Incunabula
See also : Renaissance Books Maps Religious texts Judaica Literature Literature in English Poems and lyrics Inventions Ancient science Ancient Germany
Chronology : 1430-1459 1460-1479 1480-1499
Chronology : 1430-1459 1460-1479 1480-1499
1455 Gutenberg Bible
1987 SOLD for $ 5.4M including premium by Christie's
1455 The Bible of Gutenberg and Fust
2015 SOLD for $ 970K including premium
Gutenberg invented the movable type printing. At that time when illiteracy is common, a commercial application was not easy. Targeting the clergy and the monasteries, the inventor chooses to publish the Vulgate of St. Jerome. Fust is investing in the project.
The Gutenberg Bible is the first printed book and also one of the finest. It is printed in royal folio 39 x 28 cm in two columns per page of Gothic script imitating luxury manuscripts. Three years are needed to print 180 copies of this edition, from 1452 to 1455.
This is a superb technical achievement already including the strict alignment of the edges of columns, what is now called justification. A copyist took three years to complete a manuscript of the same magnitude, 643 folios distributed in two volumes.
This amazing productivity is not sufficient to ensure profitability. The book is printed only in black and areas are left free for the client to execute the initials and illuminations. The Gutenberg Bible can not compete with the manuscripts. Fust is upset.
In 1921 a bookseller decides to disassemble a copy that was already incomplete for selling it per individual sheet. However, he has the good sense of keeping together those surviving folios that constitute a complete chapter of the Bible.
Thus, the Book of Esther is composed of eight consecutive sheets from the Volume I. This set of good freshness had been deprived of two initials cut off at an unidentified date and now replaced by fac simile in front and back. It belonged since 1922 to the Jewish Theological Seminary which decided to sell it, preferring to encourage their researchers to the study of Hebrew texts.
The Book of Esther from the Bible of Gutenberg and Fust is estimated $ 500K for sale by Sotheby's in New York on June 19, lot 1.
The Gutenberg Bible is the first printed book and also one of the finest. It is printed in royal folio 39 x 28 cm in two columns per page of Gothic script imitating luxury manuscripts. Three years are needed to print 180 copies of this edition, from 1452 to 1455.
This is a superb technical achievement already including the strict alignment of the edges of columns, what is now called justification. A copyist took three years to complete a manuscript of the same magnitude, 643 folios distributed in two volumes.
This amazing productivity is not sufficient to ensure profitability. The book is printed only in black and areas are left free for the client to execute the initials and illuminations. The Gutenberg Bible can not compete with the manuscripts. Fust is upset.
In 1921 a bookseller decides to disassemble a copy that was already incomplete for selling it per individual sheet. However, he has the good sense of keeping together those surviving folios that constitute a complete chapter of the Bible.
Thus, the Book of Esther is composed of eight consecutive sheets from the Volume I. This set of good freshness had been deprived of two initials cut off at an unidentified date and now replaced by fac simile in front and back. It belonged since 1922 to the Jewish Theological Seminary which decided to sell it, preferring to encourage their researchers to the study of Hebrew texts.
The Book of Esther from the Bible of Gutenberg and Fust is estimated $ 500K for sale by Sotheby's in New York on June 19, lot 1.
#AuctionUpdate: Dating to 1455, this rare example of the Book of Esther from the Gutenberg Bible sells for $970k pic.twitter.com/OmXMzTmOeM
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) June 19, 2015
1460 The First Spin-Off of the Printed Book
2017 SOLD for € 820K before fees
The commercial failure of the 42-line Bible achieved by Gutenberg in 1455 did not prevent the propagation of the movable type printing by his former collaborators. For three years a small activity is maintained in Mainz only, with Fust and Schoeffer.
The first delocalized spin-off consists of two Bibles, both based on the 42-line Latin Bible and produced between 1458 and 1460 but not dated in the printing. Their oldest rubrication dates define a terminus ante quem at 1460 for the first of the two volumes of the 49-line Bible and at 1461 for the other volume and for the 36-line Bible. Rubrication is the addition of red color by hand to highlight important parts of the text and paragraph changes.
The origin of the 36-line Bible is not documented. It is known as the Bamberg Bible because most of the copies of which an early provenance is known had an owner near that city where Gutenberg had tried in vain to recreate his workshop. The 49-line Bible was printed in Strasbourg by Johannes Mentelin, previously established as a calligrapher.
