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October 2, 2010

A MAGNIFICENT AND VERY RARE ILLUSTRATED RENAISSANCE BOOK OF THE PRINCES OF TYROL

PRINTED 1599: FOLIO. SPLENDID ENGRAVINGS.

[ Custos, Dominicus][Henning, Marcu] Tirolensvum Principum Comitvm : Der Gefürsten Grafen zu Tyrol ; Von Anno 1229 biß Anno 1600 ; Eigentliche Contrafacturen ; Sampt Historischer Beschreibung, auß hieuor außgangnem Latein, durch dessen Autorn verteutscht ; Gedruckt zu Augsburg in verlegung Dominici Custodis. Augspurg : Custos, 1599. [74] p. illus., ports. 30 cm. 32 engr. incl. title. COMPLETE COPY.. Engraved t.p., with old marginal repair, some staining as depicted, small marginal tears and some wormhole to last three leaves, later endpapers, full vellum. VERY RARE; only in incomplete copy without the colophon leaf has appeared in 30 years of the American Bool Prices Auction Records.

These magnificent engravings are after the paintings in the The Spanish Hall at Schloss Ambras, one of the most important freestanding halls of the Renaissance with full-length portraits of the princely rulers of the Tyrol. I have attached a photo at the end from Wikipedia which depicts the famous Hall.

“Dominicus Custos (1560 Antwerp – 1612 Augsburg), was a Flemish artist, printer and copperplate engraver, who worked in the service of Emperor Rudolph II in Prague… Custos and the humanist Marcus Henning collaborated in producing the work “Tirolensium principum comitum” which appeared in 1599 and depicted 28 Counts of Tyrol from Albert IV (1190-1253) to Rudolf II (1552-1612). Custos was responsible for the engravings while Henning took care of the text and eulogies.” [Wikipedia]

October 2, 2010

THE SPLENDID COMBINATION OF POE AND RACKHAM

1st ed.  PRINTED 1935 in a Handsome Sangorski and Sutcliffe Solander Box

Edgar Allan Poe; Arthur Rackham.Tales of mystery & imagination London : G.G. Harrap, 1935. Ill. on lining papers. Cover title: Poe’s tales of mystery & imagination. 317 p., [29] leaves of plates : ill.(some col.) ; 26 cm. FIRST RACKHAM EDITION.  FINE COPY in Rare Original Dust Jacket with minor ships and repairs to head of spine of jacket. In a fine Black Morocco Solander Box by famed bindery, Sangorski and Sutcliffe.  $750.00

October 2, 2010

Printed 1800: THE FIRST COLLECTED EDITION OF ROBERT BURNS

SPLENDID COPY IN CONTEMPORARY TREE CALF

[Robert Burns]; [James CURRIE, M.D.]The Works of Robert Burns; with an account of his life, and a criticism on his writings. To which are prefixed, some observations on the character and condition of the Scottish peasantry. [By James Currie.]. Printed by J. M’Creery: Liverpool; for T. Cadell, Jun. & W. Davies: London, 1800.  4 Vol.  a  COMPLETE AND VERY HANDSOME COPY in full polished tree calf, some bumping to corners, foxing  and browning as usual,  partial loss to blank flyleaf in Vol I. and partial marginal loss and creasing  to half-title of Vol III not affecting text.  Frontis. portrait; and four different woodcut vignette on the  title-pages by the eminent Thomas Bewick.  RARE.    $950.00

This is the FIRST PUBLISHED COLLECTED EDITION OF BURNS, edited by the prominent Scottish physician James Currie and issued soon after Burns’ death.  It contains previously unpublished songs and poem, including “Auld Land Syne”, that now popular song sung at the stroke of midnight of every New Year as “Should Old Acquaintance be forgot”, here formally attributed to Burns for the first time.

“Soon after Burns’s death it was decided that a collected edition of his works should be undertaken, but it was difficult to find anyone to shoulder the task, which eventually fell to Dr. James Currie, a native of Dumfriesshire who practiced medicine in Liverpool. His main objective was to raise money for the poet’s family, and so he felt he must not offend any of the people whom Burns had known or met. For this reason Currie deliberately omitted material from his biography that would have resulted in a more rounded portrait of his subject. The edition immediately became the standard biography and text for the poems and letters of the poet. This inaccurate biography and mangled text gave the world a woefully biased picture of Burns (for instance that he was a drunkard, when his letters and contemporary reports about him shed quite a different light on him), a picture which persisted well into this century” [See: http://www.sc.edu/library/spcoll/britlit/burns/burns1.html]

August 24, 2010

16th CENTURY MINING IN CONTEMPORARY BLIND-TOOLED PIGSKIN.

