Auction 26: Books

Manuscripts and Incunables   ~ lots 833-872
Manuscript and Incunables section includes an interesting latin vellum manuscript from the second half of the 15th Century with the annotated genealogy of the kings of Britain, from Brutus to King Lear, King Arthur and Kadwalladrus (lot 836); a parchment leaf of antiphonary from the second half of the 14th Century with a splendid illuminated Initial ‘E’, Adoration of the Magi probably by Niccolò di Giacomo (lot 845); the extremely rare second Italian edition of the Herbal Book Tractatus de virtutibus herbarum, printed in 1499 (lot 842).

Medicine and Herbal books   ~ lots 873-982
There are more than 100 lots in the Medicine section of our auction: anatomical atlas, surgery essays, but also ancient herbal books, first edition books and several illustrated books, including the edition princeps of the works of Areteo and Rufo, printed in Venezia in 1552 (lot 879), the first edition of the Icones anatomicae by Caldani with more than 400 illustrations and anatomical plates (lot 890) the folio 1604 edition of Anatomia by Vesalio (lot 978), the Tabulae anatomicae by Eustachi (differents editions), the extremely rare second edition of De pulmonibus by Malpighi (lot 883), the surgical works of Da Vigo (lot 900) and Della Croce (lot 902) and also the De anatome by Guidi (lot 921), the original edition of Rariorum plantarum historia by L’Escluse (lot 926),and the Plantarum seu Stirpium Historia, herbal book by Matthias de l’Obel printed in 1576 (lot 927) and the rare first edition of Libri dell’historia & materia medicinale by Mattioli (lot 938). The section includes several volumes from the medicine collection of Dr. Vincenzo Gallucci, one of the most important Italian heart surgeon and the very first doing a heart transplant in 1985.

Italian literature including important first editions   ~ lots 983-1096
The catalogue includes a section of Italian Literature, with many first editions: 114 lots (983 – 1096) from 1500 to 1900, such as, for instance, ten different editions of the Gerusalemme liberata (lots 1069-1081), with the precious edition illustrated by Piazzetta (lot 1076). We’d like to suggest you the first edition of the Vellutello’s comment to the Commedia (lot 984), the Sogno d'un mattino di primavera by D'Annunzio, with the author’s dedication to Jacopo Caproni (lot 1021), the 1840’s edition of the I Promessi Sposi by Manzoni with contemporary binding (lot 1047), the extremely rare first edition of Le avventure di Pinocchio by Collodi (lot 1018), of Sepolcri by Foscolo (lot 1029), of Canti by Leopardi (lot 1039) and of Il fu Mattia Pascal by Pirandello (lot 1061). Last but not least the first edition of Senilità by Svevo, with the author’s dedication "Ai miei Schmitz" (lot 1068).

Books from 15th to 20th Century    ~ lots 1097-1475
Amongst the almost 400 works of this section we would like to suggest you some important edition in our catalogue: 4 (of 5) books of the Storia naturale degli Uccelli by Manetti (lot 1326), the first edition of Locupletissimi rerum naturalium Thesauri by Seba, complete with all the volumes (lot 1428), the original edition of Boschini's Regno di tutta Candia (lot 1175), the original edition of the Encyclopédie by Diderot-D'Alambert (lot 1233), some editions of La Fontaine’s works, including Fables choisies del 1755 (lot 1304), a beautiful mosaic binding in full green morocco signed by Canape R.D. (lot 1344) and many others interesting editions.