These three Bibles have other characteristics in common. They were printed in two columns per page with similar papers and inks. The Mentelin Bible was made with an elegant and ephemeral pseudo-gothic typography. Thanks to its higher number of lines per page, this in folio Bible 41 x 30 cm is the most compact.
On October 17 in Paris, Alde sells a complete copy of the first volume including Genesis and Psalms of the Bible of Mentelin, lot 76 estimated € 450K. Here is the link to the website of the auction house. It is covered in a 19th century binding commissioned by a scholar in the spectacular Augsburg style of the 15th century.
The 49-line Bible launched the successful business of Mentelin, more famous with the first printing of a Bible in German in 1466.
The first delocalized spin-off consists of two Bibles, both based on the 42-line Latin Bible and produced between 1458 and 1460 but not dated in the printing. Their oldest rubrication dates define a terminus ante quem at 1460 for the first of the two volumes of the 49-line Bible and at 1461 for the other volume and for the 36-line Bible. Rubrication is the addition of red color by hand to highlight important parts of the text and paragraph changes.
The origin of the 36-line Bible is not documented. It is known as the Bamberg Bible because most of the copies of which an early provenance is known had an owner near that city where Gutenberg had tried in vain to recreate his workshop. The 49-line Bible was printed in Strasbourg by Johannes Mentelin, previously established as a calligrapher.
These three Bibles have other characteristics in common. They were printed in two columns per page with similar papers and inks. The Mentelin Bible was made with an elegant and ephemeral pseudo-gothic typography. Thanks to its higher number of lines per page, this in folio Bible 41 x 30 cm is the most compact.
On October 17 in Paris, Alde sells a complete copy of the first volume including Genesis and Psalms of the Bible of Mentelin, lot 76 estimated € 450K. Here is the link to the website of the auction house. It is covered in a 19th century binding commissioned by a scholar in the spectacular Augsburg style of the 15th century.
The 49-line Bible launched the successful business of Mentelin, more famous with the first printing of a Bible in German in 1466.
1470 Eternal Virgil
2013 SOLD 1.18 M£ including premium
Before the invention of printing, the poems of antiquity were transmitted through illuminated manuscript copies. Despite the acrimony of the destroyers of paganism, Virgil and Ovid survived. Over the centuries, the admirers of Virgil's perfection supported him by presenting him as a prophet, and he became untouchable thanks to the homage made by Dante.
In 1468 Venice hosts its first printer, Johann of Speyer, who had been a goldsmith in Mainz. Johann starts the task of publishing the masterpieces of Latin literature. The quality of his typography and layout is due to a clever imitation of the manuscripts.
In 1470, Johann died prematurely. His brother and collaborator Wendelin maintained until 1477 this excellent workshop now subject to the competition from Jenson. The tradition of the literary editions of Venice was launched. It will make the fame of Aldus.
On June 12 in London, Christie's sells the works of Virgil published in 1470 by Vindelinus de Spira. This book combining the Bucolica, Georgica and Aeneid along with comments (argumenta) is luxuriously printed on vellum and remarkably complete. It is estimated £ 500K. Here is the link to the catalog.
The Virgil of Wendelin is not the editio princeps but it is equally remarkable because it was built from a manuscript of a high literary fidelity.
POST SALE COMMENT
Very good price, £ 1.18 million including premium, for this incunabula produced by one of the best workshops of the time.
In 1468 Venice hosts its first printer, Johann of Speyer, who had been a goldsmith in Mainz. Johann starts the task of publishing the masterpieces of Latin literature. The quality of his typography and layout is due to a clever imitation of the manuscripts.
In 1470, Johann died prematurely. His brother and collaborator Wendelin maintained until 1477 this excellent workshop now subject to the competition from Jenson. The tradition of the literary editions of Venice was launched. It will make the fame of Aldus.
On June 12 in London, Christie's sells the works of Virgil published in 1470 by Vindelinus de Spira. This book combining the Bucolica, Georgica and Aeneid along with comments (argumenta) is luxuriously printed on vellum and remarkably complete. It is estimated £ 500K. Here is the link to the catalog.
The Virgil of Wendelin is not the editio princeps but it is equally remarkable because it was built from a manuscript of a high literary fidelity.
POST SALE COMMENT
Very good price, £ 1.18 million including premium, for this incunabula produced by one of the best workshops of the time.
1470 Gutenberg's Workman
2010 SOLD 937 K£ including premium
Peter Schoeffer has his name inscribed forever in the history of books as being the main contributor of Gutenberg when he printed his Bible in 1455. His own career is also noteworthy.
