We found 33304 price guide item(s) matching your search

δ David Bomberg (1890-1957)Portrait of Austen St. Barbe Harrison (1891-1976)Oil on canvas, signed and dated '31' in the upper left corner, 610 x 505 mm (24 x 20 in), some craquelure (framed)Provenance:Lilian Thirza Charlotte Bomberg née Holt;Gifted to Austen St. Barbe Harrison [manuscript letter from Lilian to Harrison included, dated '63]Sale, [?]Christie's, London, 13th June 1986, lot 271;The Phoenix Galleries, Suffolk;Private collection, BristolExhibited:Waterhouse & Dodd, London (possibly 'David Bomberg' November 2013) [label affixed to reverse of frame]Literature:cf. Cork (Richard), David Bomberg, 1987, p. 152⁂ An intimate portrait of the artist's "close friend", whom he met during his time in Jerusalem. Austen St. Barbe Harrison, a British-born architect who spent most of his career in the Middle East, met Bomberg while he was a Government appointed architect working in Jerusalem. Harrison lived above the artist, where he was living with his wife, Lillian. Cork writes 'Harrison soon became a close friend [...] and the Bombergs would go to supper at [Harrison's] house and spend the evening in uninhibited conversation' [op cit.]. A manuscript letter from Lillian to Harrison is included in the present lot, which highlights both the close relationship between Harrison and Bomberg, as well as Harrison's friendship with Lillian.δ This lot is sold subject to Artists Resale Rights, details of which can be found in our Terms and Conditions.

Bifolium from a medieval Latin schoolbook with the Distichs of Cato, and the Eclogues of Theodulus, with extensive commentary, in Latin, manuscript on parchment [France, late thirteenth or early fourteenth century] Two conjoined leaves, with double column of text in two sizes of script (leaf 1: Ecologues, lines 77-108 & leaf 2: Cato, Distichs, last two lines of book III, and book IV, prol. lines 1-18; note these same texts along with other moral teaching texts can be found in a small number of other manuscripts: see G.L. Hamilton in Modern Philology VII, 1909, pp. 10-11), main text in rounded early university hand, commentary in tiny and much abbreviated version of same, main texts in Latin verse, small spots and stains, losses at edges, cockling, small holes and tears, recovered from a binding and hence with losses to reverse where once pasted to a board, spaces left for initials (one on reverse filled with simple arms in trick), total size 198 by 288mm.Both of these texts were in common usage in the Middle Ages in the teaching of Latin. The Distichs of Cato (Dionysius Cato, quite apart from the Classical Roman author) was composed as a collection of proverbial wisdom couplets in the third or fourth century AD. The Eclogues of Theodulus was once thought to be a late Roman work, but its genre belongs to the Carolingian Renaissance and its use of leonine hexameters distinctive enough to point to the region of Reims, and is has been attributed to the Saxon theologian and friend of Walahfrid Strabo, Gottschalk of Orbais. It is a moral argument between the figures of a shepherd Pseustis (falsehood) and a shepherdess Alithia (truth). It is recorded in 121 medieval manuscripts (see Osternacher's edition of 1902, pp. 13-23), but is rare to the market. 

Peter Lombard, Libri quatour sententiarum, in Latin, decorated manuscript on parchment [northern France (Paris), thirteenth century]Single leaf, with single column of 31 lines of a tiny university script (text from II, end of distinctio 24 to opening of 25), capitals touched in red, red rubrics, initials in red or blue with contrasting penwork, running titles and versal numbers in alternate red or blue capitals, one original flaw to parchment in upper corner with contemporary repair, sixteenth- or seventeenth-century numbers added in margins marking chapters, modern pencil "98" and "2" in outer corners, occasional small spots, else excellent condition and on fine and thin parchment with notably wide and clean margins, 227 by 164mm.The parent manuscript of this leaf was an appealing university copy of one of the fundamental textbooks of medieval theological study. From the early thirteenth century until the close of the Middle Ages, no other work was as commented on, with the single exception of the Bible.  

Leaf from the 'Interpretations of Hebrew Names' from the St Albans Abbey Bible, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment [northern France (Paris), c. 1330]Single leaf, with triple column of 46 lines in a fine Gothic bookhand (entries for 'e', from 'Elcham' to 'Elud'), single catchword at base of verso, red rubrics, one-line initials in alternate blue and liquid gold with contrasting penwork, line-fillers in zigzagging foliate designs in same colours, apparent price "15/" in pencil at foot of recto, tiny dealer's mark "15K1079" in pencil at lower inner corner of verso, a few spots, slight cockling at edges, folds to corners, else good condition, 276 by 188mm.From an incomplete Bible sold at Sotheby's, 6 July 1964, lot 239, to the dealer and book-breaker Philip Duschnes, who dispersed it. Then identified in 1981 as from the medieval library of St Albans Abbey, Herts., and perhaps to be identified as one of "duas bonas biblias" acquired by Abbot Michael de Mentmore (C. de Hamel in Fine Books and Book Collecting, 1981, pp. 10-12). However, a number of leaves, including whatever remained of the Interpretations of Hebrew Names, from which the present leaf comes, appear to have been separated from the volume before its appearance at Sotheby's in 1964, with two leaves acquired by E.H. Dring (1864-1928, one reappearing in Quaritch, cat. 1036, 1984, no. 76).  

Ɵ Cutting from a monumental Old Testament codex, in Latin, manuscript on parchment, in situ on the binding of a copy of Von der Fürsichtigkeit Gottes, zehen Predigen dess uralten und christlichen Lehrers Theodoreti, auss griechischer Sprach in Latein gebracht durch Herrn Rudolphen Walther (St Gallen: Leonhart Strauss, 1582) [France, fourteenth century]To view a video of this lot, click here.Large cutting from the top of a leaf, with remains of double column of 13 lines (Ecclesiastes 3:20-4:1 & 4:6-9) of a fine and angular Gothic bookhand with pronounced wedges at feet of descenders, decorative hairline strokes to extremities of some letters and notable lateral compression, capitals touched in red, versal initials and running title in alternate red and blue, one large blue initial 'U' (opening "Verti me ad alia ...", Ecclesiastes 4) encased in red penwork with long trailing penwork fronds and red 5-petalled flower-heads, some patches of discolouration and wear concomitant with being in situ on binding, overall presentable condition, each board 190 by 154mm.From a fine and notably large lectern Bible. 

Cutting from a copy of the Corpus Juris Civilis, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment [France (probably Paris), thirteenth century]Top half of a bifolium (one half leaf, plus a few mm. of corresponding sister leaf), these bisected horizontally, main text in double column with 26 lines remaining, capitals touched in hairline penstrokes, initials in red with hairline penwork decoration, vivid red rubrics, running titles in alternate blue and red capitals ('L' 'IIII'), long tall initials in blue with red penwork, a few manicula marks (one with a red penwork extension in margin), four human faces picked out in marginal penwork, three initials in blue heightened with white penwork, enclosing foliage on coloured grounds and with tail enclosing a gold bezant, gloss encasing main text on all untrimmed sides, trimming at outer upright edge clipping away a few characters from edge of column of gloss, a few other contemporary marginal additions, some scuffs and folds, a few small stains, else good condition, 280 by 188mm. 

Johannes de Freiburg, leaves from an extremely large codex of Summa confessorum, in Latin, decorated manuscript on parchment[France, early fourteenth century]Six leaves (including a bifolium: single text leaves from book III, bifolium from book II, plus single leaf with part of capitula lists for book I), with double column of 51 lines of a fine rounded early Gothic bookhand, quotations underlined in red, red rubrics, paragraph marks in alternate red or blue, book and quaestio nos. in red and blue initials at head of some leaves, small initials in red or blue with contrasting penwork, larger initials variegated in red or blue with elaborate penwork infill and penwork extensions in margin trailing into long whip-like penstrokes, leaf with capitula list with chapter nos. in red set in margins and corresponding chapter titles opening with a capital touched in red, reused on account books of second half of sixteenth century and early seventeenth century (one leaf here with date '1623') and with scrawls and additions of that date, recovered from use on account books and hence with some discoloured areas, folds horizontally across middle, tears to edges, slight cockling, but overall in good and presentable condition, 370 by 290mm. John of Freiburg, a Dominican, composed his gigantic Summa confessorum in 1297-98, as an extension to the works of Raymond of Pennafort and William of Rennes' gloss on that work. It was very popular in the Middle Ages, and survives in approximately 170 recorded manuscripts (T. Kaeppeli and E. Panella, Scriptores Ordinis Praedicatorum medii aevi, 1970-93, ii. 430-6 and iv. 152). A single leaf and part of another bifolium from the same parent codex was sold in our rooms, 2 July 2019, as part of lot 24. 

Leaf from a Processional, in Latin, manuscript on parchment [France or Low Countries, c. 1400] Single leaf, with single column of 7 lines of text in a good Gothic bookhand, with a distinctive ligature of the 've' in 'Ave' where this word begins the line so that the e is formed from a singled bowed stroke on the side of the 'v', penwork cadels to descenders in lowermost line, these text lines with music on a 4-line red stave (rastrum: 9mm.), rubrics and simple initials in red, excellent condition, 128 by 90mm. 

Leaf from a Sacramentary, in Latin, decorated manuscript on parchment [Italy (probably west-central region), eleventh century (perhaps early or even c. 1000)]Single leaf, with single column of 20 lines of a finely written Romanesque bookhand, using a thin and precise nib, with pronounced 'fish-tailing' to some ascenders, a strong st- and ct-ligature and surprisingly the use of et-ligature integrally within words (usually a Carolingian feature, perhaps carried over from an earlier exemplar), bright red rubrics, initials in simple red with baubles mounted in their bodies or in brown ink and infilled with red sections (most probably following models of earlier tenth-century exemplar), recovered from reuse in later binding and hence with folds, small spots, scuffs, holes and a rust mark from a paperclip once affixed at top on one side, overall good condition and on heavy parchment, 203 by 136mm.The script and initials here have features that are somewhat incongruous in the eleventh century, but not unheard of (see Schøyen sale in our rooms, 8 July 2020, lots 31 & 32), and perhaps were carried over from a Carolingian exemplar. The presence of St. Hermes among the prayers is rare for Italy, and suggests an origin in the region around Rome where he was celebrated, or Spoleto, Acquapendente and perhaps to the north, Lucca, who each had relics. 

Three leaves from a large Choir Psalter, in Latin, manuscript on parchment [Germany (Würzberg), end of fifteenth century (probably dated 1499)]Three leaves, each with single column of 23 lines of angular late Gothic script, accompanying music in hufnagelschrift notation, capitals touched in red, rubrics in red, initials in alternate red or blue, one leaf with folded leather tab pasted to outer edge, eighteenth-century foliation at head of rectos in middle of text column and modern pencil annotations (see below), some small original flaws, discolouration at foot and edges (with small amounts of ink flaking from text at foot), else fair and presentable condition, each approximately 493 by 350mm.These are hitherto unrecorded leaves from a grand Choir Psalter of St. Stephen's, Würzberg (the house founded c. 1013, secularised in 1803, thereafter becoming a Protestant church and school), dispersed by the wife of the 'biblioclast' Otto Ege from 1947 onwards (here the leaves are foliated '66', '95' and '103' in an eighteenth-century hand, with the first of those with a lengthy pencil inscription by Mrs Ege at its foot and the price in USD "20 00"). Leaves from it were numbered 42 in Ege's portfolios, and other leaves have been recently traced in the Meyer Library in Missouri State University (see Gwara, Otto Ege's Manuscripts, 2013, p. 133). A forthcoming article by Scott Gwara and Timothy Bolton notes the rediscovery of a sister volume, the name of scribe as the prolific Frater Matheus Hartung of St. Stephen's, Würzberg, and the distinguished provenance of the parent volume of Ege's leaves through the collections of Leander van Ess (1772-1847) and Sir Thomas Phillipps (1792-1872). 

Marsilius of Inghen, Quaestiones on Aristotle, De generatione et corruptione, in Latin, manuscript leaves on paper, later reused to support a fabric covered item, perhaps an embroidered binding [northern Italy or southern France, opening decades of fifteenth century]Five leaves, trimmed at their head or foot with losses of a few lines there, remains of double column of approximately 46 lines of a squat and scrawling late Gothic hand, with many abbreviations and lines packed densely together, marginalia by near-contemporary hand drawing readers' attention to individual parts of the text, watermark of a simple bell with three lappets at head and simple clapper at foot, part of a wide spread of such symbols in Briquet with a distribution predominantly across northern Italy and southern France throughout the fourteenth and early fifteenth century (Briquet, nos. 3911-85), the leaves with prickmarks showing they were stitched at one point with parallel borders around edges and a large cross in middle (this cross 120mm. high; two leaves without this cross and the innermost border), few tears to a edges, small spots and stains, else fair and presentable condition on thick and heavy paper, 235 by 235mm. Provenance:Recovered from reuse perhaps in an embroidered binding or piece of padded ecclesiastical furniture. Text:Marsilius of Inghen was born around 1340 in Nijmegen. He took up office at the University of Paris from 1362, where he was also rector (1367 and 1371), and served as the University's delegate at the court of Pope Urban VI. He seems to have turned his back on Paris after the Great Schism of 1378, and withdrew to the Netherlands and then Germany, where he was one of the founders of the University of Heidelberg, subsequently serving as its rector nine times in the 1380s and 1390s. He wrote a summary of Aristotle's Physica, and 'Questions' on the same author's De anima and Metaphysica, as well as De generatione et corruptione (the text found on the leaves in question here). These were his most influential compositions, and the present text is noted by both Leonardo da Vinci and Galileo Galilei. 

Two leaves from Guarino Veronese, Regule grammaticales and Carmina differentialia, in Latin prose and verse, decorated manuscript on parchment [Italy, fifteenth century]Two leaves, each with single column of 30 lines of a good Italian late Gothic bookhand, capitals on one leaf set off in margin in medieval style for verse, simple red initials and paragraph marks, recovered from a binding and hence with small holes, scuffs and spots, 204 by 155mm. Guarino Veronese (1374-1460) was an intellectual celebrity of the humanist movement. He completed his education by travelling to Constantinople to study Greek, and on his return to Italy became a popular teacher in Florence, Venice, Verona, Ferrara, and other Italian cities, before being appointed professor of rhetoric at the University of Ferrara in 1429. In addition, he wrote commentaries on Classical texts, translated works by Strabo, Plutarch, Lucan, and Isocrates from Greek to Latin, and collected a grand manuscript library of Classical works, including a number of Pliny's letters lost until his rediscovery of them. The texts here are those of his works on grammar, beginning with the Regulae Grammaticales (in an apparently shortened format), a rare text extant in only a handful of manuscripts (G.L.A. Bursill-Hall, Census of Medieval Latin Grammatical Manuscripts, 1981, no. 1991). These leaves may well be from the lifetime of the author, and this truncated version of the text an early draft. The second leaf includes the same author's verse treatise, Carmina differentialia (lines 148-211), which expounds on homonyms, homographs, and semantically related terms (see F. Stok, 'Caratteristiche e composizione dei Carmina differentialia di Guarino Veronese', Studi Umanistici Piceni, 36, 2016, pp. 101-122; and W.K. Percival,. 'A Working Edition of the Carmina differentialia by Guarino Veronese', Res Publica Litterarum, 17, 1994, pp. 153-77).  

The Nativity in a historiated initial, on a leaf from a manuscript Gradual, on parchment [Low Countries (probably Flanders), fifteenth century]Single large leaf, with large initial 'P' (opening "Puer natus est ...", the introit for Christmas Day)" in pink with white decoration, enclosing a scene of the Nativity before a stable and a hilly landscape, all on angular gold grounds, a bar border on one side of the text in gold, blue and pink, decorated border on three sides of rinceaux foliage terminating in coloured leaves and flower heads and gold leaves and bezants, enclosing sprays of realistic foliage, a spray of blue and red acanthus leaves at foot of bar border, red rubrics, strapwork initials, 9 lines of a fine and angular late Gothic bookhand, with music on a 4-line red stave (rastrum: 15mm.), some cockling at edges and discoloured splashes to lower part of leaf, some scuffing to left-hand half of initial with chipping of paint from Virgin's face, overall fair and presentable condition, 380 by 253mm.The script and style of decoration here point to Flemish liturgical books, such as Bruges, Stadsbibliotheek 108 (reproduced in vlaamse kunst op perkament: Handschriften en miniaturen te Brugge van de 12de tot de 16de eeuw, 1981, no. 56, pl. 58).

