The Croÿ-Arenberg Hours (image courtesy of Dr. Jorn Gunther Rare Books, Basel).
The 2026 European edition of TEFAF will take place in Maastricht (Netherlands) on March 14-19. TEFAF, The European Fine Art Foundation, has been hosting art shows since 1988 and now has shows in New York as well as in Europe. It supports fine arts all over the world, including providing grants for art restoration. While the New York show focuses on modern and contemporary art, the Maastricht show covers 7,000 years of art.
Of course, this leads to the question, what does a fine arts fair have to do with books? Books mostly are textual in nature, but some cross the line to being works of art. It may be because the appearance of the physical book is a work of art or the illustrations within are art. A few dealers specialize in or feature books along the borderline of books and art. One such dealer is Dr. Jorn Gunther Rare Books. They have published a press release about their participation describing some of the items they will be bringing to the fair. They describe them as “masterpieces,” a good description, and we note that they are also very old, half a millennium or more.
There is an unusual herbal from northern Italy dating from 1500-1520. It contains almost 400 watercolor drawings of plants, along with a few fruits, some insects, and a lizard to devour the pests. Gunther believes this may have been used to guide apprentices at a high-end workshop. They are highly naturalistic illustrations, with some having labels identifying the species in different languages. Gunther explains that the lifelike illustrations bear “witness to the late 15th and early 16th centuries illustrators' renewed interest in the accurate observation of nature."
The Croÿ-Arenberg Hours: Gunther says this book “represents one of the finest examples of Flemish illumination” and, most likely, “was made for a high-ranking member of the English royal court. The commission for this book was undoubtedly motivated by the patron’s desire for uniqueness and luxury.” Gunther further notes that “most of the large miniatures are the work of the Master of the Older Prayer Book of Maximilian I, a leading artist in celebrated manuscript projects.” This beautiful Book of Hours dates to 1508-1520.
The St. Pantaleon Legendarium: It is a very early manuscript and Gunther tells us “this masterpiece of medieval bookmaking holds numerous breathtaking illustrations, including a full-page penwork diagram with 14 roundels with portraits of saints and other personalities, arranged genealogically. This manuscript is really old, dating to 1140-1180, with one added quire circa 1050.
Dr. Jorn Gunther Rare Books is a leading specialist in Medieval manuscripts. They bring 40 years of experience in the the field from their headquarters in Basel, Switzerland.
The list of 276 exhibitors provided by TEFAF also contains a few other rare book dealers, all important figures in the field of art books, including Daniel Crouch Rare Books (UK), Stéphane Clavreuil Rare Books (UK), Peter Harrington (UK and US), and Librairie Camille Sourget (France).
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Galileo Galilei. Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondo tolemaico, e copernicano. Firenze, 1632
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Saverio Manetti. Storia naturale degli uccelli. Firenze, 1771-76
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Fortunato Depero. Depero futurista. Rovereto, 1927
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Nicolas Visscher. Atlas minor sive totius orbis terrarum contracta delineat ex conatibus. Amsterdam, circa 1649-95
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Andreas Vesalius. Anatomia. Addita nunc. Antiquorum Anatome. Venezia, 1604
Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Tristan Tzara and Salvador Dalì. Grains et Issues. Parigi, 1935
June 25, 2026
Doyle, June 25: Houdini's biography, boldly signed. $3,000 to $5,000.
Doyle, June 25: A volume from Abraham Lincoln's library, signed just before heading to Washington for his inauguration. $20,000 to $30,000.
Doyle, June 25: A very early Confederate recruiting manual belonging to the chief commissary in Lee's Army. $600 to $800.
Doyle, June 25: Rare hand-colored lithographs of the life of Napoleon. $20,000 to $30,000.
Doyle, June 25: The "Holster Atlas" of the American Revolution. $5,000 to $8,000.
Doyle, June 25: Jewish ceremonies in fine hand-colored engravings. $7,000 to $10,000.
Doyle, June 25: A very rare work on Turkish military costume. $1,000 to $1,500.
June 25, 2026
Doyle, June 25: The most important illustrated work on the Mexican-American War. $10,000 to $15,000.
Doyle, June 25: The finest illustrated book on Afghanistan. $10,000 to $15,000.
Doyle, June 25: Henry Justice Ford St. George rescues the Princess from the horrible Dragon. $2,000 to $3,000.
Doyle, June 25: A rare work of Prussian Army uniforms under Frederick William II, with exquisite hand-colored engravings. $800 to $1,200.
Doyle, June 25: Lenny Bruce typed letter signed to a Village bohemian during his obscenity trials, with a manuscript note and drawing. $300 to $500.
Doyle, June 25: Schiff's scarce Shanghai Sketchbook. $300 to $500.
Doyle, June 25: The first accurate published representation of the American flag. $2,000 to $4,000.
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 123. Celebrate 250 Years of Independence with Original Stars and Stripes (1790) Est. $1,400 - $1,700
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 20. Keulen's Spectacular Chart of the World Featuring California as an Island (1728) Est. $12,000 - $15,000
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 42. Schedel's Ancient World Map with Fantastic Humanoid Creatures (1493) Est. $14,000 - $17,000
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 591. Matching Set of 3 Stunning Globe Gores of Eastern Asia from Coronelli's 3.5 Foot Globe (1688) Est. $5,500 - $7,000
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 9. Speed's Popular World Map with Allegorical Representations of the Elements (1651) Est. $14,000 - $17,000
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 168. First Separate Map of Kansas & Nebraska Territories (1854) Est. $5,500 - $7,000
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 43. Only Macrobius Map with Britain Attached to Europe (1515) Est. $800 - $950
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 250. Rare Map of Boston and One of the Earliest Maps of the Revolutionary War (1775) Est. $2,000 - $2,300
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 79. Schenk's Uncommon Map Featuring Two Figurative Title Cartouches (1696) Est. $1,200 - $1,500
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 681. Hand-Colored Image of the Annunciation to the Shepherds (1502) Est. $800 - $950
Sotheby's Book Week 2 June - 9 July
Sotheby’s, June 25: Smith, Adam. The Wealth of Nations, on its 250th anniversary. $180,000 to $250,000.
Sotheby’s, June 17: Fontana, Lucio. Concetto Spaziale. 1967. Leporello en papier doré. Bel exemplaire signé. €4,000 to $€,000.
Sotheby’s, June 25: Fitzgerald, F. Scott. "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past”. $150,000 to $200,000.
Sotheby’s, June 25: Washington, George (as First President). Washington decries “an ostentatious imitation, or mimickry of Royalty” in his Presidency. $250,000 to $500,000.
Sotheby’s, June 17: Lope de Vega. Rare manuscrit autographe signé de la préface dédicatoire de "El Cardenal de Belen" (le cardinal de Bethléem), pièce composée en 1610. €40,000 to €60,000.
