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Early Printing & Manuscripts

First edition of first French translation of Boccaccio's first work, with woodcut illustrations

BOCCACCIO, Giovanni. Le philocope ..., contena[n]t l'histoire de Fleury & Blanchefleur, divise en sept livres traduictz d'Italien en Francoys par Adrian Sevin ...
Paris, Jean André, bookseller to the University (colophon: printed by Denis Janot), 1542 (colophon: 24 February 1542). Folio (31.5 x 21.5 cm). With Jean André's woodcut device on the title-page and 15 woodcut illustrations plus 21 repeats in the text (mostly 5.5 x 8 cm, each in any of several 4-piece decorative borders, including 8 foot pieces, each with a different coat of arms; one illustration 13.5 x 8.5 cm with an 8-piece decorative border), 5 woodcut decorated initials (2 series) plus 1 repeat, and many spaces with guide-letters for manuscript initials (not filled in). French calf (ca. 1760?), richly gold-tooled spine, gilt edges. VI, CLXXIIII ll. Full description
€ 12,500
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Boccaccio’s first important work, prepared by the editor of the first variorum Decameron

BOCCACCIO, Giovanni. Il Filocopo ... Di nuovo riveduto, corretto, & alla sua vera lettione ridotto da M. Francesco Sansovino. ...
Venice, [device of Domenico Giglio] (colophon: Francesco Rampazetto, 1554). Small 8vo (15 x 11 cm). With Giglio's woodcut device on the title-page, 6 woodcut decorated initials (3 series) plus 2 repeats. Set in Aldine-style italic types (with upright capitals) with incidental roman. Contemporary limp vellum. “390” [= 380] ll. Full description
€ 2,250
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With important provenance

BOCKENBERG, Pieter Cornelisz. Catalogus & brevis historia pontificum Ultraiectensium. Item catalogus & brevis historia antistitum Egmondanorum.
Leiden, Jan Jacobsz. Paets, 1586 (Colophon: 'Extant Goudae, apud Leonardum Theodori Librarium, ad pontem Hornensem'). Small 8vo. [16], 99, [12] [1 blank] pp. Full description
€ 1,500
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The importance of this book can hardly be exaggerated

BOETHIUS. De consolatione philosophie duplici commentario videlicet Sancti Thome & Jodoci Badii Ascensii cum utriusque tabula. Item eiusdem de disciplina scholarium cum explanatione et quintilianum de officio discipulorum diligenter annotata.
Rouen, [printed by Pierre Olivier] for Jean Macé in Rennes, 1519. 2 parts in 1 volume. 4to With Macés large woodcut devices on the 2 title-pages and on the verso of the last leaf, the first title-page printed in red and black. Several fine woodcut initials. Modern vellum, red morocco spine-label. [312]; [64] pp. Full description
€ 3,950
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Early incunable from Augsburg with wonderful initials, a famous exegetic work by Holzinger who influenced Dante's "Purgatorio"

BONAVENTURA (pseudo) [= Conradus de SAXONIA]. Speculum beate Marie virginis: compilatum ab humili fratre Bonauentura.
Augsburg, Anton Sorg, 1476. Folio (26.5 x 21.2 cm). Set in a Gothic letter in 40 lines to the page, printed in 1 column. Rubricated throughout. With a large Maiblumen woodcut-initial and 16 smaller initials (of which 11 hand-coloured in red). Modern vellum, with a manuscript title on the spine. [48] ll. Full description
€ 17,500
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Rouen Book of Hours: written for the use of a noble woman, with a portrait of the owner

[BOOK OF HOURS]. [Book of Hours - use of Rouen].
Rouen, Normandy, France, ca. 1480. Small 4to (14.3 x 19.3 cm). Latin and French illuminated manuscript on vellum. Ruled in red ink for 14 lines per page (16 in the calendar). Gothic textura, major feasts in calendar in burnished gold, others alternately red or blue. Text pages illuminated with panel borders of flowers and plants on gold, and blue and gold stylised acanthus on a plain ground. Calendar has 24 small square miniatures set into panel borders; major text divisions marked by 12 large miniatures; 2 historiated initials; hundreds of smaller initials and line-fillers throughout. 18th-century French gold-tooled red calf over pasteboards, with the title lettered in gold on the spine, gilt edges, marbled endpapers. [160] ll. Full description
€ 165,000
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1511 Paris book of hours printed on vellum, with with 17 large & 27 small illustrations plus more in the borders:
only known complete copy of this edition, possibly from the great Harleian Library