Leaf from a Liber Benefactorum, most probably from Sint Janskerk, Mechelen, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment [Flanders (most probably Mechelen), dated 1537]Single leaf, with single column of 25 lines (containing 3 entries) in a fine late lettre bâtarde, capitals in split bars of same, some underlining in red, original folio no. "xxiiii", directions for offices and opening line "Nativitas sancti iohannis baptiste triplex" in bright red, note of month "Junius" at head in split bands of same, one historiated initial 'G' in gilt acanthus leaves showing John the Baptist holding a lamb in a grassy landscape with trees in background, all on green grounds in two shades and framed in thin liquid gold frame, the lower darker green panel flecked with liquid gold dots (cf. the initial in a Book of Hours made for Emperor Charles V in Brussels or Mechelen after 1547 by the Master of Morgan M.696: reproduced in Illuminating the Renaissance, 2003, fig. 167b on p. 500), coat-of-arms at foot held by a large brown bird within a green floral wreath with pink ribbons and gold baubles at its edges, one large blue banderole either side of arms, with inscription in liquid gold capitals in Flemish: "D D PINGOIN / LEEV" (the second part for 'leuw', lion; the use of Flemish common for personal mottos in books produced for guilds, other professional institutions, and books of ecclesiastical benefactors), verso blank, slight cockling, small spots, flaking from parts of surround of arms, else good condition, 385 by 270mm. This leaf is perhaps all that survives of a lost and apparently dispersed de luxe record of the benefactors of a Flemish church. Such records, as well as those of professional institutions, reached particularly splendid heights of book decoration in Flanders in the sixteenth century (see other examples in the Oath Book of the Antwerp De Goudbloem chamber, now Antwerp, Koninkliijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten, Archief, inv.O.A.272(5), catalogued in M. Smeyers and J. Van der Stock, Flemish Illuminated Manuscripts, 1996, no. 35; and the Privilege Book of the Brussels Den Boeck chamber, now Bib. Royale, MS. 21377, ibid. no. 36). The entries here include a record of the gifts of Judocus van der Berckt, a lawyer who served the "magno consilio" (i.e. the great council of Mechelen, the highest legal court in the Low Countries), who is recorded elsewhere as buried in the archives of the Cathedral of Sint Rombout there, as among that institution's founders (see Provincie, stad, ende district van Mechelen opgeheldert in haere kercken, 1770, I: 73; died in 1568), as well as that of Judocus Vrancx, who is recorded in the same records as buried in Sint Janskerk in the same city (ibid. p. 337). Here their bequests are recorded as having happened in 1536 and 1501, and it is added that Judocus Vrancx served as priest of the community in question. The third entry names a Johannes Olmerus who made a donation in 1534. The wealth of the men who sat on the great council of Mechelen ensured that the Sint Janskerk was an opulently decorated church, including a baroque triptych over the altar commissioned from Reubens in 1619. 

Fourteen initials with interlace or architectural decoration, from an illuminated choirbook, on parchment [Italy (perhaps Rome), late fifteenth century]Fourteen square cuttings, each containing a single illuminated initial, their bodies in dark green and soft pink acanthus leaves or architectural features, enclosing white or grey floral and interlace designs (sometimes enclosing red panels) on blue grounds, each initial with burnished gold frame, and with foliage curling out of this onto page with gold bezants and stylised flowers, remnants of text at edges with music on a 4-line red stave (rastrum 84mm.), some faces picked out in penwork details at edges of capitals, one cutting repaired at one side with a strip of parchment from same manuscript, another with losses to margin at top showing through mount, a few spots, else outstanding condition, sizes varying between 175 by 142mm. and 110 and 95mm.; mounted togetherThe finely shaded monochrome elements and delicate architectural features of these initials are eye catching and identify their parent manuscript as part of the elaborate style of choirbook illumination that began in the late fifteenth century, apparently carrying over parts of the style of illumination developed for grand humanist manuscripts into liturgical works. Examples abound in Rome (with La Miniatura Italiana tra Gotico e Rinascimento, 1985, figs. 13 & 14, giving examples), but the style was also found as far away as Lucca (see ibid., figs. 15 and 12, reproducing antiphoners 11 and 619 of Lucca Cathedral). 

John of St-Amand, Concordantiae, a medical compendium of Greek and Arabic authorities arranged by subject, in Latin, decorated manuscript on parchment [probably France, late thirteenth century]Single leaf, recovered from later reuse on an account book, hence with inner margin and small sections of text there torn away, remains of double column of 54 lines of a fine university hand with many abbreviations, paragraph marks in red or pale blue, initials in red or blue, running titles of 'L' (for 'Liber') and '=' in red, small amount of contemporary marginalia, early seventeenth-century inscriptions on outer side from use around account book dated '1604', spots, stains and large tear to upper outer corner, overall fair and presentable condition, 337 by 209mm. John of St-Amand lived c. 1230-1303/12, taught at the University of Paris, wrote extensively on medicine and pharmacology, and was one of the forerunners of the thought of Roger Bacon on the experimental method in science. His work was held in high regard by contemporaries, and the archives of the University of Paris record that from the early fourteenth to the late fifteenth century a copy of this text passed from dean to dean as a fundamental textbook. His 'concordances' is a vast compilation of Ancient Greek (notably Galen and Hypocrites) and Arabic authorities (notably Averroes, Avicenna and Ali ibn Ridwan) on a wide array of medical issues, arranged alphabetically for reference. As such it formed the medical equivalent of the more common Biblical or legal concordances. The present leaf is an early witness to the text, most probably written within the author's lifetime, and perhaps within his circle.  

Leaves from a medical text with entries on lung diseases including pneumonia (here "peripneumonia"), in Latin, from a parchment manuscript still in situ on later book boards [France, thirteenth century]To view a video of this lot, click here.Three leaves, each with double column of approximately 40 lines in a tiny university script, employing numerous abbreviations, a large number of contemporary glosses in margin and interlineally, paragraph marks in red or dark blue, initials in same with contrasting penwork, each folded around a thin wooden book board and pasted to brown leather binding there (two of these with nineteenth-century presentation bookplates of Bangor Independent College Library), and with concomitant tears and discolouration to edges, small holes and scuffs, overall fair condition, each 194 by 144mm. The text here is that quoted anonymously by the Lyonnese doctor and medical text compiler, Symphorian Champier (1471-1539), in book III of his Practica nova (cf. the chapter in the second column of one leaf, opening "Vera pleuresis a non vera differ ..." with the verso of fol. lvii of the 1517 printing of Champier's work). Its discovery here redates the work back to the thirteenth century, and the leaves here contain much not quoted by Champier.  

Ɵ The medical compilation of Siguna Stübichin, a noble female medical practitioner from Renaissance Germany, in German, manuscript on paper [Austria (probably Styria), dated 1577-9]To view a video of this lot, click here.24 leaves, complete, the first and last leaves a bifolium forming a loose wrapper around all others, within these two leaves: i20, ii3 (last a cancelled blank), entries in a single scrawling Germanic hand with titles in larger more elaborate script, flamboyant penwork cadels at edges of text, folds from paper production, some smudges and surface dirt in places, corners bumped and folded, 220 by 160mm.; stitched into contemporary paper binding, now much torn (especially at spine) and loose in places, pentrials and an alphabet in several hands on covers  A rare example of female book ownership in the German Renaissance; as well as a record of the important role played by women in medicine in the period Provenance:Written for the use of an Austrian noblewoman, who dates the booklet on its front cover and inscribes it twice with her own name "Siguna Stübichin", noting in both places that she was born under the name "Keffenhilerin". She can be firmly identified with the Siguna Khevenhüller who married Johannes Stibich/Stübich von Spielfeld and Marnberg, who attained the noble seat of Spielfeld in Styria in 1577. The Khevenhüller were high nobles of Austria based in Landskron castle in Carinthia. By the close of the sixteenth century they were among the wealthiest families in the region, and as Protestants they supported Gustav Adolf of Sweden in the Thirty Years' War, receiving the estate of Julita Gård, Södermanland, in return. Siguna Stübich may well be the scribe here, and this a rare example of the creation of a book by a woman in the German Renaissance, as well as the ownership of one. The book appears to have taken two years to compile, and the main hand dates the back cover "1579". It presumably remained in the library of the castle at Spielfeld after her death, which in 1872 was sold to the Baron Karl von Bruck, and whose descendants in turn sold the castle and its contents in 2007. Text:This is not a scribbled notebook, added to as each new recipe came to its author, but an extensive collection of such material, in a fine and final copy which was probably the author's own. The work includes protective measures against common complaints, but also a number against the 'pestilence' or plague. The focus on women continues here in this subject matter, with four such entries noted as from female sources (in variants of the form: "der Frauen Brauin v[on] Mantvortt"), but none ascribed to men. The role played by women in medieval and Renaissance medicine is often overlooked, but despite exclusion from university studies they played important roles in the subject, and female doctors or surgeons (excluding midwives) are recorded throughout the Middle Ages from such far apart places such as Naples and Frankfurt.  

Charter issued by Johannes "fitz Ley" of Coventry and Margaret his wife for Radulfus "Le Alley", concerning property within the town of Coventry, in Latin, manuscript document on parchment [England (Coventry), late twelfth century or c. 1200]Single sheet document, written in 11 long lines in a small and angular English secretarial hand, two seal tags but only one seal present (fair condition, circular green wax with fleur-de-lys and inscription; the charter stating that the document was to be sealed by both grantors with their own seals, so presumably Margaret's missing), further partly erased lines of text within turn up, folds, small spots, else good condition, 78+12 by 182mm. 

Large collection of charters, predominantly English, in Latin, French and English, manuscript documents mostly on parchment [England, fourteenth to nineteenth century]To view a video of this lot, click here. Twenty-five documents, fragments or related items, including (a) grant of Robert, priest of "Senenaly" of land in same place for Christian, son of Godwin, 15 long lines, seal tag but no seal, 110+12 by 170mm., England, dated 1278; (b) document in favour of a noble Italian lady named Richelda endorsing her possessions and rights, 35 long lines, Italy, dated 1254; (c) lease of Thomas de Crannache of farmland to a Roger, 10 long lines, seal tag but no seal, the whole treated with reagent and now only partly legible, 90 by 225mm., England, fourteenth century; plus another three fifteenth-century English charters (one with seal), 4 Tudor documents (one with page in English), 11 later charters (including a large charter of Queen Victoria for "our trusty and well beloved Harry Thomas Alfred Rainals [born Copenhagen, served as consul to Baltimore and then Brest], dated 2 September 1888, with large intact seal, and a printed record of death intestate endorsed in manuscript, issued on behalf of the archbishop of Canterbury, dated 1832) and 4 fragments of documents; all with folds, slight damage and stains

Leaf from a Glossed Gospel of Luke, in Latin, manuscript on parchment [probably Italy, second half of twelfth century (probably after c. 1180)]Single leaf, with single column of 17 lines of text (Luke 10:10-16) in an excellent early Gothic bookhand with biting curves, one simple red initial, extensive gloss in smaller versions of same in columns in both margins, recovered from a binding and hence with scuffs, stains, wormholes and folded-in edges, overall fair condition, 240 by 140mm.The hand here has features that indicate a date in the last two decades of the twelfth century, while the form of the gloss (in parallel columns either side of the main text) suggests a date before c. 1160. However, our knowledge of the dates relevant to the form of the gloss come from studies of Parisian books, and it appears that older practises may have continued later in the twelfth century in Italy (see L. Smith, The Glossa ordinaria: The Making of a Medieval Bible, 2009, p. 154; and Les Enlumineres, TM 763, and references there to the Italian glossed books at Harvard, Houghton Library in L. Light, The Bible in the Twelfth Century, 1988, nos. 31, 33, 34). 

Cardinal Carlo Carafa, Letters Patent granting the office of count of the Sacred Palace of the Lateran to Giovanni Battista, son of Claudio Agucchi of Bologna, in Latin, illuminated manuscript document on parchment [Italy (Rome or Bologna), dated 1557]  Large single-sheet document, with text in 18 long lines of a fine italic hand, first and last lines in blue and liquid gold capitals with further words in gold with blue initial letters, crucial words in main document in liquid gold, decorated upper and vertical borders enclosing gilt and coloured scrolling foliage with realistic flowers and bare-chested caryatids, this upper border enclosing the arms of Pope Paul IV, Cardinal Carafa and the ducal family of the Carafa, and at the foot of the extensions in the upright borders what are evidently the armorial devices of Giovanni Battista, son of Claudio Agucchi: an elephant sable, with a castle on its back, standing on a grassy landscape (left) and a lion rampant d'or on azure standing atop three hills and holding a cross fleury gules, all beneath three fleur-de-lys d'or (right), all within gold frames, place of issuing and final part of date omitted at end (causing later endorsing hand on verso to give wrong date of '1550'; but the correct year established by the papal regnal year: Paul IV 2), slight damage along folds including small holes, some small chipping to paint of border in places, seal and seal tag wanting, overall good condition, 323+155 by 746mm. The grantor of this attractive document, Carlo Carafa (1517-61), stood out as a notoriously vicious politician in an age when such men were commonplace. The arms at the head of this document betray the fact that he owed his cardinalate to his uncle, Gian Pietro Carafa (Pope Paul IV from 1555), and in fact was appointed only two weeks after his uncle's election (and only a few years after Carafa was accused of being involved in an assassination, and exiled from his native Naples for murder and banditry). Through this papal connection he was able to segue from a career as a mercenary general into papal high office, but fell from grace on the death of his uncle in 1559, and was quickly exiled from Rome, arrested on the orders of Pope Pius IV the year after, and executed by strangulation.The elephant in the arms in the lower left hand border here deserves especial mention. This armorial device is most probably that of the recipient of the document, albeit an untraced member of one of the lines of a Bolognese noble family. The elephant was used as the symbol of a handful of towns and families in Renaissance Italy, but none with any meaningful connection to the Agucchi family in general, and instead, it may be a nod here to the elephant-mania that gripped Rome and then the rest of northern Italy from 1514 onwards. The arrival of a live elephant in some part of Western Europe was almost always followed by an explosion of interest in them and their widespread appearance in the arts. In the opening years of the sixteenth century, with Portuguese power in India growing, King Manuel I, began to build up a stable of 'elephants of state' in Lisbon, seizing seven of these beasts as war booty at Malacca in 1511. In 1514 he presented an elephant named Hanno to the Pope - the first live elephant in Rome since antiquity (see D.F. Lach, 'Asian Elephants in Renaissance Europe', Journal of Asian History, 1, 1967, pp. 133-76; and S. Bedini, The Pope's Elephant, 1997). Hanno quickly became the Pope's favourite among the papal menagerie, and took part in parades around Rome. Hanno died in 1516, and was buried in the Cortile del Belvedere in the Papal palace, with Raphael commissioned to produce a pachydermic fresco (now lost) and the Pope himself composing the epitaph. However, Hanno's influence was not just confined to Rome, and echoes of his image have been found in Mantua and even in Bologna, in the design of the Palazzo Fantuzzi there in 1517, which has prominent elephants on its façade following the recent adoption of the animal as the armorial device of the Fantuzzi. Here in this document we appear to have one of the last echoes of Hanno, adopted as an armorial emblem by a man who may have seen Hanno himself some 41 years before this charter was created. 

Ɵ Emperor Charles V, document legitimising bastard sons of the Corner (Cornelia) family of Venice and the Malaspina of Castle Aquila in Sarzana, and appointing the first to the office of count palatine, in Latin, manuscript on parchment in contemporary fine binding [Italy (Padova and Rome), dated 1540 and 1557]To view a video of this lot, click here.26 leaves, comprising two separate booklets: (i) 20 leaves, complete, collation: i-iv4, v4 (last a blank), single column of 19 lines of late humanist hand, crucial words in ornamental capitals; (ii) 6 leaves, complete, collation: i6 (last 2 blank), single column of 24 lines in smaller humanist hand that leans to right, text opens with capitals, and ends with subscriptions; some leaves darkened and cockled, a few discoloured splashes, last quire becoming loose, overall fair and presentable condition, 215 by 155mm.; contemporary Venetian binding of dark brown leather over pasteboards, with borders of foliage designs around a central cabouchon, a few small scuffs and holes, boards very slightly bowed at edges, else excellent condition, hole in inner lower edge of binding and leaves for imperial seal and cord (these wanting) Documents such as these, apart from their aesthetic appeal, hold some fascination as records of the sexual mores of the Renaissance and some of the complex legal situations that arose from these. The grand imperial decree which opens this volume, granted the Corner family (or Cornelia, as they claimed to trace their origins to the Roman gens Cornelia, one of the grandest patrician families of Ancient Rome) the right to legitimise their children despite their creation by illicit or damned sexual unions, that is incest, adultery or begotten by male or female criminals. This delicate matter was clearly of some importance to the family and the original applicant to the imperial court was Girolamo Corner, on behalf of the father Giorgio, the brother of Caterina, who would later be the Queen of Cyprus (married James II), and it was later still being pursued by Cardinal Francesco Corner (1478-1543). The emperor then continues to grant all their children, whether born or unborn, the title of Imperial Counts Palatine. The document was signed in Worms on 20 January, 1521, and confirmed on 12 April, 1540, in Padua. Then from fol. 12r onwards follows the petition of the Marquis Leonardo Malaspina of Castello dell'Aquila in Gragnola (today Fivizzano, near Sarzana) on behalf of his two sons who were born of different mothers, one of whom may have been a nun. This document was signed on 29 March, 1540, and confirmed on 12 April in the same year in Padua. The volume ends with a notarial deed dated Rome, 2 December, 1557, with which Ottavio Malaspina, who in the meantime became 24 years old, claimed the title of Marquis of Malaspina as a result of the previous act of recognition. The fine Venetian binding here suggests that this was the Corner family's own copy of this document, produced in this de luxe format for their own archives.

Ɵ Venetian ducal document, issued by Doge Silvestro Valier in favour of Giovanni Tomaso di Colloredo and endorsing his inheritance of the family estates, in Latin, illuminated manuscript in contemporary binding [Italy (Venice), dated 8 March 1696]To view a video of this lot, click here.39 leaves, textually complete, collation: once a single gathering of 50 leaves, then 11 leaves cut from end (presumably cancelled blanks, and before document was bound), contemporary foliation, single column of 20 lines in italic hand of ducal secretary Andrea Tiepolo, opening of text in liquid gold capitals decorated with gold foliate penwork, documents of Giovanni Tomaso and Conte Fabrizio di Colloredo dated 1702-1717 added at end of volume, underlining and year added to frontispiece in red ochre, notes on Colloredo family events for 1699-1709 added to first endleaf, else in excellent condition, 235 by 170mm.; contemporary dark brown leather over pasteboards, elaborately tooled with dense foliate frames around a central sun-like cabouchon on each board, some small bumps and scratches, overall good and solid conditionAn impressive Venetian ducal document, in its original tooled binding. 

