The Zaehnsdorf Reference Library from Oak Knoll Books
Books from Zaehnsdorf's library from Oak Knoll Books.
By Michael Stillman
Oak Knoll Books has issued a new catalogue entitled The Reference Library of the Zaehnsdorf Company. The Zaehnsdorf Company was a venerable English bookbinder, in business for almost a century and a half. The firm was founded in 1842 by Joseph Zaehnsdorf, an immigrant from Budapest. Zaehnsdorf had bounced around Europe working for binders as a young man before emigrating to England in the 1830s. He worked for several years at London's most notable bindery before setting out on his own. After a slow start, business began to build, and Zaehnsdorf had secured a reputation as one of the best in his field when he died in 1886.
Zaehnsdorf's would be passed down through the family, first to his son, Joseph William, and then to his grandson. The firm remained independent until 1983 when it merged with another notable London bookbinder, Sangorski and Sutcliffe, under the name SSZ Ltd. In 1998, the firm adopted the Sangorski and Sutcliffe name. Offered in this catalogue are numerous books from Zaehnsdorf's library, including some of their bindings, business ledgers, and a well-respected book about binding by Joseph William.
Item 258 is a first edition of what has been described as "a landmark book in the history of bookbinding." It is Zaehnsdorf's copy of Joseph William Zaehnsdorf's The Art of Bookbinding, a Practical Treatise, published in 1880. The verso of the half title reads, "Fifty Copies Printed on Large Paper for Private Circulation Only." This copy is actually a bit larger than the large paper edition, though the plates are absent and the paper is of lesser quality. It appears to be a proof copy of the large paper edition. Priced at $500. Oak Knoll also has several later editions of Zaehnsdorf's classic.
For those interested in the first century-plus of Zaehnsdorfs, item 64 is Zaehnsdorfs (1842-1947), Craft Bookbinders. This is a 1986 history of the firm by Frank Broomhead (I've never seen that unusual last name before), followed by a chapter on conservation and restoration. The copy is signed by the author and contains Zaehnsdorf's bookplate. $95.
Item 257 is an unusual Zaehnsdorf-bound item. Called Testimonials (on the spine), it is a collection of letters received by the firm from 1853-1905. As might be expected, they are generally laudatory. Many come from individuals associated with or a connection to the book trade or collecting, and though there are no truly famous names here, there are such as Scottish poet George Macdonald, highly regarded by an earlier generation. $950.
Item 33 is a conspiratorial-sounding title: The Enemies of the Book. This 1888 title by William Blades, however, is not about book burning and the like, but about natural problems, including chapters on fire, water, heat, dust, ignorance and bookbinders. It carries Zaehnsdorf's bookplate, and presumably they were careful not to be one of those "enemy" bookbinders. $75.
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.
