Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - February - 2017 Issue

Old & Rare Books from Knuf Rare Books

Old & Rare Books.

Old & Rare Books.

Knuf Rare Books has issued their Catalogue 231 of Old & Rare Books. Knuf is located in France, so many of the books are from France or written in French (though a good number are in English and other European languages). However, the catalogue itself is written in English, an indication that the material is likely to appeal to many collectors in English-speaking lands. The concentration of items is in the broader books-about-books field, covering such things as printing arts, papermaking, and including numerous 18th and 19th century auction catalogues of major collections. Here are a few selections from this latest Knuf catalogue.

 

There was a time when church cardinals were often powerful political leaders and builders of great libraries. Cardinal Mazarin was both. Mazarin succeeded Cardinal Richelieu as King Louis XIII's Chief Minister of France in 1642 after the latter died. The following year, Louis XIII also died, to be succeeded by Louis XIV. Louis XIV was all of five years old at the time. Not surprisingly, Mazarin became enormously influential, effectively ruling France with Louis's mother, who served as regent during her son's minority. Mazarin remained a powerful figure in France until his own death in 1661. At the same time, Mazarin built a spectacular library. He was a noted bibliophile and supporter of writers. Helping him to build his library was his librarian, Gabriel Naudé. What was even more notable about Mazarin's library was that he opened it, first to scholars, and then to the general public. It was the first public library in France. Item 60 is Naudé's treatise on libraries, Advis Pour Dresser une Bibliotheque... This is a second edition, from 1644 (the first was published in 1627). In this expanded edition, Naudé provides guidance in building a library, still influential today. He stresses the importance of obtaining all kinds of books, regardless of the author's political or religious beliefs. He also emphasizes the importance of a library being open to the public. Priced at €2,750 (euros, or approximately $2,941 in U.S. dollars).

 

William Morris was a writer, poet, and prominent socialist advocate when, late in life, he founded his private press. It was a reaction to the unattractiveness of mass-produced books, a throwback to the earlier times of craftsmanship. In 1891, Morris' Kelmscott Press published its first book, The Story of Glittering Plain, written by Morris. Three years later, he republished the work, the only book he printed twice. Item 43 is a copy of that second, 1894 edition. It is one of 257 copies printed. The first edition lacked illustrations, but this one contains 23 wood engravings. That is more illustrations than any other Kelmscott book other than the legendary Kelmscott Chaucer. €6,800 (US $7,275).

 

Item 65 is an announcement of some protectionist regulations to defend the British papermaking industry in 1687. When the Edict of Nantes, protecting Protestants in France, was revoked in 1685, many French Protestants emigrated to safer locales, notably the Netherlands and England. Among them were many papermakers. England was behind France in the art, but the arrival of French experts quickly helped the business expand. Evidently, some in France wanted these people to return, leading King James II to issue this broadside: A proclamation for the encouraging and better establishing of the manufacture of white paper in England. It prohibited agents from attempting to lure papermakers out of the country, or to ship such raw materials as rags out of the country, offenders to answer "at their utmost Perils." €230 (US $246).

 

Claude Gros de Boze held various financial and library positions in France. He was a respected intellectual, and evidently quite well-off financially. He developed one of the great libraries of the 18th century. De Boze died in 1753, whereupon his books were put up for sale. The sale never got far. Jules Francois Cotte and Charles Robert Bouton swooped in and bought the entire library. They, in turn, sold the bulk of the library to another collector, kept the items each wanted for themselves, and sold the remainder at auction. Item 13 is a catalogue of that auction, published in 1754: Catalogue de livres provenans de la bibliotheque de feu M. de Boze... While this sale may have been the unwanted "leftovers" of Cotte and Bouton, it wasn't just a bunch of unimportant books. Among those offered was a Gutenberg Bible. €1,750 (US $1,872).

 

R. Hoe and Company was the major American manufacturer of printing presses in the 19th century. Robert Hoe founded the company in the early part of the century, first making saws, then expanding to printing presses. Naturally, they published many trade catalogues promoting their presses (how could a press manufacturer not do so?). However, this one is unusual, Knuf unable to locate another copy. It is in Spanish. It promotes the presses of R. Hoe y Compania. It was printed by Wynkoop & Hallenbeck of New York in 1874, one would assume on a Hoe press. While Hoe & Co. still exists today, back to making just saws, it generated great wealth for its owners at an earlier time. Robert Hoe III, grandson of the founder, was a great book collector and founder of New York's Grolier Club. When his library was sold, in 1911, after his death two years earlier, it was far and away the most valuable sale ever in America. Item 40. €2,750 (US $2,941).