The first workshops of movable type printing in southern Germany are inseparable from the workshops of copyists, but also, as we shall see, of illuminators. It is admirable, but logical, that some of the earliest incunabula are a synthesis of these wonderful techniques.
On July 7 in London, Christie's is selling a copy printed in Mainz in 1470 by Schoeffer of the Letters (Epistolae) of St. Jerome (Hieronymus).
This is a large-size book on vellum, 48 x 33 cm. The printing needed a second press-up per page to set in red the rubric headings according to the technique invented by the same printer in 1457 for the Psalmorum Codex.
Once printed, the specimens were illuminated by hand, more or less, to be marketed at various prices. The copy which comes up for sale is one of the most decorated and is in remarkable original condition. It is estimated £ 800K.
POST SALE COMMENT
Well deserved result for this remarkable illuminated incunable: 937 K £ including premium.
The first workshops of movable type printing in southern Germany are inseparable from the workshops of copyists, but also, as we shall see, of illuminators. It is admirable, but logical, that some of the earliest incunabula are a synthesis of these wonderful techniques.
On July 7 in London, Christie's is selling a copy printed in Mainz in 1470 by Schoeffer of the Letters (Epistolae) of St. Jerome (Hieronymus).
This is a large-size book on vellum, 48 x 33 cm. The printing needed a second press-up per page to set in red the rubric headings according to the technique invented by the same printer in 1457 for the Psalmorum Codex.
Once printed, the specimens were illuminated by hand, more or less, to be marketed at various prices. The copy which comes up for sale is one of the most decorated and is in remarkable original condition. It is estimated £ 800K.
POST SALE COMMENT
Well deserved result for this remarkable illuminated incunable: 937 K £ including premium.
1473 An English Merchant in the Burgundian Court
2014 SOLD 1.08 M£ including premium
William Caxton was a clever merchant who took advantage of the good relations between England and Flanders then under Burgundian rule.
The court of Philippe le Bon was the most luxurious in Europe. Perpetuating the traditions of chivalry, the Duke encouraged literature. One of his protégés, Raoul Lefèvre, successively wrote a story of Jason and a history of Troy.
Charles succeeds Philippe in 1467. His marriage in the following year with Margaret, sister of Edward IV, is an opportunity for Caxton. To please the new ducal couple, he immediately began to translate into English the Troy of Lefèvre. He finished this work in 1471.
Charles the Bold was like his father a great patron of the illuminators. Caxton had traveled throughout Europe and his confidence in printing is extraordinary in this context. The Histoire de Troie translated by Caxton becomes in 1473 or 1474 the first book printed in vernacular English.
A copy of this edition is estimated £ 600K, for sale by Sotheby's in London on July 15, lot 502.
This book was probably printed in Bruges in the entourage of Colard Mansion. Translator and probably editor, Caxton undoubtedly contributed actively to this achievement. After this successful experience, Caxton became the first English printer when he came back to London in 1476.
POST SALE COMMENT
This good copy of the first printed book published in the English language was sold for £ 1.08 million including premium.
The court of Philippe le Bon was the most luxurious in Europe. Perpetuating the traditions of chivalry, the Duke encouraged literature. One of his protégés, Raoul Lefèvre, successively wrote a story of Jason and a history of Troy.
Charles succeeds Philippe in 1467. His marriage in the following year with Margaret, sister of Edward IV, is an opportunity for Caxton. To please the new ducal couple, he immediately began to translate into English the Troy of Lefèvre. He finished this work in 1471.
Charles the Bold was like his father a great patron of the illuminators. Caxton had traveled throughout Europe and his confidence in printing is extraordinary in this context. The Histoire de Troie translated by Caxton becomes in 1473 or 1474 the first book printed in vernacular English.
A copy of this edition is estimated £ 600K, for sale by Sotheby's in London on July 15, lot 502.
This book was probably printed in Bruges in the entourage of Colard Mansion. Translator and probably editor, Caxton undoubtedly contributed actively to this achievement. After this successful experience, Caxton became the first English printer when he came back to London in 1476.
POST SALE COMMENT
This good copy of the first printed book published in the English language was sold for £ 1.08 million including premium.
1476 The Old Story of the Animals
2016 SOLD for $ 940K including premium
The intense and interdisciplinary curiosity of the fifteenth century anticipates the printing. Pope Nicholas V, who died in 1455, is developing a library that will be formalized 20 years later under the name of Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana.
