies worldwide (two in
France).
THE DUELIST AND PLAYRIGHT
76. PORTER (THOMAS) The carnival: a comedy. As it was acted at the Theatre
Royal, by His Majesties Servants. London : Printed for Henry Herringman,
and are to be sold at his shop ..., 1664. 4to., 21 x 15cm., Modern paper
wraps.First Edition. Internally, some toning and occasional minor foxing,
but an uncut copy with deckled edges. Ref: Wing P2988. Rare in commerce:
No copy in RareBookHub in commerce since 1965 OCLC lists only 2 copies
€ 2825,-. /.$3000.57
17th CENTURY
Porter's Canival, premiered in the spring of 1664 to some popularity While its
source is still not identified, it was most likely derived from or modeled after a
Spanish original. The critic Edmund Gosse drew attention to the the peculiar use
of soliloquy at every opportunity when a character was left alone but derided it as a
play of "lower depth and muddier lees of wit " Besides being known as dramatist,
Porter (1636 – 1680) is equally remembered as a duelist: Porter killed a soldier
named Thomas Salkeld in Covent Garden, probably in a duel, and was
consequently tried for murder. In 1667, Porter had another well known duel with
his friend, Sir Henry Bellasis, unusually "documented by Samuel Pepys himself ,
who remarked on the 'silliness of the quarrel'. Bellasis was mortally wound ed, and
Porter, who was also hurt, had to leave the country." [Wikipedia]
A MAN IN FULL: A CASE OF UNDESCENDED TESTICLES
77. ROUILLARD, SEBASTIAN.
Capitulaire auquel est traicté qu'un homme nay
sans testicules apparens, & qui na neantmoins toutes les autres marques de
virilité: est capable des œuures du mariageParis. Printed by Claude Morel
Paris 1600. Duodecimo. 160 pages. 18th with marble endpapers. Some
damage to the spine.
€ 748,- / $ 795.Sebastian Rouillard, one of the most learned Advocates in the Parliament of Paris,
pleaded in the year 1600 for a Gentleman, whom his wife had accused of
impotency because he had undescended testicles. His wife claimed that she was a
virgin, that her husband had only “touched her with his fingers” and, at other times
“had forced her with a metal object or something similar until she bled”. De
defended upheld that his wife had “experienced that he was a natural man”.As a
next step he proposed a congress in which wanted to prove that he was capable of
having an erection. . His wife refused, indicating that these proceedings shocked
her modesty.
ASTROLOGY & NUMEROLOGY.
78. 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
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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.
€ 1095,- / $ 1,223.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 list one copy only
in LYON.
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A BOOK IMPORTANT TO THE HISTORY OF THE ANTI VACCINATION
MOVEMENTS.
79. 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,- / $ 618.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.
80. [AMERICAN FREEMASONRY]
Ahiman rezon abridged and digested : as a
help to all that are, or would be Free and Accepted Masons. : To which is
added, a sermon, preached in Christ-Church, Philadelphia, at a general
communication, celebrated, agreeable to the constitutions, on Monday,
December 28, 1778, as the anniversary of St. John the Evangelist. Published
by order of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, by William Smith, D.D.
60
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:Philadelphia : Printed by Hall and Sellers., M, DCC, LXXXIII. [1783]. 8vo.,
xvi, 166 p. 19 x 12 cm. Engraved frontipiece (slightly shortened on margin).
Contemporary sheep; internally some toning and a few clean tears without
loss (notably to bottom of p. 121).
€ 1412,- / $ 1500.THE FIRST AMERICAN EDITION of the Constitutions and a cornerstone of American
freemasonry. The elaborate Arms frontispiece of the was printed by Kinnan &
Leacock and the Smith's dedication on iii is to George Washington. The book bears
the 18th century inscription to recto of first blank of "Brother William Witman"
who is recorded in the literature at Lodge No. 62 working under the Jurisdiction of
the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania. Modern bookplate to front pastedown. Overall,
a very attractive copy of the famous Ahiman Rezon, made all the more attractive
with an identifiable ownership inscription of a identifiable Pennsylvania
Freemason.
[AMERICAN LAW] The acts of Assembly, now in force, in the colony of
Virginia. With an exact table to the whole. Published by order of the
General Assembly. Williamsburg: W. Rind, A. Purdie, and J. Dixon, 1769.
Folio. 14 x 9 inches. Complete: [2], 577, [1] pp. Binding: 18th century
reversed calf, worn, front board detached, rear board partially held by
strings; internally, endpaper detached, some general toning as expected,
t.p. with tear but no loss and lower corner bruised, some inner marginal
loss to first few leaves, pg. 4 with clean tear but no
loss.
€ 2141,- / $ 2400.81.
Overall, a very acceptable copy, reasonably preserved in its contemporary binding.
Ref: Evans 11511. Provenance: Title page with ownership signature of Indian fighter
and soldier Arthur Campbell (November 3, 1743 – August 8, 1811) as well as a more
extensive manuscript family genealogy to the verso of the t.p. including his son
Colonel Arthur Lee Campbell, a record of his marriage to Sarah Thompson on 7
Nov 1804 [Washington] and the births of their children. Uncommon in commerce
(Note: the signature has been compared with Arthur Campell's signed deposition,
1778 Oct. 21 at the University of Virginia)
A very readable and important edition of the Virginia colonial laws in effect just
prior to the Revolution. Almost every aspect of Colonial life is touched upon
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including "Hogstealing", that "Traders shall not sell Rum in Indian Town", that a
"whipping post" must be erected on every county, and that pacifist Quakers are
exempt from "mustering" etc. A perusal of the index alone presents a vivid picture
of the customs and perils of the period.
Arthur Campbell gained a considerable reputation as an Indian fighter and soldier
of the Revolutionary war. Most notable perhaps in his biography is his dramatic
capture by Indians at fifteen years old when he " volunteered as a militiaman, to
perform a tour of duty in protecting the frontier settlements against the incursions
of the Indians, and was stationed in a fort which had been erected about that
period... The Indians, lying in ambush, fired upon them, and one of their balls
grazed the knee of Arthur, then in one of the plum-trees. He sprang to the ground,
and the shock, together with the injury from the wound, although slight, caused
him to fall, and he was captured ere he could recover himself. The others made
their escape without injury." During his captivity he studied the Indian character,
learned their language and customs, and acquired the confidence of their Chief. All
of this he used to great advantage in a successful and bold escape over 200 miles of
frontier, meeting up with the British army when in 1759 they marched towards the
upper lakes and the country bordering on Lake Erie with "with a view of bringing
the Indian tribes to submission" [Ref: Babcock, Wm. R. Historical Collections of
Virginia, 1856, pg. 503]. Later on, Campbell served frequently in the Virginia
legislature as a representative of some surviving correspondence between him and
George Washington.
HIGH SECURITY
82. BRAMAH, JOSEPH. A dissertation on the construction of locks : containing,
first, reasons and observations, demonstrating all locks, which depend on
fixed wards, to be erroneous in principle, and defective in point of security :
secondly, a specification of a lock, constructed on a new and infallible
principle, which, possessing all the properties essential to security, will
prevent the most ruinous consequences of house robberies, and be a
certain protection against thieves of all descriptions :London : Printed for
the author, sold by R. Baldwin, [1785?] 8vo., 20.5 x 13 cm. [2], 46 pgs.,[1].
Modern 3/4 calf and marbled boards, red morocco spine, peeling to head
and foot of spine; internally, lightly toned but very good with the cooper
engraved plates.
€ 2890,- / $ 3250.62
18th CENTURY
FIRST PICTURE BOOK FOR CHILDERN.
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 Benahmung. Noribergae, In Bibliopolio Joh. Andr. Endt (Nürnberg,
Endter, Johann Andreas; Erben) 1756-1769., [11] 315 p, [53], 449 p, [28]. In
Latin & German.
€ 650,- / $ 730.83.
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 edition of
this book are rare. This book mentioned in printing and the mind of man.
THE FUTURE OF THE AMERICAN ECONOMY 1795
84. COXE, TENCH.
View of the United States of America : in a series of papers,
written at various times between the years 1787 and 1794; by Tench Coxe,
of Philadelphia, Commissioner of the Revenue. Interspersed With
Authentic Documents: The Whole Tending To Exhibit The Progress And
Present State Of Civil And Religious Liberty, Population, Agriculture,
Exports, Imports, Fisheries, Navigation, Ship-Building, Manufactures, And
General Improvement. [London] : Philadelphia; printed 1794: London, reprinted for J. Johnson, in St. Paul's Church-Yard, 1795. 8vo0 21 x 14 cm.