[BOOK OF HOURS]. Hore [= Horae beate Marie Virginis] secundum usum Romanum ad longum.
(colophon: Paris, Thomas Kees), [ca. 1511, with an almanac for the years 1511-1530]. 8vo (18 x 12 cm). Printed on vellum in red and black throughout, with illustrations printed from (mostly metal?) relief blocks: 17 nearly full-page plus 1 repeat, 27 small plus 2 repeats in the text, many additional small in the decorated border pieces that surround nearly every page. Dark brown gold- and blind-tooled goatskin morocco (ca. 1870?), signed "HARDY-MENNIL" in the foot of the front turn-in. [216] pp. Full description
€ 25,000
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Beautifully decorated and heightened with gold 15th-century Dutch manuscript book of hours
from the collection of Viscount Charles van Aefferden

[BOOK OF HOURS - DUTCH]. [15th-century manuscript book of hours, written in Middle Dutch]. [Incipit 1r:] Here du saltste op doen mine lippen en[de] mijn mo[n]t sal voert-kundige[n] dijn lof.
[Southern Netherlands, 15th century]. Small 4to (binding 15.5 x 12 cm; leaves ca. 14.5 x 11.5 cm). Manuscript in Middle-Dutch, written in one column (18 or 19 lines to a page) in a very neat gothic textura script, by one or maybe two hands. The vellum leaves are (lightly) ruled in red ink, the main body of the text is written in black ink. Leaf 1r shows a large 9-line painted initial (blue and white on a golden field) and elaborate green vines and blue, gold, and pink leaves in the margins, all tekst on 1r is written within a blue and gold frame. With 37 3- or 4-line painted initials (gold on a blue or pink field) with the same green, blue, gold, and pink vine-and-leaves decorations in the left margins of the leaves and 7 3-, 4-, or 5-line penwork initials (green, blue, and red) with simple red and green penwork decorations in the left margin of the leaves. Further with numerous 1- and 2-line red and blue initials throughout and occasional 6-line red or blue initials in the left margin of the leaves. 17th- or 18th-century gold- and blind-tooled half mottled calf and sprinkled paper sides, red sprinkled edges. [189] ll. Full description
€ 18,000
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First modern treatise on oceanography, and a challenge to Machiavelli: rulers must be moral

BOTERO, Giovanni. Aggiunte fatte ... alla sua ragion di stato ove si tratta dell... con una relatione del mare.
Including:
2 [part 1]) Delleccellenze de gli antichi capitani libri due. ...
3 [part 4]) Dellagilita della forze del prencipe libri due. ...
4 [part 3]) Della riputatione del prencipe libri due. ...
5 [part 2]) Discorso della neutralita [del prencipe] ...
6 [part 5]) Discroso[!] intorno alla fortificatione ...
7 [part 6]) Relationi del mare ...
Rome, Giorgio Ferrari, 1598. A preliminary part and 6 text parts in one volume. 4to. With a general title-page and 6 part-titles. Set in an italic type (cut by Robert Granjon) with incidental roman. Sheepskin parchment (ca. 1700?). [22], [2 blank]; 72; 46, [2 blank]; 31, [1 blank]; 15, [1 blank]; 14, [2 blank]; 31, [1 blank] pp. Full description
€ 8,250
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Rare first edition of the leading Dutch translation of the Ship of fools

BRANT, Sebastian. Navis stultorum: oft, Der sotten schip.
Antwerp, Jan II van Ghelen, 1584. Small 4to. With a woodcut of the Ship of Fools on the title-page, woodcut Dutch title-panel, Van Ghelen's large woodcut greyhounds and goat device on the last page, 118 full-page and 2 smaller woodcut illustrations in text, each page (after the title and its verso) in a border built up from arabesque cast fleurons. 18th-century sprinkled calf, gold-tooled spine and board edges, mottled edges. [2], "234" [= 236], [10] pp. Full description
€ 18,000
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