The Spanish Speaking World from Libreria de Antano
- by Michael Stillman
The Spanish Speaking World.
LibreriadeAntano recently issued a catalogue entitled TheSpanishSpeakingWorld.RareBooksandManuscripts. That world, quite naturally, begins with Spain, but then extends to South and Central America, a bit of North America, the Caribbean, and the Philippines. The catalogue occasionally slides outside these boundaries to the Portuguese world, but Spain's Iberian neighbor deserves a good turn. Most of the material relates to Latin America, the once extensive colonial empire of Spain that quickly disintegrated around 1820, but still retains cultural and linguistic ties to the land that once conquered it. Over 500 years have passed and Columbus still throws a long shadow over the land. This catalogue is presented in chronological order, ranging from the 1548 first Spanish edition of Apianus' atlas to a 1967 first edition of a novel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Here are a few of the items in between.
Here is a work we don't generally think of as one of Spanish America, and yet it most certainly is, even if it was written by a couple of English explorers. Item 98b is a first edition, first issue of the NarrativeoftheSurveyingVoyagesofHisMajesty'sShipsAdventureandBeagle,1826-1836,describingtheirexaminationoftheSouthernShoresofSouthAmerica... This set contains the three volumes and appendix. There were two voyages, but it was the second one, and specifically the work taking place on the Beagle, that would make this one of the most important scientific voyages ever. The primary author, and captain of the ship, Robert Fitzroy hired on a young naturalist named Charles Darwin to study the natural history of the area. It was during this expedition that Darwin would examine fossils from extinct species, and note similarities and differences between species on the mainland and on various islands. From this Darwin would conclude that species were somehow changing into others, and in time he would reach the conclusion that one species evolved to another through natural selection, though it would take two more decades for him to announce this theory. The third volume of this set, published in 1839, was written by Darwin, and it reveals much of the evidence on which his theory of evolution would in time be formed. Priced at $38,500.
Item 2 is described by Libreria de Antano as “the major work of narrative prose of Spanish literature.” It is a rare first edition of ElCondeLucanor, the 1575 first edition of a work that was written in the 1330s. The author was Don Juan Manuel, and his tales of Count Lucanor consists of numerous short morality play stories. The Count presents various difficult situations before his wise advisor Patronio, who rather than giving an answer, provides a story based on a similar situation. By the time it is finished, the Count is able to see the parallel and knows what needs to be done. The best known section of this work is the first part, with 51 such stories, drawn from various sources, including Aesop, and old Arabic and Hindu tales. This copy is apparently unique as it has a different title page and final leaf from other known copies, though everything else is identical to other first editions, and these pages were printed at the same time as the others. Libreria de Antano speculates that this may have been a preliminary copy, one that was missing these two pages so that replacements were quickly ordered, or someone was pirating the work to avoid taxes. Price on request.
Sotheby’s Bibliotheca Brookeriana: A Renaissance Library. The Aldine Collection D-M 18 October 2024
Sotheby’s, Oct. 18: Herodianus Syrus, Herodiani Historiarum, Venice, Heirs of Aldo & Torresano, 1524, Parisian binding for Jean Grolier by Jean Picard, ca. 1540
Sotheby’s, Oct. 18: Musaeus, Opusculum de Herone et Leandro, Venice, Aldo, 1495 (Greek text), interleaved with 1497–1498 (Latin text), English olive morocco by Charles Lewis, the Botfield copy
Sotheby’s, Oct. 18: Horatius Flaccus, Horatius, Venice, Aldo, 1501, Bolognese brown goatskin (between 1501 and 1503), arms of Mino Rossi and illuminated initials throughout
Sotheby’s, Oct. 18: Lucretius, De rerum natura, Venice, Aldo, 1500, English early eighteenth-century red morocco, the Fletcher copy
Bonhams, now to Oct. 24: CATESBY, MARK. 1683-1749. The Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands. $100,000 - $150,000
Bonhams, now to Oct. 24: AUDUBON, JOHN JAMES. 1785-1851. The Birds of America, from Drawings Made in the United States and their Territories. $30,000 - $50,000
Bonhams, now to Oct. 24: ADAMS ON HIS PEAR TREES AND A LOST PORTRAIT BY SALEM ARTIST HANNAH CROWNINSHIELD. ADAMS, JOHN. 1735-1826. $10,000 - $15,000
Bonhams, now to Oct. 24: EARLIEST MAP DEVOTED TO NORTH AMERICA. FORLANI, PAULO. fl.1560-1571. $20,000 - $30,000
Bonhams, now to Oct. 24: HAMILTON DEFENDS THE CONSTITUTION. HAMILTON, ALEXANDER. 1757-1804. $20,000 - $30,000
Bonhams, now to Oct. 24: NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION BROADSIDE. Boston, September 14, 1768. $5,000 - $8,000
Bonhams, now to Oct. 23: ONE OF THE EARLIEST ILLUSTRATIONS OF A SURGICAL PROCEDURE. BARTHOLOMAEUS ANGLICUS. $10,000 - $15,000
Bonhams, now to Oct. 23: RICHARD FEYNMAN'S ANNOTATED COPY, WITH TWO EARLY FEYNMAN AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPTS. $15,000 - $25,000
Bonhams, now to Oct. 23: THE FOUNDATIONS OF MODERN COMPUTING. TURING, ALAN MATHISON. 1912-1954. $30,000 - $50,000
Bonhams, now to Oct. 23: FINE OIL PORTRAIT OF ALBERT EINSTEIN BY EUGEN SPIRO. $40,000 - $60,000
Bonhams, now to Oct. 23: PENICILLIN MOLD MEDALLION INSCRIBED BY ALEXANDER FLEMING. FLEMING, ALEXANDER. 1881-1955. $30,000 - $50,000
Bonhams, now to Oct. 23: APPLE "TWIGGY" MACINTOSH PROTOTYPE USED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF DEMONSTRATION SOFTWARE. $80,000 - $120,000
Freeman’s | Hindman, Oct. 24: A Superb Extra-illustrated Copy of Nicolay and Hay’s Work About Lincoln. $50,000 – 70,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Oct. 24: The First Volume of De Bry's Great Voyages, Thomas Hariot's Description of Virginia. $50,000 – 70,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Oct. 24: An autographed cabinet card of Custer as lieutenant colonel. From his last sitting. $800 – 1,200.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Oct. 24: The Congressional Committee, Lincoln's Funeral Springfield Illinois, 3 May 1865. $4,000 – 6,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Oct. 25: A remarkable ninth plate daguerreotype of an interracial couple. $30,000 – 50,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Oct. 25: What may be the earliest known images of an identified plantation and enslaved African Americans posed with their owner. $20,000 – 30,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Oct. 25: Through Tickets to All Principal Points West Via Chicago Burlington and Quincy Railroad For Sale at This Office. $500 – 700.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Oct. 25: 15th New York Infantry / Regiment of Engineers GAR regimental colors. Ca 1880. $1,500 – 2,500.
Jeschke Jádi Auction 153 Friday October 25 and Saturday October 26, 2024
Jeschke Jádi, Oct. 25-26: Lot 1556. Senghor, Les Élégies Majeures. Geneve 1978.
Jeschke Jádi, Oct. 25-26: Lot 1572. Lew Tolstoy. Anna Karenina. First Edition, Moscow, 1878.
Jeschke Jádi, Oct. 25-26: Lot 49. Petrarca. Das Gluecksbuch, Augsburg, 1536.
Jeschke Jádi Auction 153 Friday October 25 and Saturday October 26, 2024
Jeschke Jádi, Oct. 25-26: Lot 1060. Immanuel Kant, Critik der reinen Vernunft. First Edition, Riga, 1781.
Jeschke Jádi, Oct. 25-26: Lot 585. Bonaparte, Iconografia della fauna Italica. Rome, 1832f.
Jeschke Jádi, Oct. 25-26: Lot 548. Robert Fludd. Utriusque cosmi maioris, Frankfurt, 1617f.
Jeschke Jádi Auction 153 Friday October 25 and Saturday October 26, 2024
Jeschke Jádi, Oct. 25-26: Lot 1496. Jacob / Picasso. Chronique des Temps, 1956.
Jeschke Jádi, Oct. 25-26: Lot 571. Christian von Wolff. Works, Halle 1741f.
Jeschke Jádi, Oct. 25-26: Lot 969. Karl Friedrich Schinkel, Dekorationen innerer Raeume. Berlin 1874.
Jeschke Jádi Auction 153 Friday October 25 and Saturday October 26, 2024
Jeschke Jádi, Oct. 25-26: Lot 1457. Goethe. Das Tagebuch. Print on Vellum. Berlin, Officina Serpentis. 1934.