€ 845,- / $950.A compilation of Coxe's wide-ranging essays on the young nation's economic
development. 8vo., marbled boards, unsympathetic later spine; internally some
toning or occasional staining, but overall very good. This copy has a laid in
autograph letter signed by Coxe which relates to the importation of 6 casks of
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coinage (cents and half-cents) for the use of merchants on the frigate Sally under
Captain McPherson. Ref: Evans 26829; Howes C833; Sabin 17307.
85. [FRANKENBOOK]
Moore, John . A view of society and manners in France,
Switzerland, and Germany : with anecdotes relating to some eminent
characters. :[Boston] : Printed at the Apollo Press, in Boston, by Belknap
and Young, for David West, no. 36, Marlborough Street, and Ebenezer
Larkin, Jun. no. 50, Cornhill., MDCCXCII. [1792] 8vo., 21 x 12 cm., (xx, 430,
[2] pages Dedicated to Douglas, Duke of Hamilton. Errors in paging: p. 187,
215 misnumbered 178, 115.
€ 706,- / $.750.Some signature starting to detach form text block and some general toning.
Belknap's 18th century Apollo Press rather shamelessly imitated the style and
typography of Bell's innovative Scottish press of the same name. 18th century
Americans often looked toward their European counterparts for inspiration and
cultivation. The copy here presents a lovely contrast between a work on elegant
European manners and society in a less refined and delightfully stitched American
binding known as a Frankenbook.
86. [FRANKENSTICH] Sewall, J. The Holy Spirit convincing the world of sin, of
righteousness, and of judgment : considered in four sermons: the two
former delivered at the Tuesday-evening lecture in Brattle-Street, January
20th & March 3: the other at the Old-South Church in Boston, April 17 & 26,
1741 By Joseph Sewall, D.D. [Three lines from Romans]. Boston : Printed by
J. Draper, for D. Henchman in Cornhil, 1741. 16 mo., 14 x 8 cm., ([2], vi, 133,
[1; errata] pages. Contemporary calf over tree bark, title page with
significant loss to lower portion, p. 3/4 half loss, with some other small
losses, thumbing, chipping etc. 6 Pages with Early Stitching though the
pages. RARE. Signature on slip to front paste-down of "Sally M. Johnson
Mexico(?) Sept 10, 1835"
€ 706,- / $ 750.-
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EULOGIE ON THE MATHEMATICAN
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF HIS WORKS
EULER
WITH
A
COMPLETE
87. FUSS, NICOLAS.
Eloge de Monsieur Leonard Euler, lu a l'Academie
Imperiale des Sciences ... 23 Octobre 1783, avec une liste complete des
ouvrages de M. Euler. St. Petersburg, 1783, [2], 124 pages. First edition, and
rare St Petersbourg imprint (in the US, one copy only, Harvard, two in UK).
€ 1750,- / $ 1968.Written by Nicolas Fuss (29 January 1755 – 4 January 1826), a Swiss mathematician,
living most of his life in Russia and a mathematical assistant to Leonhard Euler.
The books gives a complete bibliography of the published works and articles of
Euler. 19th century cardboard binding.
FIRST EDITION OF THE FIRST EUROPEAN GRAMMAR AND DICTIONARY OF
KURDISH
88. GARZONI, MAURIZIO.
Grammatica e Vocabolario della Lingua Kurda.
Rome: Stamperia della Sacra Congregazione di Propaganda Fide, 1787 8vo,
193x125 mm. 288 pages. Contemporary wrappers, backstrip with loss and
original paper wrap covers loose; light to moderate foxing throughout;
entirely uncut. Signature to first blank of William Barnes, likely the English
writer, poet, clergyman, and philologist First edition of the first European
grammar and dictionary of Kurdish. Ref: Birrell & Garnett 127; Zaunmüller
232.
€ 2635,- / $ 2800.RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE
89. GUARINI, GUARINO.
Architettura civile Torino : Appresso G. Mairesse
all'insegna di Santa Teresa di Gesù, 1737. Folio, 39 x 24.5 cm., woodcut royal
arms on title, lacking the engraved portrait of Guarini. Complete with 79
plates by or after Guarini, Giovanni Abbiati etc. 18th century mottled calf
and gilt, raised bands, some leather scuffing to boards, wear to head of
spine, and slight wear to hinges; internally, title page with inner marginal
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tear but no text loss, some toning and foxing, some general moderate
toning of plates, occasional foxing and more obstrusive foxing and
offsetting.
€ 4890,- / $ 5500.An attractive copy, despite noted browning, of Camillo-Guarino Guarini (1624 –
1683) posthumously-published treatise on architecture. Ref: Fowler 150; Berlin Cat.
2620; Cicognara 526
LOTTERY BIBLE
90. [HEBREW BIBLE]
Biblia Hebraica. Amsterdam. The five books of the
Torah...with Early and Later Prophets and writings. Amsterdam, 1701. [6],
292 leaves, 293-306, [4] pages. 15.5 cm
€ 940,- / $ 1000.Early calf and marbled boards, rubbing to spine and head; internally some toning
but very good. Title page illustrated with a copper engraving of Moshe and Aharon,
two additional title pages in Hebrew and Latin. Introduction in Latin. A copy of
the "Lottery Bible" attributed to the Vilna Gaon (Rabbi Elijah Kramer, 1720 – 1797).
According to tradition, and in accordance with its special two column division on
each page, the pages of the Bible are turned at random until answer is reached,
thus resolving rare or difficult dilemmas.
A MASTERPIECE OF FRENCH ROCOCO BOOK ILLUSTRATION.
91. 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.
€ 2950,- / $ 3317.-
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A splendid copy of one of the masterpieces of 18th century book. Illustration in its
first and rarest state, First state 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.
IMPORTANT ELEPHANT BOOK, THE JP KRAUSS COPY
92. PETRI VON HARTENFELS, GEORG CHRISTOPH.
Elephantographia curiosa, seu
Elephanti descriptio Erfurt, J. H. Grosch for the author, 1715. 4to. 21 x 17
cm..Engraved title, letterpress title printed in red and black, 28 engraved
plates including 1 folding.
€ 6092,- / $6850.18th century boards with gold stamped title to spice, minor and not too obtrusive
damp-stains to some lower margins largely visible through red-dyed fore-edge.The
H.P. KRAUS copy with his Stock and Reference ex-libris. Early 18th century library
inscription to free blank indicating it was part of the natural history section. First
Edition of this early and comprehensive work on the Elephant- consider the first
monograph. Copies with all 28 copperplate engravings are notoriously scarce in
commerce, but taken as a whole, display the elephant in all its majesty through
human history. The engravings are after the prominent German artist Jacob Petrus
of Erfurt.
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THE BOOK THAT CHANGED EUROPE
PICARD, BERNARD. Histoire générale des cérémonies, moeurs, et
coutumes religieuses de tous les peuples du monde, représentées en 243
figures dessinées à la main. Paris, Rollin Fils, 1741
€ 4950,- / $ 5565.93.
Vol I Contenant les Cérémonies religieuses des Juifs & des Catholiques. Vol II,
Tome II. Suite des Cérémonies religieuses des Catholiques. l'Histoire des
Inquisitions. Vol III. Cérémonies Religieuses des Grecs Schismatiques & des
Protestans. Vol IV. Suite des Cérémonies religieuses des Protestans. Vol V.
Cérémonies Religieuses des Mahométans & des Idolâtres. With a large fold out
plane of the Kaaba in Mecca and other depictions of the Muslim faith. Followed by
the Chinese religion. Vol VI. Cérémonies, Moeurs et Coutumes Religieuses des
Idolâtres Orientaux. Des Peuples du Japon, Tartares, des Islandois, des Lapons,
Tartares, des Indiens. Vol VII. Native Americans. Moeurs et Coutumes Religieuses
des Américains. Peuples de l'Afrique, des Africains.
Condition:. Folio (40 x 26 cm). Splendidly bound seven volume set in
contemporary calf with raised bands, gilded, and with marble edges. Some wear to
the spines. Plates very clean without foxing. In Volume three one (insignificant)
engraving is missing. Therefore we priced this splendid set very fairly. Literature:
The Book That Changed Europe: Picart and Bernard’s Religious Ceremonies of the
World. Harvard University Press, 2010.