All types of knowledge are now welcomed. In animal biology, the three books of Aristotle make the reference. Famous as a philosopher and as tutor of Alexander, Aristotle was also along with Euclid, Ptolemy and Hippocrates one of the best scientific compilers of antiquity. In three successive books, he provides the name and description of 500 terrestrial and marine animals and describes the mechanisms of reproduction and embryology.
Nicholas V commissioned to Theodorus Gaza a new Latin translation of the De animalibus grouping these three books of Aristotle. It is significant that Theodorus also translated the Botany by Theophrastus.
Twenty years later, Venice specializes in the printing of deluxe books with a superb typographical clarity developed by Jenson and the use of great papers that may compete with the illuminated manuscripts.
The princeps edition of the complete translation of the De animalibus by Theodorus is organized in Venice in 1476. The publisher is Ludovico Prodocator and the printers are Johannes de Colonia and Johannes Manthen de Gheretzem.
Two copies on vellum are known. One of them was acquired in 1784 by the French Royal Library, later Bibliothèque Nationale de France.
The other copy resurfaced a few months ago in Tennessee. A previous provenance was unambiguously re-established through its binding adorned with the coat of arms of a collector in the early nineteenth century. It is a great example of the extreme care applied to books in Venice just two decades after the invention of printing. The book is not illustrated but the initials are illuminated.
This only example on vellum in private hands is estimated $ 300K for sale by Bonhams in New York on June 8, lot 1.
The first Italian edition of the Natural History by Pliny was printed in the same year in Venice by Jenson. A copy was sold for € 195K before fees by Reiss on 1 November 2011.
All types of knowledge are now welcomed. In animal biology, the three books of Aristotle make the reference. Famous as a philosopher and as tutor of Alexander, Aristotle was also along with Euclid, Ptolemy and Hippocrates one of the best scientific compilers of antiquity. In three successive books, he provides the name and description of 500 terrestrial and marine animals and describes the mechanisms of reproduction and embryology.
Nicholas V commissioned to Theodorus Gaza a new Latin translation of the De animalibus grouping these three books of Aristotle. It is significant that Theodorus also translated the Botany by Theophrastus.
Twenty years later, Venice specializes in the printing of deluxe books with a superb typographical clarity developed by Jenson and the use of great papers that may compete with the illuminated manuscripts.
The princeps edition of the complete translation of the De animalibus by Theodorus is organized in Venice in 1476. The publisher is Ludovico Prodocator and the printers are Johannes de Colonia and Johannes Manthen de Gheretzem.
Two copies on vellum are known. One of them was acquired in 1784 by the French Royal Library, later Bibliothèque Nationale de France.
The other copy resurfaced a few months ago in Tennessee. A previous provenance was unambiguously re-established through its binding adorned with the coat of arms of a collector in the early nineteenth century. It is a great example of the extreme care applied to books in Venice just two decades after the invention of printing. The book is not illustrated but the initials are illuminated.
This only example on vellum in private hands is estimated $ 300K for sale by Bonhams in New York on June 8, lot 1.
The first Italian edition of the Natural History by Pliny was printed in the same year in Venice by Jenson. A copy was sold for € 195K before fees by Reiss on 1 November 2011.
1482 The Torah of the Quattrocento
2014 SOLD 2.8 M€ including premium
The Torah is a holy text whose writing on scroll must follow a meticulous rite. The invention of printing did however encourage the publication of Jewish books.
The Mishneh Torah is not for ritual use. This is a repetition of the Torah. One of them handwritten in Italy around 1460 in a book format was discussed in this column one year ago. Beautifully illuminated, it was made at a time when printing in Hebrew characters was not yet developed.
This prestigious book whose other volume is kept by the Vatican Library was withdrawn just before the auction to be sold jointly to the Israel Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Jews quickly feel the need of the printed book to share their learning. It is not a coincidence that their earliest printed book is not a Torah but a comment by Rashi. It was edited in Reggio di Calabria in 1475.
The most important Jewish book printed at that time is also not ritual. Made in Bologna in 1482, it was the first one to gather the five books of the Pentateuch, on 438 pages. The center of the page displays the sacred text which is surrounded by Rashi's comments. This book also includes some Hebrew words illuminated in gold on a dark blue background.
A copy on vellum is estimated € 1M for sale by Christie's in Paris on April 30. Here is the link to the Bloomberg story releasing this information.
POST SALE COMMENT
There was no doubt that this book is exceptional. It was sold for € 2.8M including premium.
The Mishneh Torah is not for ritual use. This is a repetition of the Torah. One of them handwritten in Italy around 1460 in a book format was discussed in this column one year ago. Beautifully illuminated, it was made at a time when printing in Hebrew characters was not yet developed.
