Books & Manuscripts

Commissione of Doge Francesco Donato to Vincenzo Gritti as Lieutenant of Udine, 1546. leone andante, St. Vincent Ferrer, Latin inscription reading ‘I Francesco Donato, by the grace of God, Doge of Venice, etc’, putti raising the Gritti family arms, antique armor and trophies. Paint and gold paint on vellum, height 24 cm by width 17 cm by depth 4 cm (closed). BOSTON, MA.- From May 3 to June 19, visitors to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum are invited to take a closer look at seven Venetian manuscripts from the museum’s extensive... [Lire la suite]

An autograph attributed to Italian High Renaissance Painter and Inventor Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), is presented to the media in Nantes December 6, 2010. The manuscript, written in 15th century Italian with words running from right to left, requires the use of a mirror to read. The manuscript was discovered after a journalist learned of the presence of the text in Nantes from a biography of the Italian painter. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe. NANTES (REUTERS).- A long-lost fragment of manuscript by Renaissance genius Leonardo da... [Lire la suite]

Lucien de Samosate. Florence, [Lorenzo d'Alopa], 1496. photo Audap & Mirabaud - Paris in-folio (330 x 235 mm) de 260 (sur 264) ff., reliure italienne du XVIIIe siècle vélin ivoire, dos à cinq nerfs plats orné de fleurons dorés, pièce de titre de maroquin vieux rouge. RARE ET PRECIEUSE EDITION PRINCEPS DES DIALOGUES DE LUCIEN, ENTIEREMENT IMPRIMEE EN GREC ET PUBLIEE PAR JANUS LASCARIS. Hain-Copinger, 10258*. - Polain, 2522 (un seul exemplaire détruit pendant la guerre). - Oates, 2441. - Indice dei incunabuli, 5834. -... [Lire la suite]

Album amicorum d'Hans Schuchmacher (Constantinople, 1587). photo Tajan - Paris Charmantissime petit volume, dans une exquise reliure renfermant une des plus riches & anciennes collections de papier marbré turc. Estimation : 15 000 / 20 000 € Superbe Album amicorum (Stammbuch) d'Hans Schuchmacher (1587), constitué de 174 feuillets de papier marbrés turcs (« ebru ») réunis dans une très belle reliure allemande ou italienne.ReliureReliure en plein veau brun (114 x 155 mm) à large décor doré à l'orientale : large fer de... [Lire la suite]

Livre d'heures par le « Maître de Liénard Baronnat » (Paris, 1500). photo Tajan - Paris Très beau livre d'heures parisien des années 1500, complet de toutes ses enluminures, très frais dans sa reliure d'époque enrichie vers 1700 de figures en argent repoussé & de pierreries - Estimation : 80 000 / 100 000 € Superbe livre d'heures sur parchemin, richement enluminé à Paris, vers l'an 1500, par le maître enlumineur qui travaillait pour Liénard Baronnat, conseiller du roi Charles VIII. Dans sa reliure d'époque, recouverte... [Lire la suite]

The Rochefoucauld Grail, in French, illuminated manuscript on vellum, c.1315-23. Lancelot about to behead Melyagans. Estimate: £1,500,000–2,000,000. Photo: Sotheby's. LONDON.- It is the greatest romance of chivalry produced in the Middle Ages, and its themes of friendship, treachery, ambition, achievement and star-crossed tragic lovers form the foundations of much of our modern literature. The stories of the quest for the Holy Grail, of the Lady of the Lake, of King Arthur and his court at Camelot, and of Sir Lancelot and Queen... [Lire la suite]

Jean Fouquet, Des cas des nobles hommes et femmes, about 1460. Tempera on parchment, 39.8 x 29.5 cm. Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich, Germany, Ms. Cod. Gall. 6 LOS ANGELES, CA.- History played such an integral role in defining national identity in France throughout the high Middle Ages that some of the finest illumination of the period is located within the covers of history manuscripts. On view in the Exhibitions Pavilion at the J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center, November 16, 2010 through February 6, 2011, Imagining... [Lire la suite]

A Pre-Raphaelite needlework book cover from 'The Book of Beauty'. Photo: Bonhams.. LONDON.- A pre-Raphaelite needlework book cover designed for The Book of Beauty: A Collection of Beautiful Portraits with Literary, Artistic and Musical Contributions by Men and Women of the Day, edited by Mrs F Harcourt Williamson and published by Hutchinson & Co in 1896, is to be sold at Bonhams, Knowle as part of its sale of Costume and Textiles on 27 July 2010. It has attracted a pre-sale estimate of £800 – 1,200. Of pale green satin... [Lire la suite]

A Book of Hours opulently illuminated for King François I of France by the Master of François de Rohan is expected to realise £300,000 to £500,000. Photo: Christie's Images Ltd., 2010 LONDON.- Christie’s announce that they will offer the first part of an extensive selection of exceptional medieval and renaissance masterpieces on 7 July 2010 in London. The Arcana Collection: Exceptional Illuminated Manuscripts and Incunabula Part I is an outstanding private collection which has been assembled over the past 3 decades and which... [Lire la suite]

Belles Heures of Jean of France, Duc of Berry, 1405–1408/9. Herman, Paul, and Jean Limbourg (Franco-Netherlandish, active in France, by 1399–1416). French; Made in Paris. Folio 30r, The Annunciation. Ink, tempera, and gold leaf on vellum. 9 3/8 x 6 5/8 in. (23.8 x 16.8 cm). The Cloisters Collection, 1954 (54.1.1). One of the most beautiful manuscripts in the world is the lavishly illustrated medieval prayer book known as the Belles Heures (Beautiful Hours). It was created by the Limbourg Brothers—three of the greatest... [Lire la suite]