Two French Protestant refugees in eighteenth-century Amsterdam gave the world
an extraordinary work that intrigued and outraged readers across Europe. Famed
engraver Bernard Picart and author and publisher Jean Frederic Bernard produced
The Religious Ceremonies and Customs of All the Peoples of the World. They put
religion in comparative perspective, offering images and analysis of Jews,
Catholics, Muslims, the peoples of the Orient and the Americas, Protestants, deists,
freemasons, and assorted sects. Despite condemnation by the Catholic Church, the
work was a resounding success. The Ceremonies and Customs prepared the
ground for religious toleration amid seemingly unending religious conflict, and
demonstrated the impact of the global on Western consciousness.
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DON’T CALL UP THE DEVIL AND EXPECT HIM TO BEHAVE!
94. TARAZONA, ALONSO DE.
Relacion, y copia de carta, escrita, y embiada de
la ciudad de Malfeta a* esta corte, por el reverendissimo Padre Fray Alonso
de Tarazona... al ... Padre Provincial de esta Corte, dandole cuenta de un
caso horroroso, que sucedio* en dicha ciudad de Malfeta. Con Licencia En
Madrid 1714.Folio, two leaves, text. Large illustrative woodcut to first page.
€1750,- / $ 1968.Unique edition, of an extremely rare work. There is one other edition printed in
Madrid and one printed in Lima. See Digitalizacio´n Fondo Granadino Palabras
clave: Cartas Siglo XVIII URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10481/26705. So there are two
copies worldwide know and this an unrecorded edition.
A sensational and cautionary publication, describing an event of supernatural
horror at a parade for Shrove Tuesday in the town of Molfetta in Puglia, southern
Italy (part of the Spanish Kingdom of Naples). A group of men in Carnival clothes
had included a priest dressed as the devil. They passed a Holy Communion Host,
which was being carried to a sick person as a viaticum. The others pulled off their
disguises and gave the Host their adoration, with the exception of the priest, who
arrogantly said, "The Devil is the enemy of God, I am the Devil". As a consequence,
the devil-mask stuck to the man and could not be pulled off, and he grew the hair
of a he-goat over his toes. The unfortunate man was escorted by thirty nuns to the
Basilica of the Holy House of Loreto to pray for intercession. Fantastically, they
were prevented several times from entering the inner sanctum by a previously
unseen monkey. The man was then arrested by the Inquisition in Loreto. He
remained with them still at time of writing, and was not eating, drinking, talking or
sleeping. They had sent an account to Rome and hoped for orders from the Pope.
HEBREW PRAYER BOOK WITH FORE-EDGE PAINTING
[TEPHILLOTH], containing the forms of prayers which are publicly read
in the synagogues, and used in all families. Faithfully translated from the
original Hebrew ... Together with, an alphabetical index ; and the Hebrew
title of each prayer. Translated by B. Meyers and A. Alexander. London :
95.
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Printed by W. Tooke, for the translators, 5530 [1769/1770]. 8vo., 17 x 10.5
cm. The English & Hebrew on opposing pages.
€ 4447,- / $5000.An fine copy of this seminal work of Anglo-Judaica. The book is rare in commerce
and those copies that have surfaced have often suffered from wear through use as a
prayer book. This copy however is carefully preserved by a rector for only
occasional consultation. Ref: Zedner p. 460; Vinograd, London 60; Roth 16.
BAROQUE PICTORIAL BIBLE
96. WEIGEL, CHRISTOPH
(1654-1725) Historiae Celebriores Veteris [et Novi]
Testamenti Iconibus Repraesentatae. Nuremberg, 1712. 2 vols in one. Folio,
40 x 25 cm., 259 plates and two engraved title pages, consisting of 151 fullpage engravings in the Old Testament and 108 full-page engravings in the
New Testament.
€ 3296,- / $ 3500.Binding: Attractive 18th century Spanish mottled calf, with raised bands, red
morocco spine label, rubbing to bands and extremities, marbled paste-downs and
endpapers; internally, some light toning or occasional small stains, but overall a
very handsome copy of the magnificent bible which instead of being merely
illustrated (i.e text embellished by illustrations), tells the whole story in a series of
finely executed copper engravings that serve as an exemplar of German Baroque
art.
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DELICIOUSLY BOUND AS A CIGAR BOX AND OWNED BY J.M. BARRIE
97. BARRIE. J.M.
My lady Nicotine: a study in smoke. Boston : Joseph
Knight Company, 1896. 8vo., 18 x 12.5 cm. First American edition. A
"CIGAR-BOX" BINDING BY A WOMEN'S EXCHANGE. With an an ALs.of J.M.
Barrie, 10th Dec '97, on 133 Gloucester Rd. Stationionary. J.M. Barrie lived
at 133 Gloucester Road between 1895 and 1902, the period in which he
conceived the story of Peter Pan. In the letter Barrie apologies for not
acknowledging this "deliciously bound copy" saying that it "reached him
while I was ill,"but nevertheless "values the gift immensely and am much in
debt for it." Additionally bound in is an ORIGINAL WATERCOLOR and
gouache frontispiece of "My Lady Nicotine", unsigned but almost certainly
attributable to the famed American impressionist Maurice Brazil
Prendergast.
€ 7530,-./ $ 8000.Condition: wear to hinges and front board just starting, some chipping to cigar
endpaper, letter with fold and old tape repair and bound at an early date in crude
but protective plastic and tipped in at margin; internally some light toning. Lady
Nicotine may be a puff or two less known than Peter Pan in J.B.Barrie's oeuvre.
Nevertheless, this is a most remarkable copy. It was bound in a Havana Cigar box
evidently by a woman in a woman's exchange. A "women’s exchange was a purely
female invention of the 19th Century. Initially, the mission of the Women’s
Exchange was to serve “…as a depot or salesroom where any woman from the
richest lady in the land to the poorest can place the work of her fingers and offer it
up for sale.” That, according to the New Orleans Picayune, meant anything from a
pot of jelly up to a tapestry embroidery "[Ref:/clements.umich.edu/exhibits/online/
OldGirlNetwork/Home] This copy was written up in an old 19th century newspaper
(glued to verso of first blank) when the writer asked rhetorically "One wonders
what J.M. Barrie would say to a binding of my Lady Nicotine [like this..]" One
doesn't have to wonder as the book includes an autograph letter of Barrie, who
though quite ill at the time, nevertheless acknowledges receiving the book as a gift
and declaring it a "deliciously bound copy."
This is one of two books illustrated by Canadian-born American Impressionist
Painter Maurice Prendergast ( 1858- 1924). Prendergast provided designs for cover,
half title, frontispiece, color title page, and 138 illustrations and decorations
throughout the text. [Cf. Maurice Brazil Prendergast, Charles Prendergast : a
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catalogue raisonné, 1990 , p. 640-641.] Bound in this copy is a finely excited
original watercolor of My Lady Nicotine. Delicately rendered, albeit unsigned, the
drawing can reasonably be attributed to Prendergast; the watercolor bears some
clear stylistic similarities to fashionable women Prendergast painted (See Met
Accession Number: 1975.1.919) . Additionally, the date and Boston publication
perfectly coincides when Prendergast, after completing studies in France at the
Académie Julian, returned to Boston and began work as a commercial illustrator.
Finally, though faint, there appears to be the initials "MP" to the left of the arcadia
mixture box.
FIRST CIVIL WAR NOVEL BY AN AFRICAN AMERICAN
98. BROWN, WILLIAM WELLS. Clotelle: or the Colored Heroine. A Tale of the
Southern States. Boston, 1867. 8vo., 18 x 12 cm., Frontispiece, 4 engraved
plates. Original publisher's cloth, some loss to hinges, upper front hinge
starting, some peeling of spine, light staining to frontispiece and t.p., p. 21
with minor corner loss, slight lean to text-block. First edition thus and
second American Edition but the desirable edition with important changes
and recognized as the first civil war novel by an African American. Ref:
Blockson, 101 Influential Books 32 (London edition); Sabin 8590 (earlier
editions). Very Rare in commerce. The last copy appears in RareBookHub
in 1997, no copy in the trade.
€ 4705, / $ 5000,Brown seemed to purposely sidestep the controversy that,Thomas Jefferson was
the illegitimate father of children of an enslaved Virginia woman, usual his license
to depict her only as Senator’s daughter. This edition, with substantial and
important revisions, altered the ending and added chapters to expose the post war
challenges newly freed African-Americans would face. Inspire by the success of
Uncle Tom's Cabin, it remains one of the most important depictions of the AfricanAmerican Civil War experience in a work of fiction.
99 [CONFUCIUS][CHINA]
The discourses and sayings of Confucius. A new
special translation, illustrated with quotations from Goethe and other
writers. By Ku Hung-ming. Shanghai, Kelly and Walsh, 1898. 8vo., 14 x 15
cm, [10] [1], 182 p. [1]. 19 th century 3/4 morocco and boards, spine
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unsympathetically relaid and restrengthened on inner boards, some
general wear and soiling. Internally, lightly toned but attractive. Intended,
according to the preface, to correct then deficiencies in translation of James
Legge, the missionary and famous British Sinologist. The work emains
perhaps the most important 19th century translation of Confucianism into
English and is rare in commerce.