Ɵ Boniface VIII,Liber sextus decretalium, the Constitutiones clementinae and other collections of Papal judgements on aspects of Canon Law, in Latin, decorated manuscript on parchment [France (Paris), mid-fourteenth century]To view a video of this lot, click here. 96 leaves (plus 3 paper endleaves at front and back), complete, collation: i10, ii-vii12, viii8, ix6 (iii and vi singletons, but no losses to text; this last quire an early addition and including 3 endleaves at back), some quire and leaf signatures, seventeenth- or eighteenth-century foliation in outer upright margin of rectos, double column of 45 lines of a good university hand, capitals touched in red, paragraph marks in red or dark blue, red rubrics (with hairline guides for rubricator often surviving in margins), running titles in alternate red or blue capitals, one-line initials in same, 2-line initials in same but with penwork flourishing in contrasting colour extending in long whip-like tendrils far into the margins, nine large variegated initials in red and blue with penwork infill and surrounds opening major text sections, the final additional quire with text in single column of 41 lines, with some sections here in double columns, all opened by a single red initial, slight cockling to first and last few leaves (with 2 small initials causing burn through of parchment on fol. 1), some rodent damage to edges of a number of leaves, small spots and stains, else good and presentable condition, 275 by 185mm.; eighteenth-century Italian paper-covered pasteboards printed with patterns of green leaves, corners and spine covered in brown leather, spine with gilt-tooled panel: "XXXI LIBR DECR MS.", scuffed and bumped in places, overall solid in binding A handsome fourteenth-century legal codex, with a probable origin point among Italian law students studying in Paris, and a likely provenance in the medieval library of the Dominican convent of San Domenico di Guzmán in Gaeta Provenance:1. Most probably written in Paris by a scribe who had trained in Italy: the script is a professional Italian littera bononiensis, but the decoration and some details of script (such as the use of the tironian 'et' symbol), indicate an origin in the French capital. The book was evidently completed there in the form it is now in, and the additions on fols. 89r-93v are in French hands.2. Probably from the Dominican convent of San Domenico di Guzmán, Gaeta, central Italy (founded 1229, expanded under Neapolitan royal patronage from 1308 onwards, suppressed 1809 by Napoleonic army and reused as barracks, and its goods then scattered): part of a group of eleven manuscripts of predominantly Dominican interest later owned by the Hispanic Society of America. As noted by Faulhaber, these are all in identical bindings and with similar descriptions at foot of opening leaves in scrawling hand of the previous century (here "Decretalium sextus liber bonifacii" and "C 6"); and one of these certainly from the house (Peter of Tarentaise, Commentary on Peter Lombard's Sentences with an ex libris "Iste liber est conventus sancti dominici de gayeta ordinis predicatorum" on fol. 1r and the classmark "E 5": now Yale, Beinecke, MS. 1207: see Faulhaber, no. 35). Further shared features are the nineteenth-century inscriptions on their back pastedowns (here "Foglie # 100 Miniature # 7" and "Foglie No 100 Iniziali # 7 Segnato NAP"). Many of these codices had French features, and were presumably written by, or carried by, Italian students of the University of Paris, while returning home. A number of the group had brief French descriptions of the nineteenth century (as here pasted inside front board, numbering this 'XXXI', agreeing with number on spine), and they appear to have been taken to France soon after the suppression of the house and entered the trade as a single unit there.3. Hispanic Society of America, acquired in early twentieth century (perhaps in France), their B2565 (Faulhaber, pp.127-8), with cataloguing in Spanish by A. García y García on a folded sheet of blue paper pasted to last endleaf; their sale in Christie's, 12 November 2008, lot 26. Text:The Liber sextus decretalium was commissioned by Pope Boniface VIII from Guillaume de Mandagot, bishop of Embrun, Berenger Fredoli, bishop of Beziers and Ricardo Petroni of Siena, papal vice-chancellor, as a practical collection of papal letters (also known as decretals) that contained clarification on individual points of Canon Law. It had been finished by 1298 when its pronouncements entered into law, and copies were then disseminated to universities to replace earlier textbooks. Once in use, it came to be known as the Liber sextus, as it supplements the five books of Gregory IX's Decretals, which had been promulgated in 1234. The present volume was probably ultimately copied from one produced for teaching in the University of Paris, and addresses the doctors and scholars of that institution in its opening line ("... doctoribus et scolaribus universis Parisius"). To this has been added decretals judged of some importance, but outside the official compilation (here fols. 53v-59r). These are followed by the Constitutiones clementinae (fols. 59v-81v, also called the Liber septimus decretalium), which were compiled under Pope Clement V and sent to the University of Orleans and the Sorbonne in 1314, but more widely disseminated by his successor Pope John XXII in 1317 (here prefaced by the latter's introductory letter, again addressing the doctors and scholars of Paris). The main section of the book ends with a collection of further decretals of Clement V, including those from the Council of Vienne in 1311-12 (fols. 81v-83r), as well as those of Popes Martin IV (fols. 83r-85v), and John XXII (fols. 85v-89r). To this body, hands of the late fourteenth or fifteenth century then added an anonymous text beginning "In vita bonorum et optimorum primo Ethicorum ..." (fol. 89rv), a Declaratio constitutionis 'Execrabilis' of John XXII (fols. 90r-92v), and an alphabetical subject index to the Liber sextus (fols. 93r-v). Published:A. García y García, 'Manuscritos juridicos medievales de la Hispanic Society of America', Revista Española de Derecho Canónico, 18 (1963), pp. 546-48, n. 1.Charles B. Faulhaber, Medieval Manuscripts in the Library of the Hispanic Society of America, 1983, pp.127-8. 

Ɵ Antonius Azaro de Parma, Homilies, in Latin, decorated manuscript on paper [Germany (Ulm), dated 1393]To view a video of this lot, click here. 226 leaves (plus an endleaf at front and back), complete, collation: i-xvii12, xviii14, xix8, traces of occasional catchwords and quire signatures, double column of 38-40 lines of a series of late Gothic hands, opening words of each sermon in larger angular script, capitals touched in red in some sections, red paragraph marks, red rubrics, red underlining and simple red initials, red penwork boxes forming line-fillers between sermons, large opening initial in red strapwork enclosing trilobed design within its body, two leather tabs to mark major text openings, watermark close variant of Briquet 15021 (recorded Nuremberg in 1390; here 'tête de boeuf', but surmounted by a star rather than a cross), a few small spots and stains and a few wormholes, but overall in outstandingly fresh and crisp condition on heavy paper with wide and clean margins, 288 by 203mm.; fifteenth-century brown leather over bevelled wooden boards (bevelled in middle of board-edges in German fashion), tooled with diamond-shaped panels and various foliate stamps (one with Agnus Dei), remains of two brass clasps, small holes in leather on boards, losses of leather at top of spine and splitting at edges of boards, early monastic shelfmark on large paper label affixed to upper part of outer side of front board ("H19") in medieval fashion, with title in same place "Sermones dominicales fratris an-/ thony permensis R V I P", overall sturdy and robust condition; list of sermons and their corresponding reference nos. in Schneyer and Meersseman included with volume A large collection of some 95 Sunday and Lenten sermons in a manuscript with a precise date and provenance in the fourteenth century, in a fine medieval binding; the whole in an outstanding state of preservation Provenance:1. Additions to this book place it among the relatively small number of manuscripts for which we know almost all aspects of its creation. It was completed in 1393 for use by the Augustinian Canons of St. Michael's zu den Wengen in Ulm (founded as a pilgrim hospital and waystation from 1183 under the supervision of Augustinian Canons, closed briefly in the 1530s during the Reformation and reopened in 1549, and finally closed in 1803 and its goods sold): here with dated colophon "Anno domini Mocococolxxxxiii In vigilias Octave ma[u]ri" and a fifteenth-century ex libris on the front endleaf: "Iste liber est fratrum conventus monasterii in insulis vulgariter zü denWengen". Moreover, this second inscription continues, identifying the man who had it bound in the present binding as Petrus Rem, priest of the church at Hörvelsingen (a dependency of zu den Wengen), and perhaps it was in a temporary or loose binding for some decades after its creation. A further fifteenth-century inscription on the same endleaf supports this, stating: "Hunc librum legavit monasterio sancti Michaelis/ Ad insulis ulme dominus petrus dictus rem / Vicarius ecclesie nostre in Hervelsingen".2. By 1703, the book appears to have passed to nearby Wiblingen Abbey (Benedictine house, founded 1093, suffered greatly during Thirty Years' War, secularised in 1806 and then goods auctioned off), where the document that is loosely enclosed within this volume was written. The document attests to the death of A.P. Feliciano Müller in that year, during a siege by the French in the War of Spanish Succession, and is signed and sealed by Abbot Modestus of Wiblingen. If correct, then this volume sat for some time on the shelves in that abbey's celebrated Baroque library. Text:Antonius Azaro de Parma reached fame in the late thirteenth and early fourteenth century as a Dominican preacher with a flair for simple and clear sermons expounding Peter Comestor's Historia Scholastica. The first solid record of his works is a note of a copy of his sermons in the convent of San Domenico in Bologna in 1381 (that copy now Bologna, Archiginnasio, A.216), and a small number of extant manuscripts survive from the late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The texts here are a collection of his Sunday and Lenten Sermons, and like other early manuscripts of his sermons have a handful of variant texts and others otherwise unattributed to the author that suggest substantial variation in the earliest layers of the corpus (see G. Meersseman, 'Le opere di Fra Antonio Azaro Parmense, O. P. nella Biblioteca Nazionale di Monaco di Baviera', Archivum Fratrum Praedicatorum 10, 1940, pp. 20-47, at pp. 23-26). Neither Schneyer (Repertorium der lateinischen Sermones des Mittelalters, 1969-1990) nor Kaeppeli (Scriptores Ordinis Praedicatorum Medii Aevi, I, 1970) lists a sermon collection for this author in this form, and we have been unable to trace another copy. While the first group of sermons here have received some scholarly scrutiny (see M. Michèle Mulchahey in Dominican Education Before 1350, 1998, p. 430), nothing has yet been written on the second group, and there is no modern edition of these texts. Thus, this codex is deserving of much further careful study. 

Ɵ Bartholomeus de Sancto Concordio, Summa de casibus conscientiae, in Latin, stout pocket-sized illuminated manuscript on parchment [Italy (Milan), dated last day of January 1444]To view a video of this lot, click here.361 leaves (plus a single thick parchment endleaf at front and back), complete, collation: i-xliv8, xlv9 (last a singleton added to complete text), many catchwords and quire and leaf signatures partially or completely trimmed away, double column of 33 lines of a small late Gothic Italian bookhand, index at end entirely in red penwork, capitals touched in red, paragraph marks in alternate red or blue, 2- to 3-line initials in red or blue encased in contrasting blue or purple penwork, larger initials with these angular and geometric penwork decorations extending the height of borders, some terminating in large bezants with stamen-like penwork tendrils, one initial at front (fol. 1v) in dark pink enclosing coloured foliage on gold grounds with painted acanthus spray in margin, frontispiece with 10-line initial in same, enclosing portrait of author as a tonsured Dominican friar with one hand on an open book, with pink, green and red angular foliage in margins on three sides (enclosing an unfilled coat-of-arms in bas-de-page), the fourth side with two large bezants, leaves at each end with slight cockling, stains to edges of frontispiece and losses to edges of decoration there, small smudge to background of author's portrait, lower outermost corner of fol. 1 once lost and now filled with modern parchment, borders of last leaf torn in places, some small spots and stains throughout, but overall in fine and fresh condition on cream/yellow parchment with wide and clean margins, 170 by 125mm.; later parchment binding over thin pasteboards (perhaps nineteenth century) with yapp edges, Early Modern library classmark (probably monastic) of 'L' followed by erased number at head of spine, later "Barthol: de Pisis / Summa Casuum / Manoscritti / del / 1444" in pen lower on spine Provenance:Completed by a scribe who names himself Roland "de sabbelie" (perhaps the estate attached to Castel Savelli, Lazio) on the last day of January 1444 in Milan: colophon in red on fol. 354v at end of main text. A final line added by the same hand below that inscription: "Philippi de Florentia" may well indicate the original owner.Text:Bartholomaeus de Sancto Concordio (1262-1347; also Barthomeo Granchi and Bartolomeus Pisanus) entered the Dominican Order in 1277, studied at Bologna and Paris, and taught logic in Italian Dominican convents before returning to Pisa around 1335. He gained fame as a preacher, poet and teacher of canon and civil law. This is greatest work, a vast penitential survey of the whole subject of moral theology, with detailed examples taken from Canon Law, created for practical use by preachers. It was finished c. 1338, and was based on the Summa confessorum of another Dominican, Johannes of Freiburg (d. 1314). What Bartholomeus added was an alphabetical arrangement of the subject matter, setting aside the older and cumbersome thematic arrangement of the topics. It was enormously popular, and hundreds of manuscripts have been traced in European libraries by J. Dietterle ('Die Summae confessorum (sive de casibus conscientiae) von ihren Anfangen an bis Silvester Prierias', Zeitschrift für Kirckgeschichte, 27, 1906, pp. 166-70), with that list revised by S. Kuttner (A Catalogue of Canon and Roman Law Manuscripts in the Vatican Library, 1986, II:25-31). In the fourteenth century it was translated into Italian by Giovanni delle Celle (d. 1394; see Yale University, Beinecke Library, MS 759), and was among the first books printed in Germany, France, and Italy. 

Ɵ Legal compendium, drawing on Justinian, Institutiones, and Bartolo da Sassoferrato, Quaestio et Repetitio, in Latin, manuscript on paper [Italy, second half of fifteenth century (c. 1481)]To view a video of this lot, click here. 130 leaves (plus a paper flyleaf), complete, collation: i10, ii-iii14, iv-ix10, x12, xi-xii10, single column, 19 lines in an appealing and legible semi-humanist hand strongly influenced by secretarial and vernacular forms, texts opening in lines of small capitals, titles in ornamental capitals (often with baubles set in their mid-points and with letters run together and set within others, probably emulating Romanesque witnesses), numerous contemporary pointing fingers and other small marginalia, small spots and stains, tears to a few margins, some leaves in first gathering loose, else excellent condition, 222 by 150 mm.; bound in seventeenth- or eighteenth-century card covers, title in ink on spine (mostly rubbed away)  This volume clearly dates to the second half of the fifteenth century, and a note on fol. 25v bears the date 1481. However, its apparent ex libris at the head of fol. 1r ("Domini Dominici de Prato", repeated again in slightly more calligraphic script in the same place on fol. 11r) points instead towards the first half of the century, and to the important and well-known Florentine jurist and poet Domenico da Prato, who was the author of several love sonnets as well as a long laudatory verse narrating the struggle of the Florentines against the cruel and paranoid Filippo Maria Visconti (see Dizionario Bibliografico degli Italiani, XL, 1991). He died at some point in the 1430s or 1440s, making it unlikely that he could have owned this book. It is notable the both notes of ownership appear to be in the same hand (and in the first case, ink hue) as the text they were apparently added to, when such notes were more usually added later once the book had been finished, bound and presented to the new owner. Thus, this may well be a clean copy of a book which was his, even copying across his notes of ownership as the crucial piece of authenticating provenance, and perhaps preserving his marginalia and notes (as well as others made up to the 1480s by a subsequent user).If correct, then this manuscript is of some importance for the history of medieval law. Domenico was associated with the first wave of humanists, such as Coluccio Salutati, and was friends with other Florentine luminaries, such as Antoninus Florentinus, who would later be archbishop of the city and compose his famous confessional. Domenico was also an important legal commentator of his age, although study of this aspect of his life has been held back by the small number of surviving records. A handful of notarial materials survive in the Archivio de Stato in Florence, but here we have a compilation of law apparently assembled and ordered by him.  

Ɵ Werner Rolevinck, De fraterna correctione and Tractatulus de forma visitationum, in Latin, large manuscript on paper [Germany (most probably Cologne, perhaps the Charterhouse there), most probably late 1460s or early 1470s]To view a video of this lot, click here.30 leaves (plus a modern paper endleaf at front and back),uncollatable, but text continuous and thus complete, a few remnants of catchwords showing quires of 8 leaves with first quire of 7 (most probably first original leaf a cancelled blank), double column of 31 lines of a fine late Gothic bookhand, ruled in pale red, capitals touched in bright red, authors' names underlined in same red, red rubrics, simple 2-line red initials (a few spaces left for others), each text opening with red initials with blank paper strapwork left in body, infilled and encased with red foliate penwork, watermarks of a jug or water pitcher (see below), edges of leaves with prickmarks and apparently untrimmed at vertical edges, a few stains and spots, one leaf with professionally closed tear to edge of leaf, slight discolouration to first and last leaves, else in excellent condition with wide and clean margins, 290 by 210mm.; modern dark brown leather over pasteboards, ruled with double fillet on each board A handsome monastic manuscript, produced in the lifetime of the author, and most probably from Cologne and thus within his circle Provenance:Most probably produced in Cologne or its vicinity around 1470: the watermark here, a jug with distinctively curled lips at top and bottom of the handle, falls within a tight knit group of watermarks (represented in Briquet nos. 12476-12484; produced 1471 to 1484 widely, but focussing on Cologne and the surrounding area). It is perhaps closest to examples from the late 1460s and early 1470s. At the end of the first text (fol. 29v) are signatories from Cologne and the Charterhouse there (founded 1334, later the largest in Germany, suppressed and looted in 1794), attesting to the accuracy of this copy, and they may locate the origin of this manuscript there. In the same place a contemporary hand similar to, but distinct from, the main one (note different form of 'g' with hairline stroke from end of tail to under bowl), added "S. gruter" apparently in the same red ink used for rubrics, most probably recording the rubricator's name (to be expanded as 'Scripsit Gruter' or 'Sebastian Gruter', or any other name beginning with 'S').Text:This is a fine monastic copy of two rare works in manuscript by an important and understudied author. Werner Rolevinck (1425-1502) was a native of Westphalia, who was educated at Cologne and in 1447 entered the Carthusian cloister of St. Barbara in that city. Abbot Trithemius who visited him there about 1495 speaks of an 'extraordinarily diligent and prolific author' of thirty or more works on theology and sacred history. However, with the exception of his Fasciculus Temporum (a manuscript copy of which, ex Ritman collection, was sold in June 2012 by PBA Galleries, San Francisco, for $102,000), few of his works are known in anything other than print copies, and they are notably rare on the market. On first inspection, this book resembles the earliest printings of the two works (1477 and 1475, respectively, by Arnold ter Hoernen in Cologne) in layout, penwork decoration and script, so closely that one could be forgiven for dismissing it as a copy of those printings. However, the watermark indicates a probable date before them, and it stands apart from the print copies in not repeating orthographic errors in those, and having different abbreviation patterns. Instead, it is more probably a copy produced within a monastic community, under the supervision of the author, in an attempt to disseminate the work in large numbers of carefully corrected copies to other related monastic communities, with such efforts being overtaken by the arrival of printing some years later. The same scribes, correctors and rubricators may well have worked on both manuscript and then print copies. If correct, then this copy is of some importance as having the name of one of the book producers involved, and it may yet have its part to play in the history of book production in Cologne in this crucial period when print had not yet dominated the market. 