This prestigious book whose other volume is kept by the Vatican Library was withdrawn just before the auction to be sold jointly to the Israel Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Jews quickly feel the need of the printed book to share their learning. It is not a coincidence that their earliest printed book is not a Torah but a comment by Rashi. It was edited in Reggio di Calabria in 1475.
The most important Jewish book printed at that time is also not ritual. Made in Bologna in 1482, it was the first one to gather the five books of the Pentateuch, on 438 pages. The center of the page displays the sacred text which is surrounded by Rashi's comments. This book also includes some Hebrew words illuminated in gold on a dark blue background.
A copy on vellum is estimated € 1M for sale by Christie's in Paris on April 30. Here is the link to the Bloomberg story releasing this information.
POST SALE COMMENT
There was no doubt that this book is exceptional. It was sold for € 2.8M including premium.
Past sales: an exceptional #Torah - the 1st appearance in print of the complete #Pentateuch: http://t.co/C70yK5GeDu pic.twitter.com/DgvyQ7d1Iq
— Christie's Books (@ChristiesBKS) March 28, 2015
1482 The Ulm Cosmographia
2014 SOLD for £ 510K including premium
Since antiquity, Ptolemy was the absolute and undisputed reference in astronomy and geography, as Galen was in medicine and Euclid in geometry. In the fifteenth century, scientists reconstructed his maps by relying exclusively on his texts. The first printed edition of Ptolemy's geography, entitled Cosmographia, was published in Bologna in 1477.
Nicolaus Germanus understood the need to integrate the recent discoveries within the work of Ptolemy. In 1477 he produced the first modern globes, celestial and terrestrial, for the Vatican Library.
In 1482, Nicolaus Germanus publishes the Cosmographia in a Latin translation by Jacobus Angelus, maintaining the attribution to Ptolemaeus but also inserting his own work. His Ptolemaic maps include for the first time Scandinavia and Greenland.
This edition produced by Lienhart Holle in Ulm is one of the finest incunabula, using wood blocks for printing the maps that are beautifully hand painted. It was a commercial failure but fortunately his undamaged equipment could be reused for the reissue by Reger in 1486.
The world map edited by Holle with Earth surrounded by the twelve Winds, 40 x 56 cm on a 42 x 58 cm sheet, was sold for $ 320K including premium at Christie's on April 1, 2014 over a lower estimate of $ 180K.
A Holle copy complete of its 133 leaves and 32 maps is estimated £ 350K, for sale by Sotheby's in London on November 4, lot 60.
A very fresh copy from the 1486 edition was recently discussed in this column. It was sold for £ 360K including premium by Sotheby's on April 29, 2014 over a lower estimate of £ 120K.
Nicolaus Germanus understood the need to integrate the recent discoveries within the work of Ptolemy. In 1477 he produced the first modern globes, celestial and terrestrial, for the Vatican Library.
In 1482, Nicolaus Germanus publishes the Cosmographia in a Latin translation by Jacobus Angelus, maintaining the attribution to Ptolemaeus but also inserting his own work. His Ptolemaic maps include for the first time Scandinavia and Greenland.
This edition produced by Lienhart Holle in Ulm is one of the finest incunabula, using wood blocks for printing the maps that are beautifully hand painted. It was a commercial failure but fortunately his undamaged equipment could be reused for the reissue by Reger in 1486.
The world map edited by Holle with Earth surrounded by the twelve Winds, 40 x 56 cm on a 42 x 58 cm sheet, was sold for $ 320K including premium at Christie's on April 1, 2014 over a lower estimate of $ 180K.
A Holle copy complete of its 133 leaves and 32 maps is estimated £ 350K, for sale by Sotheby's in London on November 4, lot 60.
A very fresh copy from the 1486 edition was recently discussed in this column. It was sold for £ 360K including premium by Sotheby's on April 29, 2014 over a lower estimate of £ 120K.
1486 The Ptolemy of the Renaissance
2016 SOLD for $ 730K including premium
Forgotten for a millennium in Western Europe, the Cosmographia by Claudius Ptolemaeus returned to Italy from Constantinople. Scholars immediately appreciate the great content of this antique work. Jacobus Angelus translates the Cosmographia from Greek to Latin circa 1406. Nicolaus Germanus later proceeds to update the work and incorporate the discoveries of his time.