€ 1882,- / $ 2000."Ku Hung-ming (Gu Hongming, 1857-1928) was born into a Fujianese family in
Penang, educated at Edinburgh and in Germany...Ku was the ageing Philosopher
portrayed so brilliantly by Somerset Maugham in his On a Chinese Screen (1922).
"Five days in a sampan were needed to reach the Upper Yangtze ... Here lived a
philosopher of repute, the greatest authority in China on the Confucian learning.
He was said to speak English and German with facility" [Ref: Lau, Joseph. Classical
Chinese Literature: From antiquity to the Tang dynasty]
H. RIDER HAGGARD'S COPY OF DICKENS
100. DICKENS, CHARLES [ASSOCIATION COPY].
The nine Christmas numbers
of All the year round London : [Office of All the year round] : Chapman &
Hall, [1868]. Contains Christmas numbers from 1859 through 1867; not all
stories written by Dickens. Each part has caption title, separate pagination.
On t.p., only the address, not the name, is given for the office of All the year
round. Text in two columns. 8vo., 24 cm., 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48
pgs. Green publisher's embossed cloth, minor loss to head of spine;
internally some foxing, notably to first leaves.
€ 705,- / $ 750.Provenance: H. Rider Haggard, the English writer of adventure novels set in exotic
locations and pioneer of the Lost World literary genre, his signature in pencil to
top of title page at Norfolk, an original photo of his family loosely laid in and his
hieroglyphic bookplate to front paste-down.
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OLIVER TWIST, FIRST ISSUE, FIRST EDITION.
101. DICKENS, CHARLES.
["BOZ"] Oliver Twist; or, the Parish Boy's Progress.
London: Richard Bentley, 1838. 3 vols. 8vo., 20.6 x 13 cm. First Edition; first
issue title pages with the author noted as "Boz," and with the suppressed
"Fireside" version. 24 plates by Cruikshank.
€ 16.085,- / $ 18,000.The fireside plate and the the inclusion of Boz met with Dicken's immediate
objection within a week or so after publication. The plate was suppressed and the
author's name corrected, and consequently relatively few copies of the first state
were issued. Original publisher's embossed cloth; internally, uncut, some light
soiling, fading, bruising to corners, the vol. 3 spine re-cased, vol.2 with slight repair
to head of spine, very slight peeling to upper spine vol 1; internally some light
toning, foxing, offsetting. Each volume individually boxed a slightly worn half
morocco slipcase. Overall, a pleasing and attractive set of this coveted work in the
original cloth. Provenance: 19th century armorial ex-libris of "H.H.", and without
evidence but by repute from the collection of Priscilla and Samuel
102. DICKENS, CHARLES.
The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club.
Philadelphia: Carey, Lea & Blanchard, 1836-1837. 5 volumes. 12mo. 18.6 x 110
cm. Original Publisher boards, red cloth box. Internally, with toning and
foxing as always, general abrasion to paper spine labels, some hinge wear,
peeling of spine to second part and need for possible re-casing, some spine
peeling to fifth part.
€ 2010,- / $ 2250.Despite understandable wear of such a fragile and inexpensively printed work, it
remains a difficult set to find in attractive condition in commerce in its original
boards. Only about 1500 copies of the first volume were issued when Dickens still
was not a household name. The first volume here is in the third issue, the first
issue of volume two with 'sporting' split at end of line, and advertisements in the
front of the third-fifth parts. Overall, it is an unsophisticated and appealing copy
of the first edition of the FIRST WORK OF DICKENS TO BE PUBLISHED IN AMERICA
and even preceded the English book edition by several months. Additionally,
while the sets were invariably assembled over time and there
are indications here of three early owners, the first volume bears attractive early
provenance of its American owner from the year of publication: Bernard
Rhinelander (dated 26 June 1837 in pencil on recto of first blank)
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FREE-MASONS: UNIQUE COPY
103.
[FREEMASONRY] By-Laws Morton Encampment No 4 of Knights
Templars and the appendant orders Held in the City of New York. Adopted
12, AD 1823 Published by George Morris, New York (1824). 8 vo. Brown
paper covers. 12 pages.
€ 450,- / $ 505.Not in the library of the grand-loge in NY, not in worldcataloque could I trace any
other copy. Apparently unique copy.
104 [JUDAICA] [PROMPT BOOK] [THEATER]
Thomas Dibdin The Jew and the
doctor : a farce, in two acts. As performed at the Theatre-Royal, CoventGardenr. London : Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, 1805. [6], 32 pages ;
8vo., 21 cm.
€ 470,- / $ 500.Early calf, worn, front board detached, first blank loose. An INTERESTING PROMPT
BOOK of Dibdin's well known farce, albeit a reasonably sympathetic portrait of a
Jew. This copy was evidently issued with blank leaves interspersed for writing and
manuscript staging directions on last leaves.
FIRST EDITION OF MEVILLE'S PRINCIPLE SOURCE FOR MOBY DICK AND A
COPY WITH MPORTANT PROVENANCE.
105 [MELVILLE][WHALING] CHASE, OWEN. Narrative of the most extraordinary
and distressing shipwreck of the whale-ship Essex, of Nantucket; which was
attacked and finally destroyed by a large spermaceti-whale, in the Pacific
Ocean; New York, W.B. Gilley, 1821. 8vo., 18 cm., 128 pgs. Binding: early calf,
front board detached, some loss and charring to spine; internally some
browning as well as not too obtrusive dampstaining. Ref: Sabin 12189;
Sealts, Melville's Reading 134.
€ 13.650,- / $ 14,500.Provenance: This copy was purchased from the Coffin family and bears the
bookplate of Samuel Barlow Coffin, who graduated from Union college in 1885,
andpracticed Law in Hudson, N.Y. The family were descendants of the survining
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family of Owen Coffin (August 24, 1802 February 2, 1821), the famous teenage
crewman aboard the Essex. The wreck of the Essex is one of the most famous in all
of American literature. The reputed author, Owen Chase, was the First Mate of the
Essex and recounts the 1820 sinking by a large sperm whale, and the subsequent
deprivations of the crew in their attempts to survive at sea in open boats.
Nevertheless, there is great speculation as to who actually penned the work.
"In 1821 when Owen Chase, a survivor of one of the worst disasters to strike a whale
ship, returned to the island, he certainly looked to someone else for literary help.
As none other than Herman Melville observed, Chase's Narrative of the Essex (one
of the chief inspirations for Moby-Dick) "bears obvious tokens of having been
written for him; but at the same time, its whole air plainly evinces that it was
carefully & conscientiously written to Owen's dictation of the facts." The
empathetic eloquence displayed in both the Bank and Essex narratives has led the
literary critic Thomas Farel Heffernan, in Stove by a Whale (Middletown, 1981), to
point to William Coffin, Sr., as the only Nantucketer capable of writing what has
become one of the most celebrated whaling narratives ever written. However, his
son, William, Jr., must also be considered as a possibility; he was closer in age to
Chase and would perform the same service for Obed Macy in 1834-5; also Macy's
History contains a plug for Owen Chase's book, suggesting that William, Jr., may
have indeed been the author." [Ref: Philbrick, Away Off Shore: Nantucket Island
and Its People, 1602-1890]
The Coffin name is inextricably linked to the Essex. Owen Coffin was a teen-aged
sailor "aboard the Nantucket whaler Essex when it set sail for the Pacific Ocean on
a sperm whale-hunting expedition in August 1819, under the command of his
cousin, George Pollard, Jr. "The crew of Essex escaped in small whaleboats, with
sufficient supplies for two months, but were not rescued within that time. During
January 1821, the near-starved survivors began to eat the bodies of those who had
died. When even this resource ran out, the four men remaining in Pollard's boat
agreed to draw straws to decide which of them should be slaughtered, lest all four
die of starvation. Coffin 'lost' the lottery, and was shot and eaten. The captain
volunteered to take Coffin's place but Coffin refused, saying it was his 'right' to do
so that the others might live." [Wikipedia]
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REMARKABLE CHILDREN'S BOOK
106. [SPEAKING PICTURE BOOK]
The speaking picture book : a new picture
book with characteristical voices. Germany, A Wahnschaffe, circa 1880.
4to., 8 full page chromolithograph plates with the original nine pull strings
that produce delightful animal sounds.