PRINTED 1548-1571: A SAMMELBAND OF 5 RARE TITLES

[16th Century Mining and Metallurgy.] [Ordinances and Statues] [Maximilian II (31 July 1527 – 12 October 1576) ] [Ferdinand I (10 March 1503 – 25 July 1564)]
1. Abschiedt der Römischen Kayserlichen Majestat, und gemeiner Stände auff dem Reichstag zu Speyr, Anno MDLXX auffgerichtet.
Gedruckt in der Churfürstlichen Stat, Meintz : durch Franciscum Behem, 1571.  [2; (of 4)]; 103 lvs.., lacking t.p.;. BOUND WITH… 2. [L. Fronsperger, Baron von Mindelheim]. Besatzung. Ein kurtzer bericht, wie Stätt, Schlösser oder Flecken mit kriegs volck soll besetzt sein, dass sie sich für dem Feinde erhalten mögen. Mit einer ausstheylung, was einem Menschen einen jeden tag an Brot und Fleysch, dergleichen was einem jeden Pferd allen tag an Habern soll gegeben werden, dass sie sich nach notturfft erhalten künden. Frankfurt an Main, Feyerabend and Huter, 1563 [2]-16, [2] colophon and final blank present, lacking t.p.; BOUND WITH…. 3. Bergkordnung des freyen Königlichen Bergwercks Sanct Joachimthal, sambt anderen umbligenden und eingeleibten Silberbergkwercken, auffs neue gebessert, Anno domini 1548. Zwickau, 1548. [81] of [82] lvs., with errata and final blank, lacking t.p.. BOUND WITH…. 4. Römischer auch zu Hungern und Behem etc. Kü. Mai. geordente und gebesserte Zinbergkwercks Ordnung der Bergstedt Schlackenwalden, Schönfelden, Lautterpach, sampt derselben zugehörenden gepirgen ; Römischer auch zu Hungern und Behem etc. Kü. Mai. Zinbergkwercks Ordnung auff die Bergkwerck Hengst, Perninger, Lichtenstadt, Platten, Gotsgab, Kaff, Mückenbergk und andern derselbigen orten und enden… BOUND WITH… 5. [Ferdinands I.] Geordente und gGebesserte Zinbergkwercks-Ordnung der Bergkstedt Schlackenu’alden, Schönfelden, Lautterpach, sampt derselben zugehörenden Gepirgen. :[Zwickau:, Wolffgang Meyerpeck, 1548] [22] lvs. t.p., crudely remargined, coat of arms on title page. Ornamental initials and head- and tailpieces. Very Rare. Condition: Handsome contemporary blind-tooled German Pigskin over wooden boards, brass catches, some dampstaining, browning,
marginal repairs, several inserted blanks for notes and annotations as well as contemporary manuscript pages, facsimile bookplate.  [$8500]

Extracting metals from the ground has clearly been a fundamental technology that helped pave the way for advances in human civilization. Besides wealth creation, mining required men and smelters,which led to the founding of many villages and communities that formed a backbone of medieval society. This sammelband of 5 separate and rare works, dated from 1548-1571, is therefore of great scholarly importance to both 16th century German law and the history of technology. It addresses the competing rights and claims of kings, landlords, landowners, as well as the individual miners. Additionally it discusses material covered by Agricola, specifically how a mine can be divided into shares and the roles of various other officials in regulating mines and taxing the production. It should be noted that the two large woodcut illustrations were executed a full eight years before the 1556 edition of Agricola’s De re metallica .

August 22, 2010

WITH THE RARE THUMBPRINT- THE FIRST RECOGNITION OF A FINGERPRINT AS A UNIQUE MARK OF IDENTIFICATION

PRINTED 1818: BEAUTIFUL ROYAL ISSUE FIRST EDITION OF BEWICK’S GREAT AESOP FABLES

The Book:

[Thomas Bewick] [Aesop.] The fables of Aesop, and others : with designs on wood. Newcastle : Printed by E. Walker, for T. Bewick and Son, sold by them, Longman and Co., London, and all booksellers, 1818. FIRST EDITION, ROYAL ISSUE, the paper watermarked 1817, additional portrait preceding t.p., “To the youth of the British Isles”–Pref. Includes index of fables. 1st ed. The leaf preceding t.p. has the “thumb mark” receipt of Thomas Bewick, signed by Thomas Bewick and Robert Elliot Bewick and dated 1st October 1818. [2], xxiv, 376 p. : ill. (wood-engravings) ; 23.5 cm., Splendid straight-grained Morocco, signed Zaehnsdorf binding. Occasional minor spotting, A Very Fine copy.  [SOLD]

Bewick’s art is considered the pinnacle of its medium. “Bewick is also noteworthy for having used his fingerprint as a form of signature, in conjunction with his written name to denote individuality in his publications. The significance of this happening nearly 200 years ago lead some to believe that Bewick is among the first to recognize the uniqueness of each individual human fingerprint. [Ref: Lee, Henry C and Robert E.Gaensslen. Advances in fingerprint technology ]