Ɵ Soliloquia animae ad deum, attributed to Augustine, prayers attributed to Bernard of Clairvaux and Anselm of Canterbury, and other works including a Gospel Harmony, all in Middle Dutch translation, decorated manuscript on paper [Low Countries or adjacent Rhineland, mid- to late fifteenth century]To view a video of this lot, click here.216 leaves (plus 2 paper endleaves at front [one half torn away] and 4 more at back), perhaps wanting singleton (see below), else complete, collation: i-xiii8, xiv8 (perhaps wanting a single leaf at end with last few words of chapter 38 of 'Soliloquia'), xv-xxvii8, catchwords and some quire and leaf signatures remaining, single column of 21 lines of a vernacular Dutch bookhand, rubrics in red, simple initials in red, major text openings with large blue initials with blank paper designs left within their bodies, enclosed by and encased within ornate red penwork, spaces left for a few initials or rubrics, watermark of a 'Gothic' 'P' in common form found across Low Countries and neighbouring regions of Germany from mid-fifteenth century up to c. 1500, additions of devotional material on two endleaves at back, last gathering torn at head of spine and loosening from book there, frontispiece a little smudged and discoloured, other small spots, holes and rodent damage at corners of some leaves, but overall good and sturdy condition, 140 by 105mm.; contemporary binding of dark brown leather over bevelled wooden boards, tooled with double fillet and flowerheads, stars in circles and fleur-de-lys, remains of a single brass clasp, leaves from a pocket Breviary of fourteenth century used as pastedowns, sewn on three double thongs (middle one split at attachment to front board), binding a little worn, with splits to edges of spine exposing sewing structures, headband becoming loose, scratches to boards, overall fair condition Provenance:1. Written for use in the Low Countries or nearby Rhineland in the mid-fifteenth century or following half century. The later female ownership suggests that it was made for, and perhaps by, a nun.2. Mettel van Zoutelande (in municipality of Veere, Zeeland) in "1520": dated ex libris inscription at end of additions to text. Text:This is a charming and honest monastic book bringing together devotional material, a large collection of prayers and a Gospel Harmony. It includes: (a) fols. 1r-112v, Soliloquia animae ad deum, attributed falsely to Augustine (here in translation: "Hier beghynt dat boeck der vereninge mit gade des gloriosen heiligen vaders sunte Austinus in latyn soli loquium ..."; (b) fols. 113r-121v, Bernard of Clairvaux, prayers of indulgence; (c) fols. 122r-180r, a collection of prayers ascribed to Anselm of Canterbury ("Ancelmus des eertschen bischop van cantelen", followed by further devotional extracts; and (d) fols. 185r-200r, Gospel Harmony, ending with reading from the Passion of Christ. 

Ɵ Humanist compendium, including letters by Donato Acciaioli, and other similar works, with notes from Classical texts and Canon Law, in Latin with a few words in Greek, short sections in Italian, manuscript on paper [Italy (probably Palermo, Sicily), at either end of the fifteenth century (c. 1422, and then probably 1484)]To view a video of this lot, click here.66 leaves (plus a more modern paper endleaf at front and back), complete, collation: i8,ii-iv10, v6, vi10, vii12, texts in varying humanist hands and of different line lengths, but all single column, and first text in 21 lines of a fine humanist hand, red rubrics and simple red initials for first text, watermarks of gauntlet surmounted by a flower, simple tower, scales and elaborate letter 'P' (see below), fol. 63 with burn-hole in bas-de-page, some spots, stains and discoloured areas, but overall in good and presentable condition, 223 by 150mm.; card binding (perhaps contemporary) stitched with leather thongs, with "637" and illegible title on spine in faded ink A fascinating humanist compendium, with a probable provenance in Palermo, and thus a rare witness to Sicilian interest in Renaissance learning  Provenance:Apparently written for a humanist scholar on Sicily in two stages at opposite ends of the fifteenth century, initially around 1422 and later in 1484. The earliest section is that now fols. 29-38, written with a scrawling hand and with a watermark of a simple tower with three spiked turrents, identical to Briquet 15,864, and elsewhere recorded in several Italian cities in the first half of the fifteenth century, including Palermo in 1422. Then the section in the most accomplished humanist hand (here fols. 1-18) was apparently added, this with a watermark of a large gauntlet surmounted by a five-petalled flower, and tied at the wrist with a visible bulge for the knot on the outer side of the wrist, an extremely close variant of Briquet 11,158 (recorded Palermo. 1468). This part has dates of completion added in at the end of texts on fols. 13r ("1470") and 13v ("id mar. 1479"). Around the same time, the sections in fols. 19-28 and 39-55 were added, with their common simple scale within a circle watermark, and dates of "Die 26 Novembris hora 6, 1484" and "Vale vijj Calendas Aprilis 1484" at end of letters copied on fols. 44r and 45v. The compendium was completed by the appending of the last 12 leaves, these with a watermark with an elaborate letter 'P' with a sweeping curled backstroke, almost an exact match for Briquet 8492 (Rome, 1484, differing only in the width of the curling lappet and its foliate lips at its terminal). Sicilian humanism is greatly unstudied, and indeed little can be discerned beyond the careers of a handful of scholars such as Antonio Beccadelli ('Il Panormita', 1394-1471), Pietro Ranzano (1428-92), Tommaso Schifaldo (1430-c. 1500) and Antonio Veneziano (1543-93), and the observation that their work tended towards a Christian focussed view of Renaissance subjects. As such any Renaissance text from the region adds greatly to our knowledge. Text:The earliest section of the volume is a series of extracts of quotations and moral information from Classical sources (here fols. 29r-38r), naming Cicero, Varro, Ulpian, Sallust, Quintilian, Ovid, Virgil, Martial, Titus Livy, Plautus, Juvenal and Terrence, among others. Then a series of speeches ascribed to variants of a pseudonym "De Pisis" or "B.P. Pistorius", were added to this (fols. 1r-18v). This author cannot be firmly identified in other records. The works are skilled and indicate academic accomplishments (especially medical). The last refers to the date 9 December 1479 in reference to a new 'interpretation' of the works of Valerius Maximus. Given the proposed origin of the volume he may well have been a Sicilian author about whom little can now be known outside of the present witness. This last section is sandwiched between quires containing notes from various sources (fols. 19-28 and 39-55), including Canon Law (fol. 19rv), a "defensio ab homicidio" (fol. 22rv), and numerous copies of and extracts from fifteenth-century letters (some discussing humanist studies: see fols. 52v-54r), as well as notes of a theological nature, including a section of Peter Lombard's, Sententiarum IV:3 (fols. 50r-51v).The final part here contains the works of Donato Acciaioli (1429-78). He was perhaps the best known orator and politician in the age of Lorenzo de' Medici. He knew the greatest humanists of his day personally, including Vespaniano da Bisticci and Pogglio Bacciolini, and was a member of the Accademia Fiorentina, with his own studies focussing on translations of Greek philosophical works. This volume includes some of his lesser known works, consolatory letters addressed to Pandolpho de Pandolphinis dated 23 November 1456, and to Laurentio and Iuliano Medici dated 22 July 1471. These are followed by a speech in the form of an open letter on a public address by Cosmo de' Medici, dated 20 March 1464. This ends with a letter of Donato Acciaioli to Giovanni Pontano, dated September 1477. 

Ɵ Book of Hours, Use of Sarum, in Latin with Middle English inscription, illuminated manuscript on parchment [southern Netherlands (presumably Bruges) for English use, c. 1430 and later fifteenth century]To view a video of this lot, click here.134 leaves (plus one original endleaf at front and back), wanting a leaf or two from the added texts at end, else apparently complete, single column of 17 lines in a late gothic bookhand, capitals touched in red, rubrics in red, one-line initials in blue and liquid gold with contrasting penwork, larger initials in gold on blue and pink grounds with white penwork (six of these with coloured and gold text frames on three sides), one large initial in blue enclosing a spray of foliage on burnished gold grounds, with full border of coloured flowers and gold foliage and ivy-leaves, six full-page miniatures in rectangular gold frames (i. p. 23, the martyrdom of St. Thomas Becket; ii. p. 27, St. George killing the dragon; iii. p. 31, St. John the Baptist; iv. p. 37, the Virgin and Child; v. p. 115, Judgement Day; vi. p. 151, a funeral service), pp. 226-69 an addition of the late fifteenth century with prayers on Christ and his Passion, the miniatures on pp. 31 and 37 rubbed and the latter partly cut away, somewhat scuffed and rubbed throughout with small losses to edges of a few leaves and one or two rubbed to point of becoming thin and with small holes, overall fair condition, 120 by 82mm.; limp parchment binding with cloth ties Provenance:1. Produced in the Southern Netherlands for English use c. 1430, perhaps for Bennett Nellson, who signed the famous inscription on the front endleaf of this codex. By the sixteenth century the book had passed to one William Parker, perhaps the namesake who held office as the last abbot of St. Peter's, Gloucester, before his death in 1540 (see P. Raes, p. 184).2. Freeman Clarke Samuel Roper (1819-1896), botanist; his sale in Sotheby's, 31 March 1887, lot 71.3. Captain William Alfred Cragg (1859-1950), of Threekingham, Norfolk, Lincolnshire antiquarian and manuscript collector; by descent to his son, William Gilliat Cragg (1883-1956; High Sheriff of Lincolnshire) and thence to his grandson, Major William John Rollo, ADC to the governor of Hong Kong; his sale in Sotheby's, 10 December 1962, lot 145, to Alan Thomas; his cat. 11 (1963), no. 115.4. June O'Donnell (1898-1979) of Guildford (who also owned the Calendar of the Hungerford Hours and the two Orcadian charters sold in our Schøyen sale, 8 July this year, lot 79, among other manuscripts), and by descent to her son, Peter E. Raes (1924-2010); acquired from him by a private collector and thence Sotheby's, 10 July 2012, lot 36, to the present owner, an American collector, for £12,500. Text:The Middle English inscription at the front of this book is among the most well-known anathemas in any book from medieval England, loaded with dark menace, but as Raes notes containing a sentiment "any collector can sympathize with". The inscription runs:"He that stellesthes boke heShal be hankedApon on hokeBehend theketchen dor pro me Bennetnell son" ["He that stealsthis book, heshall be hangedupon a hookbehind thekitchen door"]As de Hamel notes (1986, p. 185), Bennett Nellson, who wrote and signed this inscription, saw this as "the most awful threat imaginable", and the severity of the threat here shows that this codex "was a very precious possession in that household. It was probably their only book". However, there is perhaps a deeper meaning as well, in a common Middle English allusion to Hell as a kitchen where carcasses were butchered. The hook here is doubtless a meat hook secured on the door for the suspension of an animal carcass, and recalls the devilish kitchen threatened by one of Chaucer's unscrupulous friars on the sinner: "Ful hard it is with flesshook or with oules [spiked irons] / To be yclawed, or to brenne or bake", and depicted in a copy of Walter Hilton's mystical works in an illustration of two devils torturing a soul dragged from a corpse suspended above a roaring fire (sold at Sotheby's, 6 December 2011, lot 45, and now Princeton, Taylor MS. 22: D.C. Skemer, Medieval & Renaissance Manuscripts in the Princeton University Library, 2013, I).This volume comprises: a Calendar (p. 10), with SS. Wulfstan, Cuthbert, Aldhelm, Edmund, the translation of Swithun and Oswald; followed by Suffrages to a number of saints, including SS. Thomas Becket (p. 24) and George (p. 28); the Hours of the Virgin, with Matins (p. 38), Lauds (p. 52, incorporating further suffrages as common in English use), Prime (p. 78), Terce (p. 86), Sext (p. 90), None (p. 94), Vespers (p. 98), and Compline (p. 102); the Seven Penitential Psalms (p. 110) with a Litany; the Office of the Dead (p. 152) and the Commendatio animarum (p. 200). The book ends with additions of late fifteenth-century prayers. Published:J. Varley, Lincolnshire Archives Committee, Archivist's Report, no. 9 (1957-58), pp.17-18.N.R. Ker, The Parochial Libraries of the Church of England (1959), p. 2 (facing the title-page).Fine Books and Book Collecting, A.G. Thomas festschrift (1981), p. 1.C. de Hamel, A History of Illuminated Manuscripts (1986), p. 185.C. Donovan, The de Brailes Hours, 1991, p. 167, n. 136.P.E. Raes, 'He That Stelles Thes Boke', På sporet af Gamle Bibler (1995), pp.180-88.C. de Hamel, review of Duffy, Marking the Hours, in New York Review of Books, LIV, 15 February 2007, p. 44.B.A. Henisch, The Medieval Cook, 2009, p. 20. 

Ɵ Giovanni Scala, Deffinitioni bellisime di geometrica, in Italian, manuscript with illustrations and a volvelle, on paper [Italy (probably Lucca or Rome), probably c. 1585]To view a video of this lot, click here.34 leaves (plus a single endleaf at back, now with numerous observations and exercises on square roots added in Todi in the early seventeenth century), complete, collation: i8, ii9 (last a singleton), iii7 (single smaller leaf of a few decades later bound in at front: fol. 18), iv8, v2, text in a single column of a good Italian italic hand, up to 23 lines, numerous small diagrams on almost every page, some openings with more complex diagrams of three dimensional shapes, drawings of lines of perspective used for calculations from towers and walls, trees and a building with columns, a working volvelle (fol. 27r), complex watermark of crossed keys inside a shield beneath a fleur-de-lys and the whole surmounted by a 6-pointed star (identical to Briquet 1158: see below), edges of paper frayed and bumped, first leaf discoloured at edges, some spots and stains throughout from use, overall fair and solid condition, 295 by 220mm.; early limp parchment binding, repaired at spine with white leather, cockled and stained, and probably restored and refreshed in modern period A hitherto unrecorded copy of this treatise on geometry, the text probably composed for King Henri IV of France, and previously known only from two other witnesses Provenance:Written around 1585, most probably in Lucca: the paperstock has a watermark identical to Briquet 1158 (Lucca 1584-85 & Rome 1591-92). The small distribution of the present work and the fact that this copy remained in Italy, rather than passing to Giovanni Scala's patrons in the French court, may suggest it is his own. Certainly, it was produced during the lifetime of the author, almost certainly for someone who knew him personally. Text:Little is known with certainty about the mathematician Giovanni Scala (1547-1600). He appears to have worked in Rome, and was patronised by Henri IV of France, to whom Scala dedicated his Delle Fortificatione, written in 1596. Of the other two recorded witnesses to this text, both survived in France (the first in Bethune and then the French royal library [an apparent authorial presentation copy, perhaps to the French monarch]: described by P. Parin, Les manuscrits françois de la Bibliothèque du Roi, III, 1840, no. 7006, p. 331, containing "Operattioni belissime di geometria"); and the Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal, MS.3536, (principally a collection of pen drawings). Scala also worked with another mathematician, Giovanni Pomodoro, on the Geometria prattica tratta dagl'Elementi d'Euclide (1599). The text here has never been thoroughly studied or edited, and the present manuscript may well be autograph. 

Ɵ Pierre Albert de Launay, Remarques sommaires faites sur la maison d'Aerssen, in French, Latin and Dutch, a de luxe manuscript produced for Cornelis van Aerssen van Sommelsdijck, the first governor of Surinam, on paper [Northern Netherlands (North Brabant), dated 26 August 1684, and probably also 1688 and immediately after]57 leaves (plus 2 endleaves at front and 4 at back), complete, single column of 25 lines in a professional hand (some sections italic), titles in simple capitals, major initials in gold with gold foliage on blue grounds, frontispiece with large architectural inscription within female figures who hold the rod of Asclepius and the scales of justice, and cornucopia, arms of van Aerssen at head (with three helms and an ornamental collar) and another somewhat oxidised crowned coat-of-arms at foot (most probably those of St. André Montbrun, over which the family from Cornelis van Aerssen van Sommelsdijck onwards held a marquisate), one large two-page map in pen and colour wash, eight pages of coats-of-arms in colour, nine fine drawings of seals and a tomb in pen and colour wash, one double-page opening of coloured and illuminated arms arranged in genealogical tree, seal covered with paper on last page, a few loose leaves neatly rejoined to volume, a few spots and stains, but overall in excellent condition and on heavy paper, 436 by 282mm.; bound in contemporary green patterned silk over pasteboards, gilt edges (some wear to edges, and old repair to binding), prints of Cornelis van Aerssen (1545-1627), and his father Francois van Aerssen (1572-1641), both by "A. Schouman", loosely inserted in volume (but note these members of this family not associated with content of this book), along with a Dutch newspaper article (Algemeen Handelsblad, 3 August 1963) on Cornelius van Aerssen van Sommelsdijck (1637-88) A fine seventeenth-century manuscript principally produced for an important member of the Dutch nobility, who served as first governor of Surinam in the Dutch Guianas; in outstanding condition and still in its contemporary green silk covered binding Provenance: 1. Produced on commission for Pierre Albert de Launay (d. 1694), the Brabant Herald of Arms, for presentation to Cornelis van Aerssen van Sommelsdijck (1637-88): details recorded in inscription in cartouche on frontispiece, and with the completion date, de Launay's official seal on p. 96 and signatures at end of some sections. Cornelis van Aerssen van Sommelsdijck, lord of Sommelsdijk, Bommel, de Plaat and Spijk (in Zuid-Holland and Gelderland), was a prominent member of one of the wealthiest families of the 'Golden Age' of Netherlandish history. He was fundamental in the founding of the Surinam Society (a private trade company), and was elected by the West-India Company and the city of Amsterdam as the first governor of the colony of Surinam (founded 1667, gaining independence in 1975) in the Dutch Guianas. He left Europe in 1683 for Paramaribo. He is remembered as an authoritarian but efficient governor, and was killed by a band of mutinous Dutch soldiers in 1688, during an argument over alleged poor food and wages. As this volume specifically addresses him at the opening of the text as "Corneille D'Aerssen ... Seigneur en partie de Surinam, Gouverneur & Capitaine General de toute de Colonie" and its closing address is dated 1684, it may have been commissioned as a gift to honour his appointment as governor. However, the arms at the head of the frontispiece are those of his son, François (1669-1740), and the armorial genealogy on pp. 75-76 also terminates in the arms of this figure. The research for the volume may have taken some years, and it was perhaps not complete or bound when Cornelius was murdered, and it was finished for Cornelius' son. François had accompanied his father to Surinam, returning briefly to Europe in 1687, before travelling back to settle his father's affairs there. He then took up a post as director of the Society of Surinam.2. Still in the library of the Baron van Aerssen in 1838, when on 15 December that year it was shown to a meeting of the Belgian royal historical commission (see Compte-Rendu des séances de la Commission Royale d'histoire, VII, 1844, pp. 299-300).3. Janna Carla van der Veen-Hondius (1929-2001) of Duinbeek house in Oostkapelle, Zeeland: her printed armorial bookplate affixed to front endleaf.4. Sold in Christie's, 15 July 2015, lot 35 (but there misidentified as produced for the wrong Cornelis van Aerssen) for £5625. Text:This gargantuan codex is a triumph of seventeenth-century manuscript production. It celebrates the descent of the van Aerssen family to Cornelis van Aerssen van Sommelsdijck and his son François, collecting together relevant accounts and documents from a wide variety of sources. After an address by de Launay, the volume includes "Remarques sommaires sur la maison d'Aerssen" (p. 1); a genealogical table showing the links of the family to the house of Moers/Meurs and their dynastic founder Wallerand de Limbourgh (p. 5), followed by a tract on the same (p. 15); a hand drawn and coloured map of the Duchy of Guelders showing the holdings of the family (pp. 22-23), after the work of Nicolaes van Geelkercken, and probably copied from Joannes Janssonius (1639); extracts from an account of the nobility of Guelders in Henricus Aquilius' printed Compendio Chronici Geldrici (Cologne, 1566; here p. 25); followed by charters apparently copied from originals in the archives of the towns of Venlo and Nijmegen and the Cistercian abbey at Kamp/Campen, with skilfully drawn and hand-coloured depictions of their seals, parts of an armorial from the time of "Comte Reinault de Gueldres" dated 1330, with over 140 coats-of-arms in colour, and extracts from a martyrology of Kamp Abbey, and a drawing of the late fifteenth-century tomb of Theodore d'Aerssen and Marguerite de Carpen from the church in that monastery; an armorial tree of descent of the van Aerssen family down to François (1669-1740), the reigning head of the family in the 1680s (pp. 75-76); followed by further documents and a final address by de Launay (p. 93), dated at its end. 

Reading aid for use with Greek manuscripts, in Greek and Latin, manuscript on paper [probably Germany, late seventeenth century]Six leaves (single quire), with entries in columns of the Greek alphabet in its majuscule and minuscule forms and transliterated letter-names in Roman characters, as well as long lists of "abbreviationes, et literarum nexus" (perhaps following those at the end of Institutiones Linguae Graecae, Cologne: Dietrich Baum, 1566), paper with chain-lines but without watermarks, corners folded in places, a few spots, else good condition, 190 by 128mm. After the explosion of interest in studying Greek in late Renaissance Italy, and the printing of texts in it by printers such as Aldus Manutius, the subject took firm root in the intellectual centres of Europe in the seventeenth century. This booklet was most probably made for a student of the subject who had frequent recourse to manuscripts in it, and needed its lengthy columns of abbreviations. It shows no signs of ever having been bound into a larger volume, and was perhaps kept tucked inside a larger book. 

Ɵ In universam Aristotelis Physicam commentarii et disputationes", "Quaestiones quae supersunt In Metaphysicam Aristotelis" and "Disputationes ad libros de celo", a university textbook probably made for a member of the Clan Leslie, in Latin, manuscript on paper [Scotland or the Low Countries, dated 1618] To view a video of this lot, click here.258 leaves, wanting a few single leaves throughout, a 7-leaf section from the section on the Metaphysics, as well as leaves from end, single column of approximately 52 lines of tiny script, rubrics and titles in larger versions of same, no apparent watermarks, section of both title-pages cut away, last leaves held in place with metal pin, some spots, stains and bumps to edges of leaves, overall far and legible condition, 192 by 152mm.; contemporary limp parchment binding with label on spine describing contents, but erroneously dating these to "XVI Cent", binding becoming loose Probably written for, and by, a student in the Low Countries in the seventeenth century: dated 13 June 1618 at the opening of the section on Aristotle's Metaphysics. The contemporary ex libris marks of "A.L. Leslie" (the initials part of an elaborate monogram and uncertain) and "Monsieur Leslie" (fol. 122r) indicate the volume was used by a member of the Clan Leslie, who in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries sent many of their young men to the Continent, notably the Low Countries, for a Catholic education. This book may have been produced in Scotland before its owner travelled, or in his destination. It evidently returned with him to Scotland, and comes now from a British collection. 

Ɵ Leandro Fernández de Moratín, La Mojigata, Comedia en tres actos, a play in Spanish, presentation copy from the author to Baroness Holland, manuscript on paper [Spain, 1804 or immediately before]To view a video of this lot, click here.86 leaves, complete, collation i7, ii-viii10, ix9 (binding too tight to allow further collation, but text continuous), unfoliated but quires numbered, single column of approximately 27 lines in an italic hand, numerous stage directions, watermark of horse and inscription "ANTo BARBAROSA", purple marbled doublures and pastedowns, small spots and stains, else excellent condition, 228 by 165mm.; early nineteenth-century white pigskin by Charles Meyer (his small yellow label affixed to endleaf; d. 1809, royal bookbinder of St. Martins Lane, London), blindstamped with vertical garlands and rows of small dots, some surface dirt, else robust condition An important copy of this work, containing the only unexpurgated version of it, and perhaps the only copy approved of by the author Provenance:1. Copied for, or even by, the author of the work, perhaps intended for use as a stage copy (see Kitts, 2006, p. 9, noting 18 stage directions here not found anywhere else), and then presented to Elisabeth Vassall Fox (1771-1845), Baroness Holland, during a meeting in Madrid in the summer of 1804: lengthy pen inscription on front endleaf most probably in hand of Baroness Holland herself. Thereafter in her library at Holland House, Kensington (the meeting place of the 'Holland House set' including the Prince of Wales, Whig politicians, Sheridan, Byron, Dickens and Wordsworth): printed armorial bookplate pasted to front pastedown. Described as an "imperious battle axe", she dominated the men in her life, travelled widely and added significantly to the library at Holland House. Her journal survives in the British Library, with Additional MS 51931, fol. 110v recording the meeting with Moratín, and describing him as "at present the best and most distinguished poet and man-of-letters in Spain". On 16 August, she also records going to the opening of the Coliseo de la Cruz in Madrid to see a new play of Moratín's named the Mogigata. This volume presumably lay in her lap as she watched its public performance. On the death of her husband their line went extinct, and the house passed to the Earls of Ilchester. It was bombed during the Blitz in 1940 and was hit by 22 incendiary bombs in a single raid, with the house itself nearly destroyed but the library sustaining only slight damage. Sales then began soon after, with Hodgson & Co. of London, on 10 July 1947 ('Rare and Beautiful Books saved from the Holland House Library'), with three sales following in 1947-8, and Sotheby's holding seven further sales in 1962-3 (see L.J. Gorton in British Museum Quarterly, 29, 1965, p. 78, n. 30 & 32).2. Book dealership of H.P. Kraus of New York, their R6731, appearing in cat. 196, Spain, Portugal, and their Overseas Empires (1994), no. 116, and again cat. 202, European Literature (1996), no. 187; acquired by the present owner from Kraus in 2002. Reported in 2002 as part of the residue of the collection of Sir Thomas Phillipps (see Kitts, 2006, p. 5), but without any of Phillipps' marks, and in fact more probably acquired from the dispersal of the Holland House library (see also D. Hook, The Hispanic, Portuguese, and Latin American Manuscripts of Sir Thomas Phillipps, 2017, n. 532). Text:La Mogigata is a neo-Classical tale of hypocrisy and false devotion, which had its measure of popularity in the last decades of the eighteenth century and the opening ones of the nineteenth century. However, sufficient differences exist between the seven extant manuscripts of the play (listed by Kitts, 2006, p. 7) and the printed version that appeared in 1804, to conclude that it was censored by the author, removing references to scandal and criticisms of the Church "for fear of giving offence to the devotees" (in the words of the inscription at the front of this witness). The present manuscript contains the only known 'full' version of the text, with 550 lines not found elsewhere. The play had existed in some form since the 1790s, and had been performed in private settings and provincial theatres in the closing decades of the eighteenth century, with its author referring to the many revisions and alterations made to it. However, these versions appear to have been swept away and destroyed when the shortened version was produced for its first performance in May 1804 (the second performance in August attended by Baroness Holland). The fact that the author himself presented an unexpurgated copy to Baroness Holland between the dates of these two performances suggests he was not yet satisfied by its final form, making this apparently the only witness to the format of the work approved by the author. Published:S.A. Kitts, 'Leandro Fernández de Moratín's La Mogigata: The Significance of the Holland Manuscript in the Light of Comments from Elizabeth, Lady Holland's Spanish Journal (BL, Add. MS. 51931)', Electronic British Library Journal, 2006S.A. Kitts, Leandro Fernández de Moratín, La Mogigata, edición, introducción y notas, 2015 

An Important Victorian silver sculptural group depicting KING JOHN SIGNING THE MAGNA CARTA Designed & modelled by GEORGE A CARTER Hallmarked by:  HUNT & ROSKELL, LONDON, 1880, all pieces markedThe sculptural group comprising of King John seated at a table signing the Magna Carta in front of three Barons, the Archbishop of Canterbury and two Pages, one page holding the Crown, the other a shield; the Baron's realistically cast in chain mail with robes and cloaks, the Archbishop with crozier - all raised on a "wooden" plinth with the King's bloodhound to the front all above an egg-and-dart border, this top section weighs pprox 11.50kgThe scuptural group sits on an oblong shaped ebonised plinth with canted corners mounted with silver plaques and figures: one cast plaque depicts the boat El Mahrousa on the river Thames in front of the Tower of London above the Samuda Coat-of-Arms; the other cast plaque depicts the Houses of Parliament, each end with cast symbolic figures above a band of stylised C-Scrolls.  The central presentation plaque read: PRESENTED TO JOSEPH D'AGUILAR SAMUDA BY A LARGE NUMBER OF HIS FRIENDS AND FORMER CONSTITUENTS IN THE TOWER HAMLETS.  IN RECOGNITION OF THE IMPORTANT SERVICES HE HAS RENDERED TO THE BOROUGH AND AS A RECORD OF THEIR HIGH APPRECIATION OF THE INDEPENDENT AND PATRIOTIC SPIRIT WHICH HE EVINCED THROUGHOUT THE LONG PERIOD DURING WHICH HE REPRESENTED THE CONSTITUENCY IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS16 JULY 1880 The other plaque depicts the Tower of London and reads: Presented 16 July 1880 The piece is mounted on a commissioned burr walnut heavily carved stand, the central section carved with the Samuda Coat-of-ArmsTogether with illuminated manuscript presentation document, 8 leaves embellished with gilt and watercolour depiction of exotic birds and flowers and script, dated 17th July 1880, signed by the Chairman and Hon Sec together with all the names of contributing subscribers - square folio, bound in purple velvet with gilt brass ornate clasps with plaques depicting Samuda Coat-of-Arms and Monogram Provenance: Joseph d'Aguilar Samuda 16th July 1880 and thence by descent Measurements to include: 64" overall approx height floor to top of CrozierThe table = 33" wide x 37" highThe ebonised silver stand:  17.5" depth x 30" wide x 23" highThe solid silver sculpture: 20" long x 13.5" wide x 14.5" to top of Bishop's hat (18" to top of Crozier)Exhibited: A Catalogue of Manufactures, Decorations and Designs, The Work of the students of the schools of art in Great Britain and Ireland, in connection with the Science and Art Department, South Kensington Museum 1884 (The Victoria & Albert Museum) Exhibited: Central Gallery catalogue no: 728. Group of Figures, in silver, representing King John signing Magna Carta lent by J. D'Aguilar Samuda Esq., Note:Joseph D'Aguilar Samuda (1813 -1885) was a civil engineer and politician.  Born in London, he studied engineering with his brother Jacob, they subsequently set up Samuda Brothers which principally built marine engines between 1832-1842.  From 1843 Samuda Bros (Jacob died in 1844) entered into ship-building and the firm was continuously engaged in constructing iron steamships for the Royal Navy, merchant marine, passenger and mail services as well as private commissions. In 1860 Joseph helped to establish the Institute of Naval Architects, of which he was the first treasurer and subsequently a vice-president and in 1862 he became a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers.In 1841 Joseph published A Treatise on the Adaptation of Atmospheric Pressure to the Purposes of Locomotion on Railways. He patented the scheme and as a result his firm was engaged in putting into practice between the yeas 1842 -1848. They laid down and worked on experimental lines most notably between London Bridge and Epsom (Croydon line), Dalkey (Co Dublin) and Paris however, once consistent problems became apparent the atmospheric method of propulsion was abandoned and the equipment sold.Politically he was a member of the Metropolitan Board of Works from 1860 to 1865, entering Parliament as the Liberal MP for Tavistock.  He sat for Tavistock until 1868, when he was returned for the Tower Hamlets, which he represented until 1880. Then he lost his seat owing to his support for Benjamin Disraeli's foreign policy. While in the House he spoke with authority on all matters connected with his profession and his speeches are described as "treasure-houses of technical and political knowledge." He was one of the original officers of the 2nd Tower Hamlets Rifle Volunteer Corps/ 4th (City of London) Battalion in 1861 he was commissioned as a captain.  

Mixed ephemera, including a WWII RAF Pilot's Flying Log Book in the name of Sgt. S. Antonopoulos, who flew Horsa gliders and was short down twice in the Bay of Biscay in June 1943 and survived (despite spending 11 days in a dinghy on one occasion), a pre-war manuscript notebook, 'General Rules adopted in Designing of Machines and Engines', also belonging to Antopoulos, a collection of GB and World stamps in four albums (some QV), a collection of postcards, including WWI embroidered examples and views of Wales and a large quantity of family and topographical photographs (in albums and loose), some travel memorabilia, an autograph album with some drawings and a lengthy 19th century Indenture on vellum (Q)

(See English version below)Jiří Kolář (Protivin 1914 – 2002 Prag). „Zpečetěný Akt (Versiegelter Akt)“. 1975Ventillage und Münze auf Chiasmage aus Offset. Objektkasten: 30 × 23 × 5,5 cm ( 11 ¾ × 9 × 2 ⅛ in.). Unten rechts mit Kugelschreiber in Blau monogrammiert und datiert: J.K. 75. Auf der Rückseite des Objektkastens mit Kugelschreiber in Blau signiert, datiert und betitelt: Jiří Kolář 75 Zpečetěný Akt.[3513] Wir berechnen auf den Hammerpreis 30% Aufgeld.Jiří Kolář (Protivin 1914 – 2002 Prague). ”Zpečetěný Akt (Versiegelter Akt)”. 1975Ventillage and coins on chiasmage made of an offset of an old manuscript. Object case: 30 × 23 × 5,5 cm ( 11 ¾ × 9 × 2 ⅛ in.). Monogrammed and dated in blue ballpoint pen on the lower right: J.K. 75. Signed, dated, and titled in blue ballpoint pen on the reverse of the object case: Jiří Kolář 75 Zpečetěný Akt.[3513] We charge 30% premium on the hammerprice.

Weberei - - Tobias Biehler. Practische Anleitung für jeder Zeichnung zur Jaquard-Maschine. (Wien, 1839) Österreichisches Autorenmanuskript des 19. Jahrhunderts in deutscher Sprache auf Papier, mit lithographiertem Präsentationstitel zu Otto, König von Griechenland, Manuskript-Widmungsblatt und von Biehler signiertem autographen Manuskript auf seinem Vorwort und auf den "Allgemeinen Anmerkungen" (= Allgemeine Anmerkungen) lose eingefügten Text von zwei Seiten. Kollation: 3 Bll. mit 48 goldumrandeten Seidenmustern hinterlegt, 90 Textblätter und aufwändige Diagramme, teilweise ganzseitig, 46 auf dünnem Karton gezeichnete Webmuster, viele auf großen Faltblättern und Bildunterschriften gegenüberliegend, zu Beginn in der Bindung abgerissene Seitenreste obwohl das Ganze scheinbar vollständig ist. Zeitgenössischer grüner Samteinband mit Goldprägung, in einer maßgefertigten Faltschachtel aufbewahrt. Quer.-Folio. Provenienz: Jonathan Hill, 1987 to Tomash, Tomash & Williams Add5, Sothebys, 19. Sept. 2018. No. 842. - Prachtvolles österreichisches Manuskript über das Weben mit Jacquardwebstühlen. Die Handschrift enthält Anleitungen, Abbildungen von Webstühlen, Stoffmustern, Fadenproben und 12 Seiten mit Lochkarten, Webmuster und Muster des Seidengewebes. Autor war der Wiener Seidenfabrikant Tobias Biehler (1810-1890), der das Manuskript drei Jahre vor der Patentierung seiner Webmaschine verfasste. Seine Maschine wurde erstmals 1843 privilegiert und patentiert (siehe: Sammlung der Gesetze für das Erzherzogthum Oesterreich unter der Ens, Band 25, Nr. 4103). Diese Erfindung machte Biehlers späteres Vermögen aus. Auf der dritten österreichischen Handelsausstellung 1845 (Wien) stellte Tobias Biehler seinen neu erfundenen Jacquard-Webstuhl sowie zwei Porträts auf Seide aus, die mit dieser Maschine hergestellt wurden. Mit seinem Unternehmen wurde er ein wohlhabender Bürger, später Gemeinderat und Kunstsammler mit einer reichen Sammlung von Miniaturen, Edelsteinen und Kameen. Der Jacquardwebstuhl wurde im 19. bis 20. Jahrhundert weltweit in der Textilindustrie eingesetzt, und sein Lochkartensystem beeinflusste die Entwicklung der Lochkartentechnologie für Computer. - Präsentationshandschrift an Otto, König von Griechenland, den zweiten Sohn König Ludwigs I. von Bayern, über Biehlers Jacquardwebstuhl, der 1804 von Joseph Marie Jacquard erfunden wurde und auf früheren Erfindungen der Franzosen Bouchon (1725), Falcon (1728) und Jacques Vaucanson (1740) basiert. Die Maschine wurde durch eine "Kartenkette" gesteuert, eine Anzahl von Lochkarten, die zu einer fortlaufenden Sequenz zusammengeschnürt wurden. Dieser Mechanismus ist wahrscheinlich eine der wichtigsten Erfindungen in der Weberei, da das Jacquard-Fachwerk die automatische Herstellung unbegrenzter Musterwebvarianten ermöglichte. Dieses große Werk ist eine Beschreibung, wie ein Jacquardwebstuhl eingerichtet werden kann. Es beginnt mit einer Beschreibung des Webprozesses und des Notationssystems, das zur Beschreibung eines Musters verwendet wird. Danach folgt eine ausführliche Beschreibung des Jacquard-Webstuhls mit sehr detaillierten ganzseitigen Diagrammen der Mechanismen. Der letzte und größte Teil der Arbeit ist ein Mustertuch mit verschiedenen Webarten, einschließlich ihrer ursprünglichen Entwurfsunterlagen und Muster zusammen mit Mustern aus dem eigentlichen Stoff/Seide. Es gibt mehrere sehr detaillierte, ganzseitige Diagramme der Maschine und ihrer verschiedenen Mechanismen. Von großem Interesse sind die Erläuterungen der von der Maschine verwendeten "Computernotation", einschließlich zwölf Seiten mit den Lochkarten, die Webmuster und Muster des resultierenden Seidengewebes darstellen. Diese Verwendung von austauschbaren Lochkarten zur Steuerung einer Sequenz von Operationen wird als ein wichtiger Schritt in der Geschichte der Computerprogrammierung angesehen. Insgesamt gibt es über hundert goldumrandete Seidenmuster in verschiedenen Größen - Lit..: A. Bernhard - Walcher. Geschnittene Steine des 18. und 19. Jahrhunderts in den Antikensammlungen des Kunsthistorischen Museums Wien. Gemmenschneider und Gemmensammler in Wien und das k.k. Münz- und Antikenkabinett (1996). Weaving. - A superb Austrian manuscript on weaving with Jacquard looms, containing instructions, illustrations of looms, cloth swatches, thread samples, and including 12 pages showing the punched cards representing weaving patterns and swatches of the resulting silk cloth, written by the Viennese silk manufacturer Tobias Biehler (1810-1890), three years before his weaving machine was patented. His machine was first privileged & patented in 1843 (see: Sammlung der Gesetze für das Erzherzogthum Oesterreich unter der Ens, vol. 25, no. 4103) and made Biehler's later fortune. At the third Austrian trade exhibition in 1845 (Vienna), Tobias Biehler exhibited his newly invented Jacquard-Weaving loom along with two portraits on silk, produced by this machine. He became a rich man with his enterprise, later a municipal councilor and an art collector with a rich collection of miniatures, gems and cameos. The Jacquard loom was employed by the textile industry worldwide during the 19th-20th centuries, and its system of punch cards influenced development of punch card technology for computers. - Presentation manuscript to Otto, King of Greece, the second son of King Ludwig I. of Bavaria, about Biehler's Jacquard loom, invented by Joseph Marie Jacquard in 1804, based on earlier inventions by the Frenchmen Bouchon (1725), Falcon (1728), and Jacques Vaucanson (1740). The machine was controlled by a "chain of cards", a number of punched cards laced together into a continuous sequence. Multiple rows of holes were punched on each card, with one complete card corresponding to one row of the design.This mechanism is probably one of the most important weaving inventions as Jacquard shedding made possible the automatic production of unlimited varieties of pattern weaving. This large work is a description of how to set up a Jacquard loom. It begins with a description of the weaving process and the notation system used to describe a pattern. This is followed by an in-depth description of the Jacquard loom with very detailed full-page diagrams of the mechanisms. The final, and largest, part of the work is a sampler of different weavings, including their initial design documents and patterns together with swatches from the actual cloth/silk. There are several very detailed full-page diagrams of the machine and its various mechanisms. Of great interested are the explanations of the "computational notation" used by the machine, including twelve pages showing the punched cards representing weaving patterns and swatches of the resulting silk cloth. This use of replaceable punched cards to control a sequence of operations is considered an important step in the history of computer programming. There are over a hundred gilt-edged silk swatches of various sizes in all. - Lit.: A. Bernhard - Walcher. Geschnittene Steine des 18. und 19. Jahrhunderts in den Antikensammlungen des Kunsthistorischen Museums Wien. Gemmenschneider und Gemmensammler in Wien und das k.k. Münz- und Antikenkabinett (1996).

Astronomie - - Christian Gottlieb Semler. I. Astrognosia nova oder Ausführliche Beschreibung des ganzen Fixstern und Planeten Himmels samt einer gründlichen Anweisung, wie die meisten Seltenheiten, die darinne angetroffen werden, auf eine leichte Weise auszufinden sind. Mit 35 (28 gefalt.) Tafeln mit 36 Holzschnitten von Sternenkonstellationen vor schwarzem Grund. II. Vollständige Beschreibung von dem Neuen Kometem des 1742 sten Jahres samt einer Astronomischen Widerlegung das der Stern des Weisen kein Comet gewesen...Mit 1 gestoch. Tafel. Halle, Renger 1742. 11 Bll., 260 S., 7 Bll. und 182 (recte 152) S. 8° Prgt. d. Zt. mit hss. RTitel (etwas berieben und fleckig). Poggendorf II, 902, Brüning 1655, Kenney 174. - Zwei sehr seltene Werke des Astronomen Christian Gottlieb Semler (1715-1782). Vorbild für seinen eindrucksvollen Sternenatlas vor schwarzem Hintergund, deren Konstellation er von dem Atlas von Johannes Hevelius hatte." (Vgl. Warner). - "However, all of Semler's constellation figures are reversed, being depicted from the vantage of an observer on earth (Vgl. Aswoth, Out of this world). Titel knapp beschnitten, 1 Tafel mit minimalen Defekt am Außenrand, 1 Tafel knapp beschnitten, 1 Tafel mit minimalen Loch, sonst nur ganz selten minimal fleckig. Insgesamt gutes Exemplar. Contemp. vellum with manuscript spine title. - I. With 35 (28 folded.) plates with 36 woodcuts of star constellations against a black background. - II. With 1. engraved plate. - Two very rare works of the astronomer Christian Gottlieb Semler (1715-1782). Model for his impressive atlas of stars in front of a black background, whose constellation he took from the atlas of Johannes Hevelius". (Cf. Warner). - "However, all of Semler's constellation figures are reversed, being depicted from the vantage of an observer on earth (Cf. Aswoth, Out of this world). Title just trimmed, 1 plate with minimal defect at outer margin, 1 plate just trimmed, 1 plate with minimal hole, otherwise very rarely minimally stained. Good copy overall.

Pyrotechnik - - Giuseppe Antonio) (Alberti. Pirotechnia. 18 Tafeln mit gezeichneten Abbildungen. Manuskript geschrieben von lesbarer Hand mit Tinte auf Papier mit Wasserzeichen (Krone, Ring mit drei Sternen, G.P.). 1 Bl., 90 num. S., 1 Bl. 4°. Karton mit handschriftlichem Titel (fleckig, Rücken etwas eingerissen). Frühe Manuskriptfassung von Giuseppe Antonio Albertis "La pirotechnia o sia trattato dei fuochi d'artificio" von 1749, das erste Werk in italienischer Sprache, das sich ausschließlich mit dem Thema Feuerwerk als Unterhaltungsaktivität beschäftigt. Das Buch behauptet, die Erfindungen von Frézier, Hanzelet, Henrion, Ozanam und Simienowicz modernisiert und verbessert zu haben (Philip, Bibliography of Firework Books, p. 3). - Wahrscheinlich ein früher Entwurf des Autors für den Drucktext. Die Bilder entsprechen dem gedruckten Text, aber die Nummerierung der Tafeln ist anders, und einige Bilder werden durch montierte neue Bilder ersetzt. - Der Text basiert auf Biringuccios "Pirotechnica", die jedoch den Schwerpunkt eher auf das metallurgische Verfahren als auf Feuerwerke legt. Alberti beschreibt die technischen Aspekte von Feuerwerken, die Konstruktion von Brennstoffen, die Verwendung von Feuerwerkskörpern z.B. in Theaterproduktionen, Wasserfeuerwerken und Spezialeffekten. Die Abbildungen zeigen Feuerwerksapparate, darunter Abschussvorrichtungen, Luftraketen, Schleuderräder, Bomben usw., nummeriert zu den entsprechenden Beschreibungen im Text. - Leicht gebräunt u. stellenweise wasserrandig, sonst sehr gut erhalten. Manuscript written with ink by an legible hand on paper with watermark. With 18 plates or drawn images within text. Carta rustica, title on cover. Paper with watermark: Crown, ring with three stars within, G.P. - Early manuscript version of Giuseppe Antonio Alberti's "La pirotechnia o sia trattato dei fuochi d'artificio" of 1749, "the first work in Italian to deal exclusively with the subject of fireworks for pleasure. The book claims to have modernised and improved the inventions of Frézier, Hanzelet, Henrion, Ozanam and Simienowicz" (Philip, Bibliography of Firework Books, p. 3). - Probably an early draft by the author for the printed text. The manuscript looks partly like a verbatim transcript of the written text, but at the end is a thanks to God for the help which would be unusual if a transcript. The images correspond to the printed text, but the plate numbering is different and some images are changed with mounted new images. - The text is based upon Biringuccio's "Pirotechnica", which though put emphasis on metallurgy and melting rather than fireworks. Alberti describes the technical aspects of recreational fireworks, how to construct combustibles, the use of fireworks for example in thater productions, acquatic fireworks and special effects. The illustrations show firework apparati, including launching devices, air rockets, spinwheels, bombs, etc., numbered to the corresponding descriptions in the text. - Slightly browned and dampstained in places, otherwise well preserved.

Astronomie und Geodäsie - - Johann Heinrich Alsted. I. Elementale mathematicum in quo mathesis methodice traditur per præcepta brevia, theoremata perspicua, commentaria succincta. Continentur autem hoc elementali I. Arthmetica. II. Geometria. III. Geodæsia. IV. Astronomia. V. Geographia. VI. Musica. VII. Optica.Mit zahlr. Textholzschnitten. Frankfurt a. M.: Joh. Bringer für Ant. Humm 1611. 6 Bll., 342 S. (recte 340 S.), 1 Bll. II. Leohnart Zubler, Fabrica et usum abrica et Usus Instrumenti Choro-graphici : Quo Mira Facilitate describuntur Regiones & singulae partes earum, veluti Montes, Urbes, Castella, Pagi, Propugnacula, & similia.Mit 20 (meist altkolorierten) Textkupfern und 13 weiteren Textkupfern. Basel, Ludovicus Regius 1607, 4 Bll., 58 S. 1 w. Bll., 2 Bll., 34 S., 1 Bl. 4° Prgt. d. Zt. mit hss. RTitel (etwas fleckig). [*] -I. VD17 12:133009A. - Sehr seltenes Lehrbuch zur praktischen Mathematik. Der reformierte Theologe Johann Heinrich Alsted (1588-1638) war Professor der Theologie und der Philosophie und zugleich ein bedeutender Pädagoge (einer seiner Schüler war Amos Comenius) und Enzyklopädist auf dem Gebiet der Philosophie und Theologie. „The majority of Alsted‘s writings were on theology, and in them he displayed the same logical and encyclopedic approach found in the philosophical writings. (...) His writings covered the whole spectrum of natural philosophy: commentaries on the cabala, the Ars magna of Lull, mnemonics, traditional and Ramist logic, physics, mathematics, and astronomy.“ (DSB 1&2 p.125-127). II. VD17 39:119348E und VD17, 39 119351H. - Sehr seltene erste lateinische Ausgabe (erschienen in dem selben Jahr wie die deutsche Erstausgabe.) beschreibt die ersten Triangulationsinstrumente (Geodäsie). Ein seltenes Exemplar im Altkolorit. Der Band beschreibt drei geodätische Instrumente und zeigt deren Benutzung und wie man in sie in verschiedenen Situationen zum Einsatz kommen. - Teils gebräunt und stellenweise etwas fleckig. Wenige Bll. am Rand mit Restaurierungen. Sehr selten.I.) Astronomy. - With numerous text woodcuts. II.) Triangulation. - With 20 (mostly old coloured) text copperplates and 13 further text copperplates. - - Contemporary vellum with manuscript title (slightly stained). - I. VD17 12:133009A. - Very rare textbook on practical mathematics. The reformed theologian Johann Heinrich Alsted (1588-1638) was a profes-sor of theology and philosophy and at the same time an important pedagogue (one of his students was Amos Comenius) and encyclopaedist in the field of philosophy and theology. „The majority of Alsted‘s writings were on theology, and in them he displayed the same logical and encyclopedic approach found in the philosophical writings. (...) His writings covered the whole spectrum of natural philosophy: commentaries on the cabala, the Ars magna of Lull, mnemonics, traditional and Ramist logic, physics, mathematics, and astronomy. (DSB 1&2 p.125-127). II. Very rare first Latin edition (published in the same year as the German first edition.) describes the first triangulation instruments (geodesy) A rare copy in old colour.The volume describes three geodetic instruments and shows their use and how to use them in different situations. - Partly browned and in places somewhat spotted. Some leafs with small restorations at the margin. - Very rare.

Henri - nach Matisse. (1869 Le Cateau - 1954 Nizza). Jazz. Mit 20 (15 doppelblattgroße) Farblithographien in Pochoirtechnik sowie lithographische Künstlerhandschrift. (Faksimile-Nachdruck von Mourlot). Am Ende: Dominique Szymusiak. "A propos du Jazz de Matisse". (Paris), Arcueil Cedex, Editions Anthèse, 2004. 146 S., 3 Bll., III S. Folio. Lose Bögen. OUmschlag in OLwd.-Mappe mit schwarzgepr. RTitel. im OLwd.-Schuber. Eins von 1500 Exemplaren auf Lana Royal 250. - Vgl. Duthuit/Garnaud 22. - Brillanter Druck bei Idem-Mourlot unter der Leitung von Claude Draeger u. Mario Ferreri. Matisses Buch Jazz ist ein ikonisches Werk der Buchkunst, das aus zwanzig Illustrationen sowie Texten von Henri Matisse besteht. Es basiert auf Scherenschnitten und ist eines der wichtigsten Künstlerbücher des 20. Jahrhunderts. Das Buch ist der Höhepunkt für Matisse' Technik der "papiers découpés". One of 1500 copies. With 20 (15 double page) coloured lithographs and lithographic artist's manuscript. - Loose leaves in orig. wrappers in orig. cloth folder with black stamped title to spine in orig. cloth slip-case. Matisse's book Jazz is an iconic work of book art consisting of twenty illustrations and texts by Henri Matisse. It is based on silhouettes and is one of the most important artist's books of the 20th century. The book is the culmination of Matisse's technique of "papiers découpés".

Ph. u. Hyperius, A. Melanchthon. I.: Melanchthon, Philipp. Annotationes Phi. Melanchthonis, omnium eruditiss. In euangelium Matthaei pro communi christianismi commodo. (Tübingen, Ulrich Morhart d.Ä.), Juni 1523. 56 num. Bl. Mit Morhardts Evangelisten-Titelbordüre, datiert 1522. II.: Hyperius, Andreas. De Honorandis Magistratibus Commentarius, in quo Psalmus XX. Exaudit te Dominus &c. enarratur ... Eivsdem In Psalmum XII. salvvm me fac Domine etc. In quo oratur, ut Dominus extirpatis omnibus erroribus, synceram doctrinam ubiq(ue) promoueat, Paraphrasis. 2 Teile zusammengebunden. Marburg, Christian Egenolph, Januar 1542. 8 nnum. Bl. Epistola Nvncvpatoria und Index, 143 num. Bl., 1 Blatt weiß, 44 num. Bl. III.: Menius, Justus. Der C. vnd XXVIII. Psalm / vom heiligen Ehestande. Wittenberg, (Veit Creutzer), 1550. 68 nnum. Bl. (A-G8, H4, J8). Kl.-8°. Schöner Schweinsleder-Holzdeckelband der Zeit auf drei echten Bünden mit Streicheisen-Fileten, Einzelstempel-Blindpressung und mit intakten, originalen Schließen. I.: VD16 M 2494. - Steiff/Tübingen Nachträge 491,2. - II.: VD16 G 1411. - III.: VD16 B 3523. - Sehr schöner, wohlerhaltener Sammelband aus der ersten Hälfte des 15. Jahrhunderts im originalen Zustand. - I.: Frühe Ausgabe der Vorlesungen Melanchthons zum Matthaeus Evangelium, die in zahlreichen Drucken verbreitet waren. Hier vorliegend einer der ersten Drucke von Ulrich Morhart in Tübingen. Er hatte seit 1519 in Straßburg gedruckt und war 1523 nach Tübingen gezogen, wo er sich am 20. Mai immatrikuliert hatte. Die Evangelisten-Titelbordüre von 1522 ist bei Steiff (Erster Buchdruck in Tübingen, S. 30) beschrieben. II.: Erste Auflage dieses Psalmenkommentars des Theologen Andreas Hyperius (d.i. Andreas Gerhard, Ypern 1511-1564 Marburg), der 1541 einen Ruf an die Universität Marburg erhalten hatte wo er bis 1564 am Lehrstuhl für Theologie lehrte. Er ist der Verfasser der großen hessischen Kirchenordnung. III.: Erste Auflage des Kommentars zum 128. Psalm durch Justus Menius (Fulda 1499-1558 Leipzig). Er gilt als der Reformator Thüringens und war ein rigoroser Bekämpfer der Täuferbewegung. - Handschriftliches zeitgenössisches Inhaltsverzeichnis am fliegenden Vorsatzblatt. Kleine Wurmspur in den letzten drei Blättern mit Verlust einiger Buchstaben. Einband etwas fleckig, Rücken berieben. Very nice, well-preserved collector's volume from the first half of the 15th century in original condition. - I.: Early edition of Melanchthon's lectures on the Gospel of Matthew, which were published in numerous prints. This is one of the first prints by Ulrich Morhart in Tübingen. He had been printing in Strasbourg since 1519 and had moved to Tübingen in 1523, where he registered on 20 May. The ornamental Evangelist title border of 1522 is described in Steiff (Erster Buchdruck in Tübingen, p. 30). II: First edition of this psalm commentary by the theologian Andreas Hyperius (d.i. Andreas Gerhard, Ypres 1511-1564 Marburg), who was appointed to the University of Marburg in 1541, where he taught at the Department of Theology until 1564. He is the author of the great Hessian church order. III: First edition of the commentary to the 128th psalm by Justus Menius (Fulda 1499-1558 Leipzig). He is regarded as the reformer of Thuringia and was a rigorous fighter against the Anabaptist movement. - Beautiful, contemporary pigskin over wooden boards on three genuine raised bands with fillets, rich blind tooling and with intact original clasps. - Manuscript contemporary table of contents on the flyleaf. Some worming in the last three leaves with some letters lost. Binding stained, spine rubbed.

Naturwissenschaften - - Valentin Rose. Grund-Riß einer Lehre von den Salzen, die so wohl in der Chymie als Medicin in Gebrauch sind. Entworfen von H. Valentin Rose. Königsberg in Preussen. A(nn)o 1757. Gelesen, souscriptes L(ouis)-H(enri) Hecht, 1765. 100 hs. pag. S., 3 (gestrichene) Bl. im Anhang. Gr.-8°. HPgt. d. Zt. mit hs. RTitel "Halotechnia" (etw. berieben, bestoßen u. fleckig). Unveröffentlichtes Manuskript auf unbeschnittenem Büttenpapier von Valentin Rose d.Ä. (1736-1771), einem Schüler des bedeutenden Chemikers Andreas Sigismund Marggraf, über Halographie und die Verwendung von Salzen in Chemie und Medizin. Kommentiert von dem Apotheker Louis Henri Hecht aus Straßburg. Man erinnert sich an den deutschen Apotheker und Chemiker Valentin Rose d.Ä. für die Schaffung einer leicht schmelzbaren Legierung, die als "Roses Metall" bekannt ist und aus Blei, Bismut und Zinn besteht. Er war 1761 Besitzer und Leiter eines Laboratoriums und einer Apotheke in Berlin mit dem Namen "Zum Weißen Schwan", die zu einer der angesehensten Apotheken Berlins wurde und sich bis 1845 im Besitz der Familie Rose befand. Er rezensierte auch chemische Literatur für Friedrich Nicolais "Allgemeine Deutsche Bibliothek". - Laut Vermerk auf dem Titel verso mit Randbemerkungen von 1779. - Etwas gebräunt u. braunfleckig, 9 Bl. (laut hinten mont. Anmerkung die frz. Zusammenfassung "Des sels employés en Chimie et en Médecine par Valentin Rose" nach 1855) entfernt. Unpublished German manuscript on uncut laid paper by Valentin Rose the Elder (1736-1771), a student of the important chemist Andreas Sigismund Marggraf, on halographie and the use of salts in chemistry and medecine. Written in 1765 resp. 1779 (annotations to margins), and annotated by the pharmacist Louis Henri Hecht of Strasbourg. A summary of the manuscript in French has been removed after 1855 (see note in the book). The German pharmacist and chemist Valentin Rose the Elder is remembered for the creation of an easily fusible alloy known as "Rose metal", which is composed of lead, bismuth and tin. In 1761 he was the owner and manager of a laboratory nd a pharmacy in Berlin known as 'Zum Weißen Schwan", which became one of the most respected pharmacies in Berlin and remained in the Rose family's possession until 1845. He also reviewed the chemical literature for Friedrich Nicolai's "Allgemeine Deutsche Bibliothek". - Some browning and brownstaining.

Mineralogie - - Frédéric-André Rozin. Essai sur l'Histoire naturelle de l'arrondissement de Sarrebourg, département de la Meurthe. Première Partie Minéralogie. Précédé de l'Exposé de la Méthoe d'après les Principes de Lavoisier, avec une Nomenclature Francaise, fondée sur l'analyse chimique. Suit: La déscription des Espèces minérales, que l'auteur a rassemblées dans cet arron-dissement avec l'indication des Localités. Französische Handschrift auf Papier. Mit 4 (1 gefalt.) braunlavierten Tuschfederzeichnungen (1 sign. J.-B. Lauthe, 2 monogrammiert J. L.). Dat. Sarrebourg, 20. Mai 1828. Ca. 104 beschr. Bll. 8°. Rotes Maroquin d. Zt. auf 5 Bünden, mit gelbem Farbschnitt, goldgepr. RSchild, RVerg., goldgepr. DFileten, Bordüren, Steh- u. Innenkantenverg. (etw. berieben u. fleckig). Mit marmor. Vorsätzen (diese etwas leimschattig), Seidenhemdchen, vord. fl. Vorsatz- u. Vortitelblatt etw. stockfleckig, sonst innen nur vereinzelt gering fleckig, insgesamt wohlerhaltene, saubere, gut leserliche Handschrift. French illustrated manuscript on paper with 4 (1 fold.) original landscape drawings, pen and brush, brown and black ink (1 signed J.-B. Lauthe, 2 monogrammed J.L. within image, all of them with manuscript captions). - Unnumbered pages written in a good and legible hand in black ink, with dedication to the comte d'Allonville, Conseiller d'état, Préfet du Département de la Meurthe. - Contemp. red morocco on five raised bands, with yellow edges, gilt-stamped green morocco label "Minéralogie" to spine, spine gilt, gilt-stamped fillets, floral bordures, leading edges and outer dentelles (somewhat rubbed and stained). - With multiple coloured shell marbled paste-downs and flyleaves (some binder's glue). With a green silk ribbon. (215 x 134 mm). - Cf. Beaujean, J. André Rozin, botaniste "liégeois" ... In: Revue de botanique, no 187, 2009, S. 14-30. Cf. Schuh, Bibliography of Mineralogy for Rozin's only published book on mineralogy: Essai sur l'étude de la minéralogie: Avec application particulière au sol Français, et surtout à celui de la Belgique. Bruxelles and Paris, (1803?). Frédéric-André Rozin or Rosen (1752?-1829), a doctor of medicin, a scholar and naturalist with a keen interest in mineralogy and botany, was born in Greifswald (Swedish Pomerania). He studied at the university in Uppsala under Carl Linnaeus the Younger (1741-1783). Around 1791, he lived in Liège and there he published the first local flora of France: Herbier portatif des plantes qui se trouvent dans les environs de Liège, avec leur description et classification selon le Système de Linné. Précédé d'un discours sur la Botanique. Premier cahier (= all published). Around 1794 or earlier he moved to Belgium. As a founding member of the Société de médecine, chirurgie et pharmacie de Bruxelles in 1795 and a member of the Société de littérature de Bruxelles as well as an editor of the Esprit des Journaux (1794-1803), he took an active interest in scholarly debates within the most influential intellectual circles of the city. In 1798 he became a professor of physics and chemistry at the École Centrale in the département de l'Escaut and in 1799 he succeeded the scientist and member of the Academie Royale J.F.P. Van der Stegen de Putte (1754-1799) as professor of natural history in Gand near Brussels. After the shut down of the écoles centrales in 1802 he lost his job and emigrated in 1803 from Brussels to Phalsbourg in France, where he was appointed to a professorship at the Collège de Phalsbourg, teaching natural history, physics and oriental languages. In 1825 he settled in Sarrebourg where he died in 1829. An unpublished scientific manuscript, with the text divided into 3 chapters. The first chapter titled 'Géologie, is covering pages 1-68. The second chapter titled 'Minéralogie' is comprising pages 69 to 170. The third chapter titled 'Catalogue d'une collection de minéraux trouvés dans l'arrondissement de Sarrebourg ...' is covering pages 171 to 198. Three of the charming original drawings depict spectacular rock formations in the surroundings of Phalsbourg, one with a view of the castle of Haut-Barr. In the foreword, Rozin explains his intentions in writing this manuscript, especially his aim to help to improve the economical situation of the département with his findings and mentions his collection of minerals with its systematical classification, stored in individually constructed wooden cases with manuscript labels identifying each specimen which he wanted to present to the prefect of the administrative authority of the département as a teaching aids for the schools. An interesting and finely illustrated scientific manuscript, and an early geological and mineralogical study written about a local region of France. Bound in a strictly contemporary and very decorative red morocco binding likely bound as a presentation copy for the comte d'Allonville.

Botanik - - Tsunemasa Iwasaki. Honzo zufu. 2 Bde. 86 Aquarelle Edo, Gyokunsando Yamashiroya, 1818. 55 Bl., 47 Bl. 4°. Japanbindungen mit handschriftlichen Titeln auf dem Umschlag (leicht fleckig u. knitterig). Kerlen 583. - Bartlett-S. 63 und 131. - Sehr seltene Teile der Originalmanuskriptausgabe von dem wichtigsten und prächtigsten botanischen Werks der Edo-Periode. Die ersten vier Bände wurden 1828 als Holzschnittbücher veröffentlicht, dann fuhr man in Form von Manuskripten mit jährlich vier erscheinenden Bänden bis 1844 fort. Insg. sind 92 Bände publiziert worden. - Iwasaki Tsunemasa (1786-1842), Botaniker und Leiter eines botanischen Gartens, sammelte und malte mehr als 20 Jahre lang Pflanzen und Pilze. 1818 begann er dann mit der Veröffentlichung seines Pflanzenhandbuchs. In einer Abhandlung von Richard Rudolph für die Universität in Kansas ist Iwasaki als einen Botaniker beschrieben, der Pflanzen künstlerisch präsentiert. Die Illustrationen mit feinen Konturen und lebhaftem Kolorit zeigen den Einfluss der chinesischen Kunst der Blumenmalerei. - Ein Band enthält 43 Tafeln mit Aquarellen von Pflanzen, der andere Teil 43 aquarellierten Tafeln mit Algen, Korallen und Meeresschwämmen. Jede Darstellung mit handschriftlicher Betitelung und Text. Extremely rare parts of the original manuscript edition of Honzo Zufu, a botanical manual published in the early 19th century in Edo, now Tokyo. - Iwasaki Tsunemasa (1786-1842), a botanist and superintendent of a botanical garden, collected and painted plants and fungi for more than 20 years. He then started publishing his manual of plants in 1818. Richard Rudolph described Iwasaki in a paper for the University of Kansas as a botanist presenting specimen artistically. The illustrations with fine outlines and lively colouring show the influence of Chinese art of flower paintings. - Stitched binding with double-folded leaves with printed borders, handwritten text and 86 watercolours. - In one volume we have 55 double-folded leaves with 43 plates with watercolours of plants with handwritten text. The other part has 47 double-folded leaves with 43 plates with watercolours of algae with handwritten text.

China - - Chrétien Louis Joseph de Guignes. Dictionnaire chinois, français et latin, publié d'après l'ordre de sa majesté l'empereur et roi Napoléon le Grand. Mit zahlreichen chinesischen Lettern in Holzschnitt. Paris, Imprimerie Impériale, 1813. 3 Bl., LVI, 1112 S., 1 Bl. (Errata). Folio. HPgt. d. 19. Jahrhunderts. Brunet II, 568. - Cordier BS 1589. - Ebert 9100. - Graesse III, 180. - Quérard, III, 527, Zaunmüller 42. - Erste Ausgabe und erstes chinesisch-französisches Lexikon überhaupt. Es handelt sich dabei eigentlich um "die Arbeit des Missionars Basile de Glemona, welche Guignes auf Befehl ungeändert herausgegeben und aus der alphabetischen Ordnung in eine Ordnung nach den Zeichen bringen musste. Er durfte bloß einige Zusätze beifügen" (Ebert). Guignes war 1794-95 als Übersetzer für den niederländischen Botschafter am Hof des Kaisers Qianlong tätig. Sein Werk ist eine gründliche Bearbeitung der Zusammenstellung, die der Franziskaner-Missionar Basilio de Gemona Brollo im 17. Jahrhundert erarbeite. Die zehntausenden chinesischen Schriftzeichen sind aus Birnbaumholzblöcken gedruckt, die zwischen 1715 und 1740 für ein Projekt des jungen chinesischen Abenteurers Arcadio Huan geschnitzt wurden. Der Franziskaner Basile de Gemona (1648-1704) verfasste in den Jahren 1694 und 1699 seine mehr als tausend Seiten umfassende Ausgabe, in der er zwischen 7000 und 9000 Ideogramme beschreibt und übersetzt. Er schuf damit das grundlegende Werk überhaupt. Mehrere Versuche einer Veröffentlichung scheiterten auf Grund der hohen Herstellungskosten. Erst zu Beginn des 19. Jahrhunderts vergab die französische Regierung an den im chinesischen Canton stationierten französischen Gesandten Chrétien Louis Joseph de Guignes (1759-1845) den Auftrag. Dieser wurde auf Grund einer in der Vatikanischen Bibliothek aufbewahrten Handschrift ausgeführt (vgl. G. Bertuccioli, Sinology in Italy 1600-1950, in: Europe Studies China, Ldn. 1995, 69f.) "Cet ouvrage immense a été l'objet de plusieurs critiques, mais il n'en est pas moins le plus complet de ce genre qui existe en Europe, et il est en outre un chef-d'ouvre de la typographie." (Quérard). Entwidmetes Exemplar der Admiralty Library. - Erste 3 Bll. mit minimalen Restaurierungen am Innensteg, sonst wohlerhalten und gutes Exemplar. Sehr selten. First edition and first Chinese-French encyclopaedia ever. It is actually "the work of the missionary Basile de Glemona, which Guignes had to edit unaltered by order and move from alphabetical order to an order by characters. He was only allowed to add a few additions" (Ebert). 1794-95 Guignes worked as a translator for the Dutch ambassador at the court of Emperor Qianlong. His work is a thorough treatment of the compilation which the Franciscan missionary Basilio de Gemona Brollo made in the 17th century. The tens of thousands of Chinese characters are printed from pearwood blocks carved between 1715 and 1740 for a project by the young Chinese adventurer Arcadio Huan. The Franciscan Basile de Gemona (1648-1704) wrote his edition of more than a thousand pages in 1694 and 1699, in which he describes and translates between 7000 and 9000 ideograms. With this he created the basic work of all. Several attempts of publication failed because of the high production costs. Only at the beginning of the 19th century the French government gave the commission to the French envoy Chrétien Louis Joseph de Guignes (1759-1845), who was stationed in the Chinese canton. This commission was based on a manuscript kept in the Vatican Library (compare G. Bertuccioli, Sinology in Italy 1600-1950; in: Europe Studies China, Ldn. 1995, 69f.) Cancelled copy of the Admiralty Library. - First 3 sheets with minimal restorations at the inner part, otherwise well preserved and good copy. Very rare.

Architektur - - Jaro Karl Merinsky. Architektonische Aufnahmen und Entwürfe der Bosnischen Landesregierung. Wien, Sarajewo, Banja Luka und Foca, 1891-1903. 28 meist gefaltete Architekturpläne und Entwürfe, 19 Blaupausen und 9 Bleistift- und Tuschezeichnungen. Verschiedene Größen von 27 x 18 cm bis 95 x 65 cm. Vorderkarton mit Papieretikett mit handschriftlichem Titel "Bosnische Aufnahmen und Entwürfe der Landesregierung. Pläne Nr. B1 bis B24a". Folio. Eine Sammlung von Zeichnungen und Entwürfen mit Grund- und Grundrissen, Ansichten und Fassaden, Fronten und von Bauelementen, die für die "Baudirektion der Landesregierung" (= nationale Bauverwaltung) von Bosnien angefertigt wurden. Enthalten sind Gebäude in Sarajewo (Gazi-Husrev-Beg-Moschee und Ali-Pascha-Moschee), Banja Luka (Renovierung der Eingangshalle der Ferhadiya-Moschee), Foca (Aladza-Moschee) und 5 Tafeln mit Bleistiftentwürfen für den bosnischen Ausstellungspavillon auf der Weltausstellung 1900 in Paris. - Aus dem Nachlass des in Wien ansässigen Architekten Jaro Karl Merinsky, alle Entwürfe mit seinem Stempel und Manuskriptnummerierung, einige wenige mit handschriftlichen Ergänzungen von ihm. Merinsky war der Autor einiger einflussreicher Bücher über Hochbau und nach dem Ersten Weltkrieg Präsident der Technischen Hochschule in Wien. - Einige kleine Flecken und kurze Einrisse, meist in Falten. Der Plan der Ali-Pascha-Moschee mit einem Ausschnitt eines Inlettmusters, locker eingelegt, ohne Bildverlust. - Eindrucksvolle Sammlung mit Bezug zur Pariser Weltaustellung. A collection of drawings and drafts with floor plans and ground plans, views and facades, fronts and of building elements made for the "Construction Directorate of the State Government" (= national building administration) of Bosnia. Included are buildings in Sarajevo (Gazi-Husrev-Beg Mosque and Ali-Pascha Mosque), Banja Luka (renovation of the entrance hall of the Ferhadiya Mosque), Foca (Aladza Mosque) and 5 panels with pencil designs for the Bosnian exhibition pavilion at the 1900 World Exhibition in Paris. - From the estate of the Vienna-based architect Jaro Karl Merinsky, all designs with his stamp and manuscript numbering, a few with handwritten additions by him. Merinsky was the author of several influential books on building construction and, after the First World War, president of the Technical University in Vienna. - Some small stains and short tears, mostly in folds. The plan of the Ali Pasha Mosque with a detail of an inlet pattern, loosely inserted, without loss of image. - Impressive collection with reference to the Paris World Exhibition.

Stundenbuch. Tagzeiten und Psalmen MSCPT (RTitel). Mit 6 prächtigen goldgehöhten Intitialen mit reichem Fleuronée, zahlr. Intitialen in Goldtinktur, sowie zahlreichen Lombarden in Blau und Rot rubriziert. Deutschland 15./16. Jahrhundert. Textura in blauer, roter und brauner Tinte. Pergament. 13,4 x 7,8 cm (Schriftspiegel 8,6 x 5,7 cm). 18 Zeilen. 170 Bll. 12°. Spät. HLdr. d. 19 Jhds. mit rotem goldgepr. RSchild (bestoßen, Kanten tls. beschabt, Gelenke tls. angeplatzt). Das niederdeutsche Stundenbuch beginnt mit dem Kalendar (Fol.1-12). Geographisch verweisen die Heiligenfestverehrungen im Kalendar auf den westfälisch-rheinischen Raum. Folio 3v. nennt Bischof Ludger von Münster, sowie Folio 10v. nennt Bischof Severin von Köln im Heiligenkalender. Flankiert werden diese regionalen Heiligen, die allein mit zusätzlichen Ortsbezeichnungen vermerkt worden sind von Bischof Lambert von Lüttich (Fol. 9v), Valerius von Trier (Fol.1v) bis hin zu internationalen Bezügen wie Bischof Ambrosius von Mailand (Fol. 4r.) Im weiblichen Heiligenpersonal stehen u.a. die Hl. Agueta, Appollonie, Scholastica, Juliana, Sophia, Justina, Clara, Tecla und Viktoria bereit. - Das Marienoffizium (Fol.13-59.) beginnt mit einer prachtvollen floral-stammgefüllten Initiale und reiht die Stundengebete bis zur Complet und wird vom marianischen Antiphon Salve Regina abgeschlossen. Bemerkenswert sind die auf Fol.45 sich findenden niederdeutschen Gebetsinitien, deren Wortlaut sich teils bei Marlies Stählis, Handschriften der Dombibliothek zu Hildesheim (S.310) wiederfinden. Danach befinden sich die Kreuzigung Jesu (Fol. 60-71), die Psalmen (Fol. 72-87), Heiligenlitanei (Fol.87v-89v.), sowie Hymnen und Vigilien (Fol.90ff). - Dekorative Buchmalerei, die Intitialen teils an den Goldschmiedetyp erinnernd in Gold und Deckfarben mit feinen Weißhöhungen mit reichem Fleuronné, die Heiligenlitanei mit Stäbchen als Zeilenfüllsel, wenige Blätter mit minimal gelöschten Text, dieser handschriftlich ergänzt. - Einige Lagen am unteren Rand etwas schmutzfleckig. - Rotschnitt. Book of hours. Illuminated manuscript. - With 6 splendid gold heightened initials with rich fleuronée, numerous initials in gold tincture, as well as numerous lombards rubbed in blue and red. Germany 15th/16th century. Textura in blue, red and brown ink. Vellum. 13,4 x 7,8 cm (typeface 8,6 x 5,7 cm). 18 lines. 170 sheets. 12° - The low German Book of Hours begins with the Calendar (Fol.1-12). Geographically, the veneration of saints in the calendar refers to the Westphalian-Rhenish area. Folio 3v. names Bishop Ludger of Münster, and folio 10v. names Bishop Severin of Cologne in the calendar of saints. These regional saints, who are only noted with additional place names, are flanked by Bishop Lambert of Liège (fol. 9v), Valerius of Trier (fol.1v) and international references such as Bishop Ambrose of Milan (fol. 4r.). The female staff of saints include St. Agueta, Appollonie, Scholastica, Juliana, Sophia, Justina, Clara, Tecla and Victoria. - The Office of Mary (fol.13-59.) begins with a splendid floral stem-filled Intiale and continues with the hourly prayers until the completion and is concluded by the Marian antiphon Salve Regina. Remarkable are the Lower German Prayer Institutes found in fol.45, the wording of which can partly be found in Marlies Stählis, manuscripts of the cathedral library in Hildesheim (p.310). After that there are the Crucifixion of Jesus (fol. 60-71), the Psalms (fol. 72-87), Heiligenlitanei (fol.87v-89v.), as well as Hymns and Vigilia (fol.90ff). - Beautiful manuscript, the initials partly reminiscent of the goldsmith's type in gold and opaque colours with fine white heightening with rich fleuronné, the litany of saints with sticks as line fillers, few leaves with minimally erased text, this one completed by hand. Red cut.

Papsttum - - 1342-1394, eigtl. Robert Graf von Genf, der "Henker von Cesena") Clemens VII. (Gegenpapst. Abendländisches Schisma - Mittelalterlicher Ablass. Ablassbrief in seinem Namen, Rom 1380. Lat. Handschrift auf Pergament, angeschmutzt, mit Löchern, auf Untersatzkarton montiert. Sündenablass für Besucher der Kirche von Hartennes, die diese während der großen Kirchenfeste u. insbesondere während des Festes des Hl. Ivo besuchen. - Darunter handschriftl. Bestätigung u. Publikationsvermerk des Bischofs von Soissons Henri-Joseph-Claude de Bourdeilles (1720-1802) vom 10. Mai 1779. Rückseitige Fundvermerke des Abbé Gilbert vom September 1887 und eines Offiziers des 261. Artillerie-Regiments vom April 1918. Äußerst seltenes Dokument des Gegenpapstes von Avignon Clemens VII., dessen Wahl zum großen abendländischen Schisma führte, das bis zum Konzil von Konstanz 1417 dauerte. Wie bei den Urkunden der avignonesischen Gegenpäpste üblich, folgte deren Austtattung nicht dem traditionellen und unverkennbaren Kanzleigebrauch der römischen Päpste. - Etwas berieben und fleckig. Western schism - Medieval indulgence. Letter of indulgence in his name, Rome 1380. Lat. Manuscript on vellum, soiled, with holes, mounted on cardboard. - Indulgence for visitors of the church of Hartennes during the great church festivals, especially during the feast of St Ivo. - Amongst them a handwritten confirmation and publication note of the bishop of Soissons Henri-Joseph-Claude de Bourdeilles (1720-1802) from May 10th, 1779. On the back notes of Abbé Gilbert from September 1887 and of an officer of the 261st artillery regiment from April 1918. Very rare document of the antipope of Avignon Clemens VII, whose election led to the great occidental schism, which lasted until the Council of Constance in 1417. As usual with the documents of the Avignonese counter-popes, their endowment did not follow the traditional and unmistakable chancery of the Roman popes - somewhat rubbed and stained.

Emilie, Voltaire, François Marie Arouet, Maupertius, Pierre-Louis Moreau de. Du Chatelet. "Correspondence von Voltaire und Madame Du Chatelet mit Maupertuis." Manuskript Briefe in Tinte auf Papier. Sammlung früher Transkriptionen ("Kopien") der Korrespondenz von Madame du Chatelet und Voltaire mit Maupertuis von unbekannter Hand, die 40 Briefe von Voltaire an Pierre-Louis Moreau de Maupertuis ("Lettres de Mr de Voltaire à Mr de Maupertuis pendant les années 1732-1741") und 77 Briefe von Emilie Le Tonnelier de Breteuil, Marquise du Châtelet an Maupertuis ("Lettres de zu Unrecht: Herr de Voltaire an Herrn de Maupertuis depuis 1734 jusqu'à 1741" ) an Maupertuis. Frankeich, wohl vor 1778. 4° In zeitgenössischen Papierumschlägen mit Titel in Tinte auf dem Umschlag innerhalb einer Pergamentmappe Frühe - fast zeitgenössische- handschriftliche Kopien der Korrespondenz von Voltaire und Madame du Chatelet mit Maupertuis, deren Originalbriefe sich heute alle in der Bibliotheque Nationale France (BnF, Ms. fr. 12269) befinden. Der Kopist benutzte wahrscheinlich dieses Manuskript. Wir haben keine Informationen darüber, wann dieses Manuskript von der Bibliothek Nationale in Paris erworben wurde. Die Korrespondenz von Maupertuis mit Voltaire und Madame du Chatelet ist verloren gegangen. Der Inhalt der Briefe von Du Châtelet ist in seinem philosophischen Gehalt bedeutsam. Sie spricht verschiedene wichtige Themen an, darunter das Newtonsche Gesetz der Anziehung, Elastizität und Festigkeit von Körpern, die Leibnizsche Metaphysik, die vis viva-Kontroverse, Fragen des freien Willens und der Denkmaterie usw. Einige Gelehrte argumentieren auch, dass Du Châtelets Briefe Maupertuis' spätere Ansichten über das Prinzip der geringsten Handlung beeinflussten. Die hier vorliegenden Kopien wurden vor Erscheinen einer gedruckten Ausgabe angefertigt (teilweise sind die Briefe in der Serieys-Ausgabe von 1818, teilweise in der Ausgabe von Asse von 1878). Eine andere Hand hat auf den Blättern (es gibt Parallelen zu Voltaires Handschrift) Kommentare zu Datum und Personen, die im Text erwähnt werden, oder zu Vorfällen gemacht. Der Kommentar zum ersten Brief besagt, dass sich die Originale im Besitz von V. (wahrscheinlich Voltaire) befinden, was ein Hinweis darauf sein könnte, dass die Kopien zu seinen Lebzeiten bis 1778 angefertigt wurden. Nur zwei der kopierten Briefe von Madame Du Chatelet befinden sich nicht in der Korrespondenzausgabe von Kölving & Brown (2018), und die Briefe hier repräsentieren alle Briefe, von denen bekannt ist, dass sie von Madame Du Chatelet an Maupertuis geschrieben wurden. Alle sind in dem Manuskript in der Bibliotheque nationale vorhanden. - Gabrielle Émilie Le Tonnelier de Breteuil, Marquise du Châtelet-Laumont (1706-1749), bekannt als Émilie du Châtelet, war eine französische Mathematikerin, Physikerin, Philosophin und Übersetzerin der frühen Aufklärung. Gemeinsam mit Voltaire verfasste sie die Elemente der Philosophie Newtons. Außerdem übersetzte sie Newtons Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica und verband Newtons mit Leibniz' Denken. Überdies forderte sie die Teilhabe von Frauen an allen Menschenrechten. Etwas gebräunt bzw. fleckig, Trennseiten teils mit kleinen Einrissen. Bedeutende Exponate der wichigen Briefsammlung. Weitere Informationen in Englischer Sprache auf Anfrage. "Correspondence of Voltaire and Madame Du Chatelet with Maupertuis." Manuscript letters in ink on paper. Collection of early transcriptions ("copies") of the correspondence of Madame du Chatelet and Voltaire with Maupertuis by unknown hand, the 40 letters from Voltaire to Pierre-Louis Moreau de Maupertuis ("Lettres de Mr de Voltaire à Mr de Maupertuis pendant les années 1732-1741") and 77 letters from Emilie Le Tonnelier de Breteuil, Marquise du Châtelet to Maupertuis ("Lettres de unjustly: Mr de Voltaire to Mr de Maupertuis depuis 1734 jusqu'à 1741" ) to Maupertuis. Frankeich, probably before 1778. 4° In contemporary paper envelopes with title in ink on the cover within a parchment folder - Early - almost contemporary - handwritten copies of the correspondence of Voltaire and Madame du Chatelet with Maupertuis, the original letters of which are now all in the Bibliotheque Nationale France (BnF, Ms. fr. 12269). The copyist probably used this manuscript. We have no information as to when this manuscript was acquired by the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris. Maupertuis' correspondence with Voltaire and Madame du Chatelet has been lost. The content of Du Châtelet's letters is significant in its philosophical content. It addresses various important topics, including Newton's law of attraction, elasticity and strength of bodies, Leibniz metaphysics, the vis viva controversy, questions of free will and thought matter, etc. Some scholars also argue that Du Châtelet's letters influenced Maupertuis' later views on the principle of least action. The copies here were made before a printed edition was published (some of the letters are in the 1818 edition of Serieys, some in the 1878 edition of Asse). Another hand has made comments on the leaves (there are parallels to Voltaire's handwriting) about the date and persons mentioned in the text, or about incidents. The commentary on the first letter states that the originals are in the possession of V. (probably Voltaire), which could be an indication that the copies were made during his lifetime until 1778. Only two of the copied letters from Madame Du Chatelet are not in the correspondence edition of Kölving & Brown (2018), and the letters here represent all letters known to have been written by Madame Du Chatelet to Maupertuis. All of them are available in the manuscript in the Bibliotheque nationale. - Somewhat browned or stained, some of the dividing pages with small tears. Significant exhibits of the important letter collection. Further information in English language on request.

Sri Lanka, 1900-1920. The manuscript covers of rectangular form, crafted from silver with gold accents, set with innumerable rubies, diamonds, and sapphires, and decorated with finely chased floral and geometric designs on the front and reverse, as well as with a central roundel with four phoenixes arranged in a stylized swastika. Each manuscript cover with a silver chain for mounting.Provenance: Estate of Peter Buschner, Baiersdorf, Germany.Condition: Very good condition with minor traces of age and wear, two gemstones are lost.Weight: 1,056 g (total)Dimensions: Size 6.5 x 30.6 cm (each) 

David Freed (born 1935), "Manuscript", coloured etching and aquatint, signed, numbered 28/50 and inscribed with title in pencil to lower margin, 50 x 72cm, unframed

Late 18th Century Armorial Descent manuscript, for Duke Yonge and the Colborne's. Painted Heraldic shields with lines, housed within a maple frame, 56cm wide, 44cm high

Indian School, a page from a manuscript book of a couple seated on a rug with a tree in the background, text to the top and bottom, 9.5cm x 15cm, together with another of four men seated on a matt with text surround, 12.5cm x 21cm, (2)

A SECOND WORLD WAR & LATER GROUP OF SEVEN MEDALS TO F.J.B. GREEN, MERCHANT NAVY comprising the 1939-45 Star, Atlantic Star, Africa Star, Burma Star, Italy Star, War Medal 1939-45, all unnamed as issued, and Naval General Service Medal, Eliz. II, with single clasp Near East (F.J.B. GREEN), officially impressed, all unmounted, in postal despatch boxes; together with a quantity of documents and ephemera, including manuscript logs; Certificate of Competency; Certificates of Discharge; and British Seaman's Card; also a family-related Second World War Defence Medal to Mrs M. Green (mother of F.J.B. Green), unnamed as issued, unmounted, in postal despatch box.

NO RESERVE Civil Engineering.- ?Hore (P.P.) [Engineering notebook], manuscript, 110pp. excluding blanks, a few pp. in pencil, slightly browned, a few pieces of ephemera loosely inserted (including a photograph of Bargate, Southampton) hinges split, original boards, upper joint split, spine split at tail, folio, 1915-22.⁂ Notes of specifications for Tranmere Dock, Bengal Nagpur Railway, Hull Bridge Cottage, Sydney Harbour Bridge etc.