€1.608,- / $1800.This was a remarkable example of 19th century German ingenuity. Copies in very
good condition like the present one are rare in commerce, having survived the
strong tugs of youthful fingers who deed not fully heed the instruction to "gently
pull out the cord underneath the arrow on the text accompanying the picture".
This copy exhibits minor rubbing and wear, but is remarkably fresh.
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A BIBLE GIVEN BY THE FATHER OF COMPUTER SCIENCE: ALAN TURING
[BIBLE] [TURING, ALAN] The Holy Bible, PRESENTED BY ALAN TURING
TO HIS MOTHER ETHEL SARA TURING AS A CHRISTMAS GIFT IN 1938,
107.
inscribed "E.S Turing, Christmas" in Alan's hand, with additional note "1938,
Alan" in his mother's hand on front free endpaper, publisher's roan, worn,
12mo. 14 x 10 cm., Cambridge University Press, [1938]. "He was too reticent
about his religious beliefs to reveal just where he stood. He often
accompanied me to church at Festivals, as well as attending chapel at
King's - things he was too honest to do had he not been, at least, in limited
agreement with Christianity" (Sara Turing, Alan M. Turing, 1959).
Provenance: Given to the present owner, Revd. Martin Fredriksen, former
Curate at St. Nicholas, Guildford, by E.S. Turing on his last visit to her on 6
August 1974, with his bookplate.
€ 11.300,- / $ 12,000.Few if any Bibles ever come to market with tangible links to great men of science.
A comparison may not be unreasonably made to the very modest Thomas Nelson
& Sons, [c.1930] leatherette Bible that was inscribed by Albert Einstein to a
relatively unknown recipient Harriet Hamilton. It is believed that Turing, the
father of computer science, probably lost his religious faith whilst a teenager after
a friend died of tuberculosis- which prompted him to believe in a materialistic
explanation of all phenomena. Still, he must have retained at least a sentimental
attachment to tradition to gift a Bible. The Bible was given during the year 1938-9
he lived on his King's College fellowship as a logician and number theorist and
before he took up his vital full-time work at the wartime cryptanalytic
headquarters Bletchley Park. Given the intersection of his atheism and his
upbringing, let alone that the biblical admonition against homosexuality that
fundamentally shaped the very culture that persecuted him, this very modest book
serves as a unique object for reflection.
THE NESTORE LEONI COPY OF SPROUL'S SAINT DUSTAN
[ROSSETTI, DANTE, GABRIEL-trans].. La Vita Nuova... :
George D. Sproul, 1902. One of 30 sets on vellum (not numbered but
"guaranteed to subscribers that eighteen copies only of this edition have
108. DANTE ALIGHIERI
78
20th CENTURY MODERN PRINTING
been made for America and twelve copies for Europe, and that no future
edition will be issued ; that it is printed from type and that the type has
been distributed. ..that no two copies are alike." Two volumes; illuminated
throughout in gold & colors by Nestore Leoni. Gray morocco by TrautzBauzonnet with onlaid strapwork in red, blue and green, a central fleur-delys in gilt on a shield of vellum, gilt vinework overall with four quadrilobe
devices in each quadrant of the cover in gilt and onlay; spotting to
endpapers & to some margins, vertically lettered spines in six
compartments, full leather doublures in green and gray with central shield
of vellum and border of onlaid shields and gilt gougework, all edges gilt.
Housed in the original hinged white silk cases. Each 26 x 20 cm; [1], 43 ff.;
[1], 45 ff. printed one side only, illuminated by hand in gilt and colors by
Nestore Leoni and signed by him on the titles.
€ 16.950,- / $ 18,000.Cases frayed and soiled, slight bump to the upper fore-corner of the first volume,
one small vellum onlay missing (likely easily restorable), some minor toning and
occasional spotting to the vellum.
Sproul's Saint Dustan edition is one of the most elaborately produced American
fine press books of the period. Our copy is an edition de luxe of Dante’s Vita
Nuova which was painted on parchment in the style of the sixteenth century.
This is a particularly important copy, commissioned by Sproul, and illuminated by
the famed Florentine artist Nestore Leoni.
Helen Wright, in the September 1916 issue of the International Studio notes this
work among his important commissions to Kings, Queens. Presidents. His first was
a cover for an album commemorating the arrival of the Emperor William II. This
received high praise for its exquisite technique and finish. A number of important
commissions followed,
Leoni's illuminated Declaration of Independence and Constitution, was also
purchased by Sproul and exhibited to President Theodore Roosevelt at the White
House in 1901. (It sold George D. Sproul, sold Parke Bernet, 11 December 1952, lot
194 the subsequently in the The History of the Book: The Cornelius J. Hauck
Collection 6/27/2006 for $56,000 and then privately for astounding $500K by a NY
art dealer).
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20th CENTURY MODERN PRINTING
PRESENTATION COPY WITH AN ORIGINAL DRAWING OF A DEVIL
Endore, S Guy (illust.); Blaine, Mahlon (transl).
Alraune. :New York, J. Day Co., 1929. 8vo., 24 cm., vi, 342 pgs. First Edition
of the best work of German novelist Hanns Heinz Ewers. This presentation
copy was given by the erotic surrealist illustrator Mahlon Blaine to his close
person friend and patron, Joseph Dunninger, "the Amazing Dunninger."
The text opens with an ORIGINAL DRAWING OF BLAINE of a devil placing
Alraune into (appropriately for Dunninger) a magic hat, signed and dated
1936. Dust Jacket, with a repeating Mandrake motif, is lightly chipped and
soiled. Overall, a remarkable association copy of Ewer's seminal work.
€ 2118,- / $ 2250.109. EWERS, HANNS HEINZ;
"The basis of the story of Alraune dates to the Middle Ages in Germany. The
humanoid-shaped Mandrake root or Mandragora officinarum was widely believed
to be produced by the semen of hanged men under the gallows. Alchemists
claimed that hanged men ejaculated after their necks were broken and that the
earth absorbed their final 'strengths'"
INSCRIBED BY YITZHAK RABIN
110. KOLLEK, TEDDY; PEARLMAN, MOSHE. Jerusalem; a history of forty centuries.
:New York, Random House [1968] " 4000 year history of Jerusalem, up to
the reunification in 1967. the book is richly illustrated in color and Black
and white Depicts ancient engravings, maps, and photographs of the city
and its Holy Places. Provides an objective view towards an understanding
of Jews, Christians, and Moslems alike." 4to., 25 x 18 cm., € 1556,- / $1750.INSCRIBED BY YITZHAK RABIN to Hedley Donovan editor in chief of Time and dates
2.1.75 with Rabin's PERSONAL BUSINESS CARD LAID IN.
80
20th CENTURY MODERN PRINTING
MARCO POLO, LIMITED EDITION. ONE OUT OF TEN.
111. 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
€ 1250,- / $ 1405.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.
[SALEM] [ARCHITECTURE] Albert J MacDonald; Rogers & Manson Company.
112. Selected interiors of old houses in Salem and vicinity, ed. and pub. with
the purpose of furthering a wider knowledge of the beautiful forms of
domestic architecture developed during the time of the colonies and the
early days of the republic. Published in Boston, Massachusetts by Rogers
and Manson Co., 1916. 55 pages (47 plates)
A rare monograph bound in Chiyogami paper. An immaculate copy. World
catalogue lists 5 copies in the US, none in NYC.
€ 895,-/ $ 950.-
81
20th CENTURY MODERN PRINTING
CRANACH PRESS
VERGILIUS MARO, PUBLIUS. Die Ecologen Vergils, in der Ursprache und
deutsch ...Weimar, 1926 in 4to 320 x 240 mm, uncut) 43 woodcut
illustrations by Aristide Maillol, woodcut initials by Eric Gill; some
scattered foxing. Loose as issued in wraps & publisher's case, the case and
vellum spine slightly soiled. Limited edition, copy 164 of 250 Germanlanguage copies on Montval paper out of of a whole German-language
edition of 294.
€ 3565,- / $ 4000.113.
The Virgil form Count Harry Kessler's Cranach Presse. stands one of the
masterpieces of the press and one of the most beautiful books of the 20th century."
Kessler achieved distinction in his books by employing experienced artists and
craftsmen. Under the supervision of Emery Walker, who had been an associate of
William Morris, Edwin Price cut the punches for the roman type after Nicholas
Jenson's 1470 Venetian type, and Edward Johnston designed the italic " Ref: Artist
and the Book 172
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VOYAGES & EXPLORATION
ON THE TURKISH WARS IN EUROPE
114. BIRKEN, SIGMUND VON.
Der vermehrte Donau-Strand: mit allen seinen
Ein- und Zuflüssen, angelegenen Königreichen, Provintzen, Herrschafften
und Städten ... vom Ursprung bis zum Ausflusse; in Dreyfacher LandMappe vorgestellet; auch samt kurtzer Verfassung einer Hungar- und
Türckis.Chronik, und des Anno 1663. und 1664. geführten Türken-Krieges.
