Antiquariatsmesse Stuttgart 2022 - Katalog

Peter Harrington Ltd
Peter Harrington
100 Fulham Road · London SW3 6HS, Großbritannien
Telefon +44 (0)20 7591 0220
E-Mail: mail@peterharrington.co.uk · Internet: www.peterharrington.co.uk
Schöne und seltene Bücher des 15. bis 20. Jahrhunderts
Vellucent binding by Cedric Chivers
Beardsley, Aubrey (illus.); Malory, Sir Thomas.
Le Morte Darthur. London: J. M. Dent,
1893. € 18 000,–
2 volumes, large square octavo (240 × 192 mm). Contemporary
full vellum over bevelled boards by Cedric
Chivers of Bath for Bumpus of London, gilt-panelled
spines with hand-painted art nouveau-style lettering
and scrolling floriate motifs, each front cover with a
hand-painted scene taken from Beardsley’s designs,
gilt turn-ins, floriate endpapers, cream silk gutters, top
edges gilt, others untrimmed. Gravure frontispieces, 18
full-page wood engravings, c.350 repeated designs for
chapter headings and borders, all by Beardsley. Spines
slightly faded, a little rubbed and soiled, very occasional
faint foxing to contents; an attractive copy.
First Beardsley edition, one of 1,500 copies on ordinary
paper; this copy a stunning example of a “vellucent”
binding by Cedric Chivers of Bath, unsigned but a characteristic
example of this style. Chivers’s binding style
is produced by hand-painting the backing sheet of the
binding, which is subsequently covered in vellum that
has been shaved to transparency, and then tooled in gilt.
Chivers patented his vellucent method in 1898 and used
it to create some of the most beautiful books of the turn
of the century. Another 300 copies of Le Morte Darthur
were printed on Dutch handmade paper.
The East Indies and Persia, with exotic flora and
fauna encountered on the journey
Behr, Johann von der. Diarium, oder Tage-
Buch über dasjenige. Jena: Urban Spaltholtz,
1668. € 8000,–
Quarto (183 × 140 mm). 18th-century calf, skilfully rebacked
to style, boards attractively bordered in blind
with gilt flower-head tools at corners, gilt edges. Engraved
portrait frontispiece and elaborate emblematic
additional title page, 15 engraved plates, the view of
Batavia folding. Some early underlining in preface.
Generally browned as usual due to paper stock, small
paper repair not affecting text to title fore edge, two
small holes in lower blank margin of folding view of
Batavia, overall a very good copy.
First and only edition of this fascinating account of
the East Indies and Persia by a German soldier in the
service of the VOC. “Behr enlisted in 1641 and sailed
to Batavia about two years later … he went on to serve
in Java, as well as with the fleet of Johann Maetsuycker
on the Malabar Coast. Apart from a voyage to Persia,
Behr spent four of his six years with the VOC in Ceylon”
(Howgego).
A view of the attack on Qeshm is included in the somewhat
naïve but nonetheless splendid plates, which also
show Batavia, Goa, St Helena, and Kamron in Persia,
and images of some of the unusual flora and fauna encountered
by Behr – coconut trees, the cinnamon tree,
an elephant hunt, and flying fish. Highly attractive, the
book is extremely uncommon in commerce with just
one copy at auction in the last 50 years. – Landwehr,
VOC, 309.
Signed by Einstein, Mann, and Rosenbach
Einstein, Albert; Thomas Mann; A. S. W. Rosenbach.
Book Auction Dinner. New York: Joint Distribution
Committee and Committee for Christian
German Refugees, 1938. € 15 000,–
Octavo. Original wrappers by the Trade Bindery, front
cover lettered in black with original design by Rockwell
Kent. Housed in contemporary custom red cloth
chemise and half morocco box. Small nick and crease
to front wrapper fore edge, title verso and facing page
with offsetting from inserted newspaper clipping; a
near-fine copy.
First edition, signed by Einstein, Mann, and Rosenbach
under their respective forewords and prefaces; the catalogue
for a charity rare book auction for the benefit of
German refugees, held on 8 December 1938.
The sale was arranged by legendary American rare
book dealer A. S. W. Rosenbach, who for decades
supplied the American captains of industry, including
Folger, Morgan, and Huntington, with the remarkable
books that are still the cornerstones of their libraries.
The sale was held at his New York premises. Thomas
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