 

Knuf Rare Books may be reached at +33 (0) 254 72 26 56 or info@fritsknuf.com. Their website is located at www.knufrarebooks.com.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: ALDROVANDI, Ulisse (1522-1605) - [Opera omnia]. Bologna: Bellagamba, Benacci, Bonomi, Tebaldini, Ferroni, 1599-1668. €22.000-€28.000
    Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: [CANALETTO] - VISENTINI, Antonio (1688-1782) da Giovanni Antonio CANAL (1697-1768, detto 'Il Canaletto') - Urbis Venetiarum prospectus celebriores. Venezia: Giovanni Battista Pasquale, 1742-51. €7.000-€10.000
    Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: LA FONTAINE, Jean de (1621-1695) - Fables Choisies. Parigi: Claude Barbin, 1668. €7.000-€10.000
    Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: MERCATOR, Rumold (1545-1599) - [I continenti] - Europa; Africa; America Sive India Nova; Asia. Amsterdam: S.d. [ca. 1633]. €2.000-€3.000
  • Sotheby's
    Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Sotheby’s: The Shem Tov Bible, 1312 | A Masterpiece from the Golden Age of Spain. Sold: 6,960,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: Ten Commandments Tablet, 300-800 CE | One of humanity's earliest and most enduring moral codes. Sold: 5,040,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: William Blake | Songs of Innocence and of Experience. Sold: 4,320,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: The Declaration of Independence | The Holt printing, the only copy in private hands. Sold: 3,360,000 USD
    Sotheby's
    Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Sotheby’s: Thomas Taylor | The original cover art for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Sold: 1,920,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: Machiavelli | Il Principe, a previously unrecorded copy of the book where modern political thought began. Sold: 576,000 GBP
    Sotheby’s: Leonardo da Vinci | Trattato della pittura, ca. 1639, a very fine pre-publication manuscript. Sold: 381,000 GBP
    Sotheby’s: Henri Matisse | Jazz, Paris 1947, the complete portfolio. Sold: 312,000 EUR
  • Gros & Delettrez
    Travel: Books & Cartography
    6 February 2025
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 6: MUNSTER (Sebastian). Cosmographiae universalis lib. VI. Basilea
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 6: ORTELIUS (Abraham). Typus Orbis Terrarum. [Antwerp, 1587]
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 6: BRION DE LA TOUR (Louis). Atlas Monde. Paris, Desnos ou Jaillot, [1783 - An XIII-1799].
    Gros & Delettrez
    Travel: Books & Cartography
    6 February 2025
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 6: ORTELIUS (Abraham). Theatrum Orbis Terrarum. Anvers, Christophe Plantin, 1579.
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 6: VISSCHER (Nicolas Joannes). Theatrum praecipuarum urbium [...]
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 6: DE BRUYN (Cornelis). Voyage au Levant.
    Gros & Delettrez
    Travel: Books & Cartography
    6 February 2025
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 6: AZARA (Félix de). Voyages dans l'Amérique Méridionale.
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 6: JOUTEL (Henri). Journal historique du dernier voyage que feu M. de la Sale […]
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 6: LA SALLE (René Robert Cavelier de) ; TONTI (Henri de). Dernières découvertes dans l’Amérique Septentrionale
    Gros & Delettrez
    Travel: Books & Cartography
    6 February 2025
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 6: NOLIN (Jean-Baptiste) ; CORONELLI (Vincenzo). L'Amérique septentrionale, ou, la partie septentrionale des Indes Occidentales […]
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 6: [Caroline du Sud]. A large draft of South Carolina from Cape Roman to Port Royal.
    Gros & Delettrez, Feb. 6: PÉRON (François) ; FREYCINET (Louis de). Voyage de découverte aux terres australes.
  • Old World Auctions (Feb 12):
    Lot 746. Speed's Dual Atlas of Britain & the World with 96 Maps (1676). Est. $70,000 - $85,000
    Old World Auctions (Feb 12):
    Lot 9. Visscher's Superb Double-Hemisphere World Map with Representations of the Elements (1658). Est. $4,750 - $6,000
    Old World Auctions (Feb 12):
    Lot 58. One of the Most Important 16th Century Maps of the New World (1554). Est. $5,000 - $6,000
    Old World Auctions (Feb 12):
    Lot 745. A Complete Example of Ortelius' Atlas of Ancient Geography (1624). Est. $12,000 - $15,000
    Old World Auctions (Feb 12):
    Lot 73. First English Map to Show California as an Island (1625). Est. $16,000 - $19,000
    Old World Auctions (Feb 12):
    Lot 156. Bachmann's Dramatic View of the Mid-Atlantic Region (1861). Est. $1,800 - $2,200
    Old World Auctions (Feb 12):
    Lot 741. Early Announcement of Continental Congress' Declaration of Independence (1776). Est. $9,000 - $11,000
    Old World Auctions (Feb 12):
    Lot 695. The First Printed Map Devoted to the Pacific (1589). Est. $8,000 - $9,500
    Old World Auctions (Feb 12):
    Lot 733. Superb Image of the Presentation of Jesus in Hand Color (1502). Est. $700 - $850
    Old World Auctions (Feb 12):
    Lot 52. Produced by the Psychological Warfare Branch to Encourage Surrender (1945). Est. $200 - $230

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