Jacob von Sandrart / Kupferstecher und Kunsthändler in Nurnberg, 1684.
[1] gef. Bl., [4] Bl., 231 S., 55 engravings. 8vo.
€ 2250,– / $ 2529.The engravings depict cities on the way to the Ottoman capital: Ulm, Augsburg,
Nurnberg, Regensburg, Passau, Linz, Wien, Pressburg, Tokay, Temeswar, Belgrad,
Adrianopel, and Constantinopel.We have not found a copy in any library
containing more than 50 engravings. Half of the Vienna panorama is however
missing in our copy. Contemporary calf (rubbed). Auction record Bassenge € 2088
(50 engravings, 2010).
A LARGE PAPER COPY OF ONE OF THE FINEST WORK ON CUSTOMS AND
TRADITIONS OF THE LEVANT.
115. 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,- / $ 8430.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,
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VOYAGES & EXPLORATION
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.
116. [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.
€ 400,- / $ 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 (1860). The British Museum copy only mentions 60 pages.
FINE HANDCOLORED PLATES ON THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE.
117. 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.
€ 7500,- / $ 8430.67 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
84
VOYAGES & EXPLORATION
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.
ONE OF THE MOST ATTRACTIVE AND IMPORTANT BOOKS OF HOLY LAND
118. FULLER, THOMAS.
Pisgah-Sight of Palestine and the Confines Thereof,
with the History of the Old and New Testament Acted Thereon. London,
J.F. for John Williams, 1650. First Edition. Folio.34 x 22 cm., Added
engraved t.p. with imprint: Printed by M.F. for Iohn Williams. [12], 434 [i.e.
447, 1], 202, [22] p.,including 28 engraved maps and plates (one folding,
most double-page), woodcut vignette on title-page, woodcut initials, headand tail-pieces.
€ 6.705,- / $7,500.PROVENANCE: The Earl of Macclesfield copy with embossed letterpress on title.
Small hole in n4 just touching a few lettres, close marginal tear to Ca, some light
toning, a little marginal darkening. Overall a well preserved clean copy in a
contemporary calf with a sympathetic restored spine and paste-downs and
endpapers renewed. There was an internalization on 17th century England of the
Scriptures with the English re-imagining themselves as 'God's chosen nation'. Not
only did this notion propel and fuel England's ascent with a divine motivating
force, but interest in the Holy Land itself increased dramatically. Pisgah-Sight is
certainly one of the most attractive and important books of Holy Land typography
of it period and it added the necessary imagery to these religious and
philosophical interpretations. This copy, from the Earl of Macclesfield's library,
with its close connection to Newton and the Royal society, has special resonance.
SOUTHERN AFRICA
119. HARRIS (WILLIAM CORNWALLIS)
Portraits of the Game and Wild Animals
of Southern Africa, first edition, for the Proprietors, by W. Pickering, 1840.
Folio. 53 x 37 cm. with 30 hand-coloured lithographed plates in idyllic
85
VOYAGES & EXPLORATION
habitats. 3/4 crushed morocco and marbled boards, with moderate
rubbing and wear, but still quite presentable, raise bands and gilt animals
to spine; moderate foxing throughout as almost always affecting some
pates but generally heavier to text.
€ 12.940,- / $14,500.First edition on with both titles in their first states dated 1840. The work, with
unusually splendid plates of animals rather intimately sketched in the natural
surroundings, was based on the looser sketches of game and wild animals
encountered Captain Harris, an officer in the East India Company's Bombay
Engineer. Ref: Abbey, Travel 335; Mendelssohn I, pp.688-689
PROFUSELLY ILLUSTRATED WORK ON THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE WITH OVER
500 WOODCUTS.
120. 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 leave.] 1cccliii, [4] cclxxviij. Last leaf with printers mark missing. Attractive 16th
binding.
€ 2500,- / $ 2810.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.
121. KNOLLES, RICHARD.
The generall historie of the Turkes, from the first
beginning of that nation to the rising of the Ottoman familie [...]. Together
86
VOYAGES & EXPLORATION
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.
€ 2950,- / $ 3316.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.
MALTA & THE TURKS
122. [MALTA]
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,- / $ 1686.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.
EARLY & RARE WORK ON THE OTTOMAN COURT.
123. 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.
€ 1695,- / $ 1905.-
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VOYAGES & EXPLORATION
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.
EXCEEDINGLY RARE COSTUME BOOK WITH THE MOST COMPLETE SERIES OF
TURKISH COSTUMES PRINTS KNOWN.
124. SILVESTRE C. F.
Differents Habillements de Turcs Dediez A Monseigneur
Le Duc de Bourgogne. No date, no place. Around 1700. Modern cloth
with 18th century (?) leather label. Actual size of the pages 26 x 18 cm, size
of the images (17 x 11 cm) With captions.
€ 20.728,- / $ 22,130.Title page with cartouche “Differents Habillements de Turcs Dediez A
Monseigneur Le Duc de Bourgogne”. Flanked by two Turks. Par son humble et tres
Observant Seigneur C. F. Silvestre, F.Silvestre invenit et excudit. Cum privelgio
Regis.1. Sultan ou Grand Seigneur, signed F.Silvestre et ex CPR 2. Vizir Azem ou
Grand Visir, F.Silvestre et ex CPR. 3. Jeune Gentilhomme Turc Signed F.Silvestre et
ex CPR. 4. Gentil homme Turc, F.Silvestre et ex CPR, 5. Selictar Aga ou Celuy qui
porte l ‘Epee ou les armes du G.S. , signed F.Silvestre et ex CPR. 6. Tulbentar Ag, ou
Celuy qui porte le Turban du GS, signed F.Silvestre et ex CPR, 7. Tambour Turc,
F.Silvestre et ex CPR 8. Janissaire Porte Enseige, signed S. 9. Chiaou Bachi ou
Capitaine des Gardes, signed S. 10. Janisssaire de la garde, Solac ou Pyre. Unsigned.
11. Un solac ou Pajok ou Valet de Pied du Grand S. F.Silvestre et ex CPR 12. Soldat
cuirassier Turc, signed F.Silvestre et ex CPR, 13. Janissaire ou Soldat des Gardes du
G.S. signed F.Silvestre et ex CPR, 14. Muet du Serail, signed S. 15. Bostangi Bachi,
signed S. 16. Kuslir Aga ou chef des Eunuques noirs. Signed F.Silvestre et ex CPR 17.
Unuque Noir, Signed S. 18. Un Atagi our Cuisinier du Serail, signed S. 19. Kiler
Kiabajasi, ou Celuy qui sert le Sorbet au G.S. signed F.Silvestre et ex CPR 20.
Predicateur Arabe , signed F.Silvestre et ex CPR, 21. Un Dogangi, ou Fauconnier du
G.S. signed F.Silvestre et ex CPR, 22. Capigi ou Portier, signed S. 23. Aza moglan
fandeur de bois, signed S. 24. Crieur de bouteilles Turc, signed F.Silvestre et ex CPR
25. Crieur de Potage Turc, signed F.Silvestre et ex CPR 26. Vendeur de balets Turc.
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VOYAGES & EXPLORATION
signed F.Silvestre et ex CPR 27. Dame Turque , signed F.Silvestre et ex CPR, 28.
Damoiselle Turque, signed F.Silvestre et ex CPR 29. Dame du Serail , signed
F.Silvestre et ex CPR 30. Esclave du Serail, signed S.
Charles-François Silvestre (1667-1738) was appointed in 1695 drawing master of the
Children of France, young dukes of Burgundy, Anjou and Berry, grand-son of Louis
XIV. He devoted himself to his duties with application and will keep the favors of
his students. Among his works include an amazing suite of drawings (also
engraved), dedicated to the Duke of Burgundy that represented characters in
Turkish costumes that witnessed the enthusiasm of his time. Having seen any
number of Turkish costume books this prints are unusual, because they are not
modified copies from older prints, and show a distinct style, that borders on the
theatrical or even cartoonish. See no 18.