Germanus had completed his work in 1482. Without removing the authorship reference to Ptolemy, he edited his maps in Ulm while using the translation by Angelus. The woodcut is a recent technique that significantly improves the diffusion of the maps. For the first time, a map by Germanus is signed by its engraver, Johannes (Schnitzer) in Armsheim. Armsheim is 30 Km away from Mainz, the city where Gutenberg had operated.
The first editor, Lienhart Holle, has no more chance than Gutenberg: he is bankrupted by the magnitude of his work. A copy from his edition was sold for £ 510K including premium by Sotheby's on November 4, 2014.
His experience benefits another printer in Ulm, Johann Reger, who recovers the undamaged materials and plates of Holle and republishes the Cosmographia without significant change in 1486. The book meets now the success that it deserved: the printing by Reger is estimated at about 1000 copies.
The best examples are colored by hand. A 1486 Cosmographia was sold for £ 360K including premium by Sotheby's on April 29, 2014 despite the absence of three sheets of text. Another copy described as splendid in a binding of its time is estimated $ 600K for sale by Christie's in New York on April 5, lot 8.
Germanus had completed his work in 1482. Without removing the authorship reference to Ptolemy, he edited his maps in Ulm while using the translation by Angelus. The woodcut is a recent technique that significantly improves the diffusion of the maps. For the first time, a map by Germanus is signed by its engraver, Johannes (Schnitzer) in Armsheim. Armsheim is 30 Km away from Mainz, the city where Gutenberg had operated.
The first editor, Lienhart Holle, has no more chance than Gutenberg: he is bankrupted by the magnitude of his work. A copy from his edition was sold for £ 510K including premium by Sotheby's on November 4, 2014.
His experience benefits another printer in Ulm, Johann Reger, who recovers the undamaged materials and plates of Holle and republishes the Cosmographia without significant change in 1486. The book meets now the success that it deserved: the printing by Reger is estimated at about 1000 copies.
The best examples are colored by hand. A 1486 Cosmographia was sold for £ 360K including premium by Sotheby's on April 29, 2014 despite the absence of three sheets of text. Another copy described as splendid in a binding of its time is estimated $ 600K for sale by Christie's in New York on April 5, lot 8.
A fantastic 1486 #Ptolemy #preview for sale on 5 April @ChristiesInc #NY #Perrette now in #London @ChristiesBKS pic.twitter.com/3Om4C9EJhC
— Stefania Pandakovic (@StefPandakovic) March 15, 2016
1494 The Other Side of the Sea
2017 SOLD for $ 750K including premium
The legendary wealth of Cathay and Cipango is much tempting and the ambitions of Cristoforo Colombo are oversized despite his modest origins. When crossing the sea from east to west he would bypass the dangerous commercial roads through Asia, no one would contest him to take possession of the visited territories and he would be rich, noble and powerful.
Having become Cristobal Colon, he seeks protectors in Portugal and Spain without giving up his extravagant demands. In 1492 the treasurer of the house of Castile cleverly observes that the expected gain is much greater than the investment and Queen Isabella accepts the project.
The successful trip and return of two of the three ships of Columbus's fleet across the Atlantic Ocean, from August 3, 1492 to March 4, 1493, was an unprecedented feat in which the officers had to calm the sailors, panic-stricken after losing sight of the land. Six inhabited lands had been discovered and Columbus correctly recognized that all of them were islands.
Columbus writes a letter which is not at all an account of the many adventures of the trip but a resolutely appealing report intended to encourage the financing of a second and even more ambitious expedition. The natives from then named Indians are shy and easy to satisfy although it is recommended to be wary against some cannibals. There will be no obstacle to the exploitation of gold and spices.
Probably prepared in Spanish by Columbus himself, the letter was published in Barcelona in March or April 1493. Translated into Latin, it was published in Rome around May of the same year. The first illustrated edition, not located and undated, is named the first Basel edition because it anticipates the more ambitious edition realized in that city with the same woodcuts in 1494.
The Basel editions confirm the political purpose of the letter. Four naive images illustrate the life on the islands and sketch their map beside a glorious portrait of King Ferdinand and the coat of arms of Spain, reinforcing the information of Columbus's allegiance to the Reyes Catolicos against the claims of recuperation by Portugal.
Bound in the 19th century in the follow of another text to the glory of King Ferdinand, a highly rare complete copy of the second edition of Basel is estimated $ 700K for sale by Bonhams in New York on September 26, lot 2. This book had passed at Nate D. Sanders Auctions on January 26, 2017.
Nearly ten years later Amerigo Vespucci will finally have the intuition that the islands and coasