Sold Masterpieces
An Introduction to the Archive
We are pleased to begin the release of our online archive of sold masterpieces. The 12 titles presented here have been selected to reflect the wide and varied scope of our activity over the years along with our unwavering focus on the rarity of each volume that passes through our hands. From the 1472 Foligno editio princeps of Dante’s Commedia to the spectacular dogale binding made for Paolo Sarpi mentioned in our June post on the Bibliotheca Colbertina and a presentation copy of Joyce’s Ulysses inscribed by his publisher, Sylvia Beach, these 12 titles are indicative of our keen attention to the distinctiveness of individual objects, from great provenance and sumptuous bindings, to ‘Italian Classics’ and modern first editions.
Psalter, manuscript on vellum, end of 11th century.
A marvelous illuminated Psalter of the 11th century, written in golden ink in an excellent round Greek script, and produced in Constantinople, possibly for a member of the Imperial house.
The Armagnac Breviary, manuscript on vellum, in Latin, ca. 1400.
The Armagnac Breviary, profusely illuminated in Paris around 1400 for Jean de Roussay, chamberlain of King Charles VI, and passed into the Armagnac family in the mid-15th century. “It is now probably the last very great Parisian liturgical manuscript of the period still privately owned” (Christopher de Hamel).
Valturio, Roberto (1405–1475). De re militari. [Verona], Giovanni di Niccolò da Verona, 1472.
“The historical importance of the De Re Militari lies in the fact that it is the first book printed with illustrations of a technical or scientific character depicting the progressive engineering ideas of the author's own time.” (PMM) Further, this copy contains an unrecorded illustration, in brown instead of black ink, possibly the first example of a woodcut in bistro.
Alighieri, Dante (1265-1321). Comincia la Comedia di dante alleghieri di fiorenze... Foligno, Johann Neumeister and Evangelista Angelini, 11 April 1472.
A masterpiece of early typography: the celebrated Foligno Dante of 1472, generally regarded as the first Commedia in print.
Aesopus (ca. 620 BC-564 BC). Vitae et fabulae. Naples, Francesco Del Tuppo, 13 February 1485.
The celebrated Del Tuppo edition of Aesop, one of the greatest achievements in early book illustration.
Bossus, Matthaeus (1428-1502). De veris ac salutaribus animi gaudiis dialogus. Florence, Francesco Bonaccorsi, 8 February 1491.
The oldest Italian Renaissance historiated plaquette binding listed in the Census by Anthony Hobson. Apparently the only recorded use of a Pisanello medal on a binding.
Pacioli, Luca (c.1445-1514). Divina proportione. Venice: Alessandro and Paganino de' Paganini, June 1509.
Pacioli’s Divina Proportione, or Golden Alphabet. The symbol of Italian Renaissance type design.
Ariosto, Ludovico (1474-1533). Orlando Furioso de Ludouico Ariosto da Ferrara. Con gratia e priuilegio. Ferrara, Giovanni Mazzocchi da Bondeno, 22 April 1516.
The first edition of Ariosto’s masterpiece Orlando Furioso, printed in Ferrara in 1516, one of the black tulips of bibliophily.
Aristoteles (385 BC-323 BC). Ethicorum Nicomachiorum paraphrasis. Leida, Jacobszon, 1607.
The Paraphrasis of Aristotle’s Ethics edited by Daniel Heinsius and housed in a spectacular dogale binding. Once owned by the theologian and historian Paolo Sarpi, the well-known author of the Historia del Concilio Tridentino.
Shakespeare, William (1564-1616). Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. Published according to the True Originall Copies. London, Isaac Jaggard and Edward Blount, 1623.
The iconic First Folio, a must for each great book collection.
Goya y Lucientes, Francisco (1746-1828). Los Caprichos. Madrid, [possibly printed by Rafael Esteve for the artist], 1799.
A splendid copy, in an artistic binding, of the rare first edition of Goya’s intaglio series Los Caprichos, the only edition published during the artist’s lifetime.
Joyce, James (1882–1941). Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, 1922.
The first edition of one of the greatest classics of the 20th century, inscribed by Joyce’s publisher Sylvia Beach, the owner of the legendary bookshop Shakespeare and Company at Paris Rive Gauche, with p. 3 of the typescript of "The Wandering Rocks" episode with autograph annotations tipped in, and further inscribed by Beach, together with a photo of Joyce, Beach, her sister Cyprion and John Rodker at Shakespeare and Company.