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[BROWNING, Robert] [SANGORSKI, Alberto, calligrapher and illuminator.] “Rabbi Ben Ezra.” [London: for the Grolier Society, ca. 1905-1912]. 24 cm x 18 cm. in a stunning jeweled opal binding by SANGORSKI and SUTCLIFFE. 22 leaves, plus 8 blanks, superbly illuminated floral borders and a full page miniature of Rabbi Ben Ezra. Colophon statement: recto “The poem of Rabbi Ben Ezra executed by the Grolier Society London, London.” verso “This copy of Rabbi Ben Ezra by Robert Browning, was especially written out, illuminated, and bound by hand and will not be duplicated.” Phoebe A.D. Boyle – Anderson New York, 19-20 November 1923, lot 55. [SOLD]
With Map. Exceedingly Rare. Only 1 other Copy recorded by Worldcat
The Book:
Guia de la ciudad de Nueva York. Nueva York : N. Ponce de Leon, 1872. Description: viii, 236, 20, 4 p., plates : map ; 23 p. of advertising at end of book. . 8vo., 17 cm. Original contemporary stamped cloth, stained, textblock loose, some chipping as depicted to head of spine. Overall, a good and complete copy of an important cultural relic.
Néstor Ponce de Leon was the most important publisher of books and pamphlets advancing the revolutionary cause. Ponce de Leon edited liberal magazines and newspapers in Cuba before becoming persecuted. He was pursued by the colonial police, who had found weapons in his house, though he managed to embark for the United States in February 1869 and went into political exile. This exceedingly rare guidebook to New York , that he compiled and published, is the first guidebook printed for New York’s Spanish speaking community.
Worldcat cites only 1 other recorded copy in the New York Historical Society.
A 14th century copy of the 1298 original (apparently now lost) by Don Pedro Tenorio, the famous Archbishop of Toledo
The Manuscript:
[Medieval Spanish Manuscript on Vellum] [Toledo, Spain, 1298, this copy executed in 1388] Size: 64 x 38 cm., ” Translado de fundación del Mayorazgo [la aldea] de Magán por Garci Manes, alcade mayor de Toledo [que ortogo] el 9 de enero de la era de 1298 [ano 1260], cuyo original se deposito en el Sagrario dela St. Iglesia Primada de Toledo enel ano x1388, pro mandado de Don Pedro Tenorio, dando una copa a cade uno delos interasados que acudienon apedirala. ” Verso with original 1388 copy, recto with numerous 17th century additions and explanatory text. Partial Tear to one fold not affecting manuscript. Overall, Very Good as depicted. [$6500]
A Highly important medieval Spanish document from several standpoints. For the history of Spanish law, it represents one of the earliest obtainable examples of a “Mayorazgo,” this one being particularly important as it established the city of Magán near Toledo. The Mayorazgo, which granted hereditary rights (generally solely to the first male heir), was a very important legal development under Alfonso X, who established the foundation of Iberian law which stood for centuries. “As a ruler, Alfonso X showed legislative capacity, and a wish to provide the kingdoms expanded under his father with a code of laws and a consistent judicial system. He began medieval Europe’s most comprehensive code of law, the Siete Partidas, which, however, thwarted by the nobility of Castile, was only promulgated by his great-grandson. Because of this, and because the Partidas remain fundamental law in the American Southwest, he is one of the 23 lawmakers depicted in the House of Representatives chamber of the United States Capitol. ” [Wikipedia]
The document states that this is a 14th century copy, executed in 1388, of the original which was deposited for safekeeping in the archives of the Cathedral of Toledo under the direction and hand of Don Pedro Tenorio, the famous Cardinal Archbishop of Toledo, to whom the city owes her glory almost as much as to her Kings. This copy appears signed D.P. Arzobispo Toledo, but this may be a secretarial signature. Another copy of the document, and what appears to be a tertiary copy (i.e. another or later copy- the original 1298 one likely lost) is cited by that magnificent reference work, the Indice de la Colección de don Luis de Salazar y Castro, as being held as Manuscript 50.940 by the Real Academia de la Historia. [Ref: “Indice de la colección de don Luis de Salazar y Castro, Volumes 32-33 – Page 99; Manuscript 50.940. Published: Real Academia de la Historia]
The copy in the Real Academia de la Historia, was collected by great manuscript collector, the Thomas Phillips of Spain: Luis de Salazar. “Luis de Salazar y Castro (Valladolid, 1658 – Madrid, 1734), called by some the prince of the genealogists, is one of the most quoted writers Spanish. The collection of documents gathered throughout his life, preserved in the Royal Academy of History of Spain, is one of the basic sources for the investigation of the Iberian lineage. ”
Such a founding manuscript of a Spanish town, even if a 14th century copy of the the 13th century original, is of extreme rarity outside of Spanish Institutional holdings.