Colas 2744 lists 29 plates. In our copy there is the title plus 30 engravings. Making
this the most complete set known. The Gennadius copy: purchased, 22/02/1967,
sold in 2004 Christies had 30 plates incl. title, on 15 leaves ; 25 x 31 cm. Katalog der
Freiherrlich von Lipperheide'schen kostüm-bibliothek, list only 21 plates. World
catalogue list one copy in the National art Library (26 plates only). KVK lists
Potsdam, Stiftung Preußische Schlösser und Gärten Berlin-Brandenburg DIZ /
Bibliothek <Po 86>, Paris : Buldet, [ca. 1705], 29 plates. One copy 29 plates in the
V&A library, one copy in SOAS London (55 pages, number of plates unknown). The
copy of the antiquarian Forum was of oblong size (13 x 16 cm), and contained 20
costume Turkish prints plus others.
RARE MONOGRAPH ON THE PALACE OF DIOCLETIAN IN SPLIT.
125. 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,- / $ 2192.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.
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MAPS, PHOTOGRAPHS, PRINTS & MISC.
MANUSCRIPT JUVENILE ATLAS
126. [ATLAS]
Tableaux Résumés Géographiques | Maria Moutte. France,
[s.d., but c. 1879] Oblong, 29 x 19 cm., 57 lvs., penned in a very neat hand.
19th century pebbled cloth and calf spine, some wear to spine and light
peeling, some separation of text block from binding. A charming
manuscript with 12 naive but charming HAND-DRAWN MAPS and
accompanying descriptions with headings and subheadings in a variety of
colors.
€ 706,- / $ 750.Without clear documented evidence, the manuscript appears to have been
prepared by a 14 year old girl, Maria Moutee; it is indicated in pencil that she was
born in 1865 and the manuscript executed in 1879, which is certainly in keeping
with the naive style.
CARTOGRAPHIC RARITY
127. BREITKOPF, J. G. I.
Das Reich der Liebe. Zweyter LandchartensatzVersuch (‘the Empire of Love’). Leipzig, 1777-1795. 6.9 x 9.2 inches. / 17.6 x
23.3 cm.
€ 1495,- / $ 1680.A reissue and second state of Johann Breitkopf's charming 1777 map of the
Kingdom of Love. It depicts Gebiet der Jugend = Land of Youth (Forest of Love,
Kiss Field, Flirting Game, Charm Castle, Stream of Wishes, Worry-Free, Joy’s Home,
Beautiful House, Source of Joy, Sweet Look, Wisecrack Place, Rich River, Warning
Castle), Gebiet der Ruhe = Land of Rest (Nightcap, Grandfather City, Equanimity,
Manly Place) Gebiet der Trauerenden Liebe = Land of Mourning Love (Anger’s
Home, Flood of Tears, Whim Mountain, Complaint Place, Hopeless Mountains,
Loathing, Strict Place, Swamp of Profanity, Desert of Melancholy), Gebiet der Lust
= Land of Lust (Illness Valley, Weak Home, Intoxication Field, Lechery, Hospital),
Gebiet der Glucklichen Liebe = Land of Happy Love (Lust Wood, Answered
Prayers, Pleasant View, Enjoyment, Tenderness, Good Times, Affection Farm,
Satisfaction, Compliance Mountain, Fountain of Joy, Marriage Harbor, Reward
City, Peace of Mind, Bliss Town), Gebiet der Hagestolze = Bachelor Country
(Stupidity Town, Rejection Place, Irritation, Indifference, Place of Contempt,
Reprehensibility, Old Age Mountains, Separation, Hat, Obstinacy, Wrangler Hall,
90
MAPS, PHOTOGRAPHS, PRINTS & MISC.
Exasperation Heath, Hamlet of Death, Sea of Doubt), Gebiet der Fizen ideen =
Land of Obsessions (Place of Sighs, Desire Town, Unrest, City of Dreams, Bridge of
Hope, Disloyalty, Sweet River of Tears, Little Town of Instincts)
128. BROWNE, HALBOT K. Watercolour portrait of Charles Dickens c. 1858-1860.
Signed with initials.
€ 3530,- / $ 3950.-
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.
129. CHERIER, BRUNO JOSEPH
without frame.
(1819-1880): ODALISQUE SIZE 75 x 61 cm
€ 35.000,- / $ 39,162.-
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.
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MAPS, PHOTOGRAPHS, PRINTS & MISC.
A RARE 19TH CENTURY CHINESE ATLAS.
130. [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.
€ 1950,- / $ 2192.131.
[CONSTANTINOPLE]
SEBAH
&
JOAILLIER:
PANORAMA
DE
CONSTANTINOPLE PRIS DE LA TOUR DE GALATA. 1890. Landscape folio (313
× 37 cm).
€ 3500,- / $ 3932.-
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! 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.
[EMBROIDERY] A very unusual book, containing 296 samples of
monograms , finely embroidered on silk. It repeats the alphabet in 11
different styles. These samples showed clients (?) possible examples to
adorn linens, undergarments, etc.. Each letter is embroidered in coloured
silk threads and some animals are depicted. The samples are stuck on
sheets of vellum. Made around 1880 in Paris. 24 x 16 cm – all letters in
perfect condition (Except for the silk cover that is discoloured over time)
€ 2500,- / $ 2800.132.
133. [HEMISPHERE MAP]
Beautiful, decorative double hemisphere map of the
world. Around 1677, North America is misconfigured in a manner similar to
early world maps by Hondius. A partial New Zealand and Australia both
appear.. Four allegorical female figures represent the four continents
(Europe, Asia, America and Africa), along with exotic allegorical scenes.
€ 950,- / $ 1067.92
MAPS, PHOTOGRAPHS, PRINTS & MISC.
Later hand colouring (?). 48 x 39 cm. Ample margin top & bottom, Small margins
left and right.
THE MOST ICONIC PHOTOGRAPH OF NOTORIOUS OUTLAW, JESSE WOODSON
JAMES
(1847-1882). Albumin print 6 x 4 inches. The
photograph has some cracks. Date unknown. In a contemporary picture
frame.
€ 5650,- / $ 6000.134. JESSE WOODSON JAMES
The original photograph of Jesse James was taken in 1875 in Nebraska City
A resident recalled that Jesse, “with a price on his head, used to ride boldly
down Central Avenue in Nebraska City.” One of the best photographs of
Jesse was made in a studio in Nebraska City. Although some historians
claim the photograph to be shot in 1874.
An albumin print, allegedly signed by Jesse Jammes sold for $ 42.000
hammer at Leslie Hindman in 2011. This was a smaller albumen print, that
was stuck on an earlier cabinet card, dated Nashville: C. C. Giers, card c.
1868-1869, albumen print, date unknown. The picture in the Library of
Congress (dated 1885) is also smaller in size then ours, 3/4, facing left.
ORIGINAL DRAWINGS FOR (RUSSIAN) BALLET COSTUMES.
135. KACHUROVSKIY, LEONID.
the choreographer.
ca. 1930-45. From the private family archives of
€ 950,- / $ 1067.-
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
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MAPS, PHOTOGRAPHS, PRINTS & MISC.
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.
AMERICA'S FIRST HISPANIC MASTER
136. MORA, F[RANCIS] LUIS.
Sketchbook with drawing in several media
including pencil, pen and ink, and watercolor, one watercolor signed (F.
Luis Mora) and dated 11/4 [18]84 and one pencil sketch similarly signed and
dated [18]91. Oblong 8vo., 27.5 x 21 cm. In early cloth binding with linen
ties, spine with some wear, internally one sketch mounted to paste-down
endpapers, generally sketches to recto and verso of each leaf, some leaves
with thumbing or frayed.
€ 2848,- / $3200.This is a delightfully executed sketchbook by the very young Francis Mora,
considered by Lynne Pauls Baron in a recently published biography to be
"America's first Hispanic master." The precociousness of the young talented and
Uruguayan-born American figural painter is on full display here. In one sketch, P.T.
Barnum's Jumbo runs amok, destroying an engine (giving an approximate date to
the sketch of 1885 when Mora was only 11 years of age)
CARTOGRAPHICAL RARITY: THE ISLAND OF LOVE
137. NOBLE, EUSTACHE
Le. Carta Topografica dell'Isola del Maritaggio, a
treatise on the Island of Matrimony, 43pp text, folding map of the Isola
Maritaggio and neighbouring islands of Amatunta and Bigamia, engraved
map, 250 x 360mm. Contemporary binding. Carta Rustica 8vo, 'Cosmopoli',
1766.
