Results from Swann's Early Printed, Medical & Scientific Books
New York—Swann Galleries auction of Early Printed, Medical & Scientific Books on October 17 featured religious texts, classics, law books, works on anesthesia & general medicine, as well as a selection of books of Iberian interest.
The top lot, a volume of polyphonic masses by Cristóbal de Morales entitled Missarum liber primus, brought $33,600*. It was the first time this book, a second edition of the first of two volumes, printed in Lyon in 1546, had been offered at auction.
Another auction first was an edition of the Biblia sacra, a Latin bible printed in Salmanca, 1555. This first attempt to publish the Vatable Bible in Spain was suppressed by the Inquisition, and the book, which sold for $28,800, is one of only four known copies.
Other early printed highlights included Jacobus Philippus de Bergamo’s world chronicle, Supplementum chronicarum, Venice, 1490, $10,800; The Byble, edited by John Rogers under the pseudonym Thomas Matthew, London, 1549, $8,400; Officium beatissime virginis Marie con li officij ordinati de ciaschun tempo, Venice, circa 1525, a volume of prayers to the Virgin in a contemporary Venetian binding, $10,800; John Milton, Paradise Lost…Second Edition, London, 1674, $5,520; and Engelbert Kaempfer, The History of Japan, second edition, two volumes, London, 1728, $8,400.
A run of illuminated manuscript leaves offered 14th-century vellum leaves from an illuminated Latin antiphonary with historiated initials, which brought up to $5,520 each; and a painting by the so-called Spanish Forger on a portion of 15th-century vellum choir-book leaf, late 19th-early 20th century, $6,000.
There was a large offering of medical & scientific books in the sale as well, including works by Sigmund Freud, Marie Curie, and Benjamin Franklin. Franklin’s Some Account of the Success of Inoculation for the Small-Pox in England and America, with contributions by William Heberden, set an auction record, bringing $15,600.
Also noteworthy were The Grete Herball, a fragment of the first edition of the first illustrated English herbal, Southwarke, 1526, $4,560; Claudius Galenus, Omnia opera, 9 (of 10) volumes in 5, the first edition to include contributions by Andreas Vesalius, Venice, 1541-42, $5,040; as well as Vesalius’s Opera omnia anatomica & chirurgica, two volumes, the only collected edition, Leiden, 1725, $5,520.
An illustrated catalogue, with complete prices realized, is available for $35 from Swann Auction Galleries, 104 East 25th Street, New York, NY 10010, and may be viewed online at www.swanngalleries.com.
For further information, and to consign to upcoming auctions of Early Printed, Medical & Scientific Books, please contact Tobias Abeloff at 212-254-4710, extension 18, or tabeloff@swanngalleries.com.
*All prices include buyer’s premium.
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The top lot, a volume of polyphonic masses by Cristóbal de Morales entitled Missarum liber primus, brought $33,600*. It was the first time this book, a second edition of the first of two volumes, printed in Lyon in 1546, had been offered at auction.
Another auction first was an edition of the Biblia sacra, a Latin bible printed in Salmanca, 1555. This first attempt to publish the Vatable Bible in Spain was suppressed by the Inquisition, and the book, which sold for $28,800, is one of only four known copies.
Other early printed highlights included Jacobus Philippus de Bergamo’s world chronicle, Supplementum chronicarum, Venice, 1490, $10,800; The Byble, edited by John Rogers under the pseudonym Thomas Matthew, London, 1549, $8,400; Officium beatissime virginis Marie con li officij ordinati de ciaschun tempo, Venice, circa 1525, a volume of prayers to the Virgin in a contemporary Venetian binding, $10,800; John Milton, Paradise Lost…Second Edition, London, 1674, $5,520; and Engelbert Kaempfer, The History of Japan, second edition, two volumes, London, 1728, $8,400.
A run of illuminated manuscript leaves offered 14th-century vellum leaves from an illuminated Latin antiphonary with historiated initials, which brought up to $5,520 each; and a painting by the so-called Spanish Forger on a portion of 15th-century vellum choir-book leaf, late 19th-early 20th century, $6,000.
There was a large offering of medical & scientific books in the sale as well, including works by Sigmund Freud, Marie Curie, and Benjamin Franklin. Franklin’s Some Account of the Success of Inoculation for the Small-Pox in England and America, with contributions by William Heberden, set an auction record, bringing $15,600.
Also noteworthy were The Grete Herball, a fragment of the first edition of the first illustrated English herbal, Southwarke, 1526, $4,560; Claudius Galenus, Omnia opera, 9 (of 10) volumes in 5, the first edition to include contributions by Andreas Vesalius, Venice, 1541-42, $5,040; as well as Vesalius’s Opera omnia anatomica & chirurgica, two volumes, the only collected edition, Leiden, 1725, $5,520.
An illustrated catalogue, with complete prices realized, is available for $35 from Swann Auction Galleries, 104 East 25th Street, New York, NY 10010, and may be viewed online at www.swanngalleries.com.
For further information, and to consign to upcoming auctions of Early Printed, Medical & Scientific Books, please contact Tobias Abeloff at 212-254-4710, extension 18, or tabeloff@swanngalleries.com.
*All prices include buyer’s premium.
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