Illuminated Manuscript on Vellum: Some of the finest Bruges Illuminations to appear on the market in recent years
THE MANUSCRIPT: [Book of Hours] [s.l., s.d.; likely Bruges circa 1450-1460]; FOR ENGLISH USE, 203 x 145 mm, 130 leaves on Vellum., 16 (SIXTEEN) large eight-line initials with full page borders of the finest quality, attributable to Willem Vrelant or to school of Vrelant. The lavish borders are enlivened with birds, monkeys, peacocks, a dog, a reindeer, lions and bears, all magnificently executed in unusually fine and naturalistic tones. Early 16th century ownership inscription to blank fly-leaf of Elizabeth Harlaky[e]nden. Bound in 19th century blind-stamped morocco as depicted, in protective box. Condition: some light smudging to text, some darkening and staining, some minor tears with the last nine leaves repaired at lower right corner as shown, spine rubbed. Overall, the whole book is in excellent condition, exceptionally wide-margined, and very attractive.
BORDER ILLUMINATION: The extensive illumination is in a style, attributable to or derived from Willem Vrelant, one of the leading illuminators in Bruges from at least 1454 until his death in 1481. Given their impressive quality, a full attribution to Vrelant of the luxuriant and complex borders is entirely reasonable, and the acanthus leaves show clear stylistic similarity with such masterpieces as the the Vrelant Book of Hours for Paris Use in The Free Library of Philadelphia, Rare Book Department, Widener 5, fol. 46. What is certain is that these superb borders are representative of the height of Bruges and Flemish border decoration and that they serve as an important link, worthy of further scholarly investigation, between the French and Flemish, as well as English, traditions of manuscript illumination. They are certainly among the finest such borders to appear on the market in recent years.
ENGLISH MARKET: Another fascinating and important aspect of the manuscript is that it was almost certainly created for the English market. The Sarum Rite (more properly called Sarum Use) was a variant of the Roman Rite widely used for the ordering of Christian public worship, including the Mass or Eucharist, in the British Isles before the English Reformation. There is an English (likely) pre-Reformation signature of Elizabeth Harlaky[e]nden, [d. 1539] [s.l., likely York] and wife of Thomas Harlakynden (d. 1558). Additionally, the calender notes St. Rumbolt, a very rarely found English Midlands Saint.
Bruges was of course very important as the central foreign market of the Anglo Flemish wool trade. Caxton, himself famously set up a press in there in 1474, printing The Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye, the first book printed in English. Thus manuscripts for English Use produced in Bruges are very important not only for the study of traditions of illumination, but also as a way of investigating the routes of the early Anglo book trade, as well as the roots of the earliest English printing itself.
WOMEN’S OWNERSHIP: The clear recorded evidence on this Book of Hours of a woman’s ownership, Elizabeth Harlaky[e]nden, is also rare . Without doubt, she was following the maxim of St. Jerome, made popular in the medieval period by Christian moralists, to educate young children. It parallels the famous example of the Psalter ordered by Blanch of Castille to teach her son, the future Louis IX of France. Margaret Schaus expounds more fully on several aspects of this as well as women book-owners as ambassadors of culture in her Women and Gender in Medieval Europe: an Encyclopedia, CRC Press, 2006. [$125,000]