€ 1500,- / $ 1686.The imaginary map is of interest here. The island’s central province is named
Cornovaglia, or Great Province of Cuckolds (see the horned figure in the
cartouche), and its heart is a great fortress whose largest ramparts point to the Port
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MAPS, PHOTOGRAPHS, PRINTS & MISC.
of Love as if prepared for perpetual attacks from that direction. The River of
Covenant (symbolizing marriage vows?) runs through it as a constant, but fluid
presence. To the north is the land of Jealousy with its peninsula of Divorce and
Mountains of In-laws; to the south live the Discontented; to the west, the
Malacopiati, or Incompatibles, with a peninsula for the Widowed. The Chaste
River flows through the province of the Wise in the east, which shelters the Port of
Love. Across an active, navigable channel lies a large Lovers Island, which
neighbours Bigamy Island (description take from the Princeton website!).
AN EXCEEDINGLY RARE BALLET BOOK BY A GERMAN IMPRESSIONIST ARTIST.
138. OPPLER, E. (ERNST) (1867-1929) - LEVINSON, A.
Das Russische Ballet. Berlin
Horodisch & Marx Verlag 1926. Plate-volume (Tafelband), consisting of a
letterpress title, letterpress index (3 pp.) and 40 ORIGINAL ETCHINGS by
ERNST OPPLER (the first etching SIGNED IN PENCIL), all numbered & titled
"Ballets Russes" in the plate. Folio, 32,5 x 44 cm. Original half cloth,
rebacked binding, (slightly) damp stained and worn. Some foxing/
browning (due to off-setting).
€ 23.550,- / $ 25,000.Printing
The colophon states printed in 200 copies on "Van Gelder-Bütten". No 1-50 have
the signature of the artist on each etching, in no 51 to 200 only the first etching is
signed. They were printed by Poeschel & Trepte (Leipzig). This one being number
54.
Exceedingly rare. The University of California in Santa Barbara has the only other
known copy. Also the volume of plates only. Probably the text volume was never
published. We have found no reference to it. An auction catalogue of Marx Perl
Buch und Kunstantiquariat, Auktion 182 (published 1933), no 720 describes again
only the plate volume. The BNF has a microfilm of the plate book with 36 plates
only. Strangely in KVK, the German meta catalogue, there is no mention of this
book. Incidentally loose engravings come up for auction but never the full set of 40
plates. We have not been able, despite extensive research, to find another copy, in
any other library. No auction records in recent history for the complete set.
The reason of the rarity of this volume might be that the art of Oppler as a Jew was
seen as Degenerate art (entartet) by the Nazi regime and as such it might have
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MAPS, PHOTOGRAPHS, PRINTS & MISC.
been destroyed. Another reason might be that Anna Pavlova was so popular that
the plates depicting her where often framed and that the rest of the set was
dispersed.
Description
“Oppler was a member of the Munich Secession, but became more active as one of
the founders of the Berlin Secession, a group of artists who championed the new,
Impressionist style. Oppler moved to Berlin in 1904, and became there a renowned
portraitist, and also chronicled daily life through his drawings, etchings, painted
cityscapes and genre scenes. With his brother the sculptor Alexander Oppler they
had studios in their own Villa Oppler. Ernst Oppler was invited seven times to the
Venice Biennale and participated six times.
In 1912 after controversies about expressionism he stopped participating in the
exhibitions of the Berlin secession but he still remained one of the most prominent
members of the avant-garde. The German state bought works from Oppler and
exhibited them in museums as examples of the new wave in art. Oppler started to
visit dancing performances of the Russian ballet which was very popular at that
time and began to document the performances. He became also an important
chronicler of the history of ballet in Germany .” (Wikipedia).” An overview of his
life can also be found here http://www.foosanerartmuseum.org/ernst-oppler.php
The beautiful full-page etchings were printed by Poeschel & Trepte (Leipzig) and
depict i.a. the famous dancers Anna Pavlova (as The Dying Swan) and Vaslav
Nijinsky (as Harlequin). –
UNIQUE PHOTO ALBUM ON THE PANAMA CANAL.
139. [PANAMA CANAL] “La Compagnie universelle du canal interocéanique de
Panama, the Universal Interoceanic Canal Company, in homage to Mr. Old,
Consul General of France in Panama. with the signature E.A.S. of P. BunauVarilla. Around 1885.
€ 12.500,- / $ 14,090.The photographs represent the channel drilling site Panama, homes, buildings
workshops, machines, railroads, floating dredges, steam shovels, hopper cars for
spoil from digging the canal, many of the towns and cities along the route of the
railroad or canal, cathedrals, Panama, Rio Grande, Pedro Miguel, Obispo, Bas
96
MAPS, PHOTOGRAPHS, PRINTS & MISC.
Obispo, Matachin (dated 1885), Bas Matachin, Gorgona, Bohic Soldado, Chagres
Catun, Le catun et mindi, Colon.
Leather bound. Presentation album. Oblong Folio. 40 cm x 30 x 9 cm. 50
photographs. 25 c, x 20 cm. We believe this to be the oldest know photographs of
the construction of the Canal..
SCORE OF MADAME BUTTERFLY SIGNED BY PUCCINI
[PUCCINI] [MUSIC] [AUTOGRAPH] PUCCINI, Giacomo (1858-1924). The
score of Puccini's opera Madame Butterfly, signed and inscribed by the
composer in violet ink above his handsome frontispiece portrait ("A
Madame Lucille Avrillon Giacomo Puccini 27.11.06.") Ricordi, Milan, 1906.
48 pages. 4to, 27.5 x 20 cm., vocal score, first French edition with text in
French (Hopkinson 6D), original boards with attractive Japanese emblems
on front and back covers, endpapers, spine and half-title. € 1130,- / $ 1200.140.
Butterfly had had its premiere in Milan in February 1904; at first unsuccessful,
partly because the audience was unwilling to accept the contemporary dress worn
by the Western characters, it succeeded triumphantly in a revised version three
months later. It was based on a play by David Belasco which Puccini had seen in
London. Some soiling to pictorial boards, endpaper and first signature present but
detached form text-block, old repair to tear at lower margin of p. 40. Still,
acceptable with a nice inscription. Ref: Hopkinson 6D
90 UNIQUE WATERCOLOURS BY A FAMOUS COSTUME DESIGNER.
141. VALLET,LOUIS.
Costume designs, French illustrator (1856-after 1932).
Costume designs for the stage. [Probably Paris], c. 1887. 90 watercolour
plates, mostly signed. Contemporary marbled half calf with title to richly
gilt stamped spine. Folio (284 x 320 mm). Charming ensemble of
watercolour plates showing fine costume designs for Parisian history plays
of the 1880s, many with the artist's notes on how the various costumes are
to be executed. Includes 33 plates for Simone Arnaud's orientalist piece
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MAPS, PHOTOGRAPHS, PRINTS & MISC.
"Les Fils de Jahel"; 12 for "Much Ado About Nothing"; 12 for "Vercingétorix";
and another 33 plates for various history plays. - Binding rubbed and
bumped at extremeties. Occasional cardboard chipping, but well-preserved
altogether.
€ 2500 / $ 2810.Louis Vallet is known for his polished illustrations for "Charivari", "La Vie
Parisienne", "Paris Illustré", etc.; the Musée Béziers has two of his watercolours. His
work for the stage is hitherto undocumented. - Cf. Thieme/Becker XXXIV, 82.
EARLIEST OBTAINABLE IMAGES OF RICHARD BURTON
142. WALFORD, EDWARD. Representative Men in Literature, Science, and Art.
8vo., 23 c., 139, [5] pages. Full marron publisher's cloth, peeling at hinges,
spine partially pasted. Very Rare in commerce with no copy recorded in
RareBookHub since 1980. 8 copies in world catalogue. € 424o,- / $ 4500.The volume contains original photograph portraits of Dickens, Thackeray,
Browning, Mark Lemon, Froude, Coventry Patmore, and many others. Of
particular interest is the early and famous image of Captain Richard Burton in
oriental dress, perhaps the EARLIEST OBTAINABLE IMAGE OF BURTON. The
accompanying biographical sketch details his famous trip to Mecca at the cost of
his life if he was to be discovered as a European. Of particular note is the one of
Charles Darwin. His photograph here within a decade of the Origin of Species
prompted him to recognize the value of photographs on books and led to the
inclusion of some images in “The expression of emotions in man and animals”
(1872). The photos are the work of photographer Ernest Edwards (1837-1903) who
had a studio in London at 20 Baker Street. When they were published, Edwards
was 31 years old and it was certainly a coup for him type have all these eminent
men enter his studio. According to Lorraine Portch of the Natural History Museum,
who has done some research into the subject, "the ‘men of eminence’ were invited
to submit their own biographies thereby presumably pretty much writing the book
themselves!"
98
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rare & fine books
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NOTES
no. 129
back cover no. 13