Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - May - 2013 Issue

Knuf Rare Books Offers Varied Works

Catalogue 220 from Knuf Rare Books.

KnufRareBooks has released Catalogue220, a varied collection of works from the French bookseller. Most items fall into the broad books about books or artistic books categories. That would cover such areas as specimen books, calligraphy, and a large number of library auction catalogues from very long ago. On the more artistic side, we find subjects such as architecture, gardens, and several concerning the designs of fireplaces and chimneys. They were quite elegant, at least among the monied classes, at the time when they provided the sole source of heat in the winter. Here are a few samples of what Knuf Rare Books has to offer.

 

Giuseppe Renato Imperiali was born of a prosperous, highly respected family from Genoa in 1651. His great uncle, who had been both a political force and a Cardinal, promoted his education and career. He held several offices within the Church, being selected as a Cardinal in 1690. Over the next forty years, he continued in varied important posts. Among those were responsibilities for the commissioning of many public works. At the papal conclave of 1730, Imperiali, though pushing 80 years of age, was the leading contender for Pope, coming within one vote of being selected. However, in those days, the Spanish King held a veto over popes, and put a damper on Imperiali's selection. He remained in his other posts until his death in 1737. Along the way, Cardinal Imperiali amassed a library. By 1711, his library had reached 20,000 volumes. That was the year in which his librarian, Giuseppe Renato Fontanini, compiled this catalogue: Bibliothecae Josephi Renati Imperialis...Catalogus... It provides listings alphabetically by author and by subject. Item 27. Priced at $4,600.

 

Item 14 is the catalogue for an auction that never took place: Catalogue des Livres du Cabinet de M. de Boze. Claude Gros de Boze was a major French collector who died in 1753. That year, his books were put up for auction. They consisted of over 2,700 items, including a Gutenberg Bible. However, the auction never happened. Two collectors, Jules Francois de Cotte and Charles Robert Boutin, put in a bid and obtained the entire collection ahead of the auction. They made a fine deal. They kept the items they wanted, sold most of the older books to Louis-Jean Gaignat for almost as much as they paid for the entire collection, and put the remainder, roughly half of the books, up for auction the following year. Meanwhile, Gaignat spun off what he purchased to another collector for a tidy profit. $1,200.

 

Item 15 is the catalogue for the remainder of the De Boze collection, sold the following year - 1754. This sale was conducted by Gabriel Martin in Paris. This auction catalogue, headed Catalogue des livres provenans de la bibliothéque de feu M. deBoze... included the Gutenberg. $2,300.

 

Item 60 is a catalogue for an auction of ancient Chinese and Japanese porcelain artworks. It is not the works or auction that makes this catalogue curious. Rather, it is the circumstances. The collection was owned by Victor Poinsot, a high French judge, who died in 1860. He did not pass away gently. It was one of the most sensational murder cases of the era. Poinsot was returning by train to Paris from a vacation. He had been resting in his private first-class compartment when he was discovered at a train stop, in a pool of blood. He had been shot in the head and chest, his head bludgeoned. His money, a gold watch, and a traveling rug were stolen. Despite the thefts, officials were suspicious of that as the cause, figuring the violence of the murder pointed to more personal motives. Nonetheless, the only man ever arrested was one Charles Jud, who had supposedly committed another such railway killing. Jud escaped custody and was never heard from again. Rumors swirled that Poinsot had carried on an affair with a young girl during his vacation and the killing was revenge by her brother. Others saw even more sinister motives of spying and intrigue. What exactly happened remains unknown, but we do know the following year, 1861, Poinsot's collection went up for sale. Here is the catalogue: Notice de Porcelain sanciennes de Chine du Japon...dependant de la succession de feu M. Poinsot... Poinsot's murder on a train was part of the inspiration for Emile Zola's book, La Bete Humaine (the Human Beast). $420.

Rare Book Monthly

  • CHRISTIE’S
    Valuable Books and Manuscripts
    London auction
    13 December
    Find out more
    Christie’s, Explore now
    TREW, Christoph Jacob (1695–1769). Plantae Selectae quarum imagines ad exemplaria naturalia Londini in hortus curiosorum. [Nuremberg: 1750–1773]. £30,000–40,000
    Christie’s, Explore now
    VERBIEST, Ferdinand (1623–88). Liber Organicus Astronomiae Europaeae apud Sinas restituate. [Beijing: Board of Astronomy, 1674]. £250,000–350,000
    Christie’s, Explore now
    PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF ALICE & NIKOLAUS HARNONCOURT. Master of Jean Rolin (active 1445–65). Book of Hours, use of Paris, in Latin and French, [Paris, c.1450–1460]. £120,000–180,000
    Christie’s, Explore now
    A SILVER MICROSCOPE. Probably by Antoni van Leeuwenhoek (1632–1723), c.1700. £150,000–250,000
    Christie’s, Explore now
    AN ENGLISH HORARY QUADRANT
    C.1311. £100,000–150,000
  • Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Roberts (David) & Croly (George). The Holy Land, Syria, Idumae, Arabia, Egypt and Nubia. Lond. 1842 - 1843 [-49]. First Edn. €10,000 to €15,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Incunabula: O'Fihily (Maurice). Duns Scotus Joannes: O'Fihely, Maurice Abp… Venice, 20th November 1497. €8,000 to €12,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: An important file of documents with provenance to G.A. Newsom, manager of the Jacob’s Factory in Dublin, occupied by insurgents during Easter Week 1916. €6,000 to €9,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: WILDE (Oscar), 1854-1900, playwright, aesthete and wit. A lock of Wilde’s Hair, presented by his son to the distinguished Irish actor Mícheál MacLiammóir. €6,000 to €8,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Heaney (Seamus). Bog Poems, London, 1975. Special Limited Edition, No. 33 of 150 Copies, Signed by Author. Illus. by Barrie Cooke. €4,000 to €6,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Binding: Burke, Thomas O.P. (de Burgo). Hibernia Dominicana, Sive Historia Provinciae Hiberniae Ordinis Praedicatorum, ... 1762. First Edition. €4,000 to €6,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: COLLINS, Michael. An important TL, 29 July 1922, addressed to GOVERNMENT on ‘suggested Proclamation warning all concerned that troops have orders to shoot prisoners found sniping, ambushing etc.’. €3,000 to €4,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Scott Fitzgerald (F.) The Great Gatsby, New York (Charles Scribner's Sons) 1925, First Edn. €2,000 to €3,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Yeats (W.B.) The Poems of W.B. Yeats, 2 vols. Lond. (MacMillan & Co.) 1949. Limited Edition, No. 46 of 375 Copies Only, Signed by W.B. Yeats. €1,500 to €2,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Miller (William) Publisher. The Costume of the Russian Empire, Description in English and French, Lg. folio London (S. Gosnell) 1803. First Edn. €1,000 to €1,500.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Miller (William) Publisher. The Costume of Turkey, Illustrated by a Series of Engravings. Lg. folio Lond.(T. Bensley) 1802. First Edn. €800 to €1,200.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Mason (Geo. Henry). The Costume of China, Illustrated with Sixty Engravings. Lg. folio London (for W. Miller) 1800. First Edn. €1,400 to €1,800
  • Sotheby’s
    Important Modern Literature from the Library of an American Filmmaker
    8 December 2023
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: Kerouac, Jack. Typescript scroll of The Dharma Bums. Typed by Kerouac in Orlando, Florida, 1957, published by Viking in 1958. 300,000 - 500,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: Hemingway, Ernest. The autograph manuscript of "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber." [Key West, finished April 1936]. 300,000 - 500,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: Miller, Henry. Typescript of The Last Book, a working title for Tropic of Cancer, written circa 1931–1932. 100,000 - 150,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: Ruscha, Ed. Twentysix Gasoline Stations, with a lengthy inscription to Joe Goode. 40,000 - 60,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: Hemingway, Ernest. in our time, first edition of Hemingway’s second book. 30,000 - 50,000 USD
  • Swannm Dec. 14: Lot 2:
    John Ford Clymer, U.S. Troops' Triumphant Return to New York Harbor, oil on canvas, circa 1944.
    Swannm Dec. 14: Lot 44:
    Edward Gorey, Illustration of cover and spine for Fonthill, a Comedy by Aubrey Menen, pen and ink, 1973.
    Swannm Dec. 14: Lot 50:
    Harrison Cady, frontispiece for Buster Bear's Twins by Thornton W. Burgess, watercolor and ink, 1921.
    Swannm Dec. 14: Lot 54:
    Ludwig Bemelmans, Pepito, portrait of Pepito from the Madeline book series, mixed media.
    Swannm Dec. 14: Lot 79:
    Gluyas Williams, Fellow Citizens Observation Platform, pen and ink, cartoon published in The New Yorker, March 11, 1933.
    Swannm Dec. 14: Lot 86:
    Thomas Nast, Victory, – for the moment, political cartoon, pen and ink, 1884.
    Swannm Dec. 14: Lot 91:
    Mischa Richter, Lot of 10 cartoons for Field Publications, ink and pencil, circa 1940.
    Swannm Dec. 14: Lot 111:
    Arthur Getz, Sledding In Central Park, casein tempera on canvas, cover of The New Yorker, February 26, 1955.
    Swannm Dec. 14: Lot 124:
    Richard Erdoes, Map of Boston, illustration for unknown children's magazine, gouache on board, circa 1960.
    Swannm Dec. 14: Lot 155:
    Robert Fawcett, The old man looked him over carefully, gouache on board, published in The Saturday Evening Post, June 9, 1945.
    Swannm Dec. 14: Lot 170:
    Violet Oakley, Portrait of Woodrow Wilson, charcoal and pastel, circa 1918.
    Swannm Dec. 14: Lot 188:
    Robert J. Wildhack, Scribner's for March, 1907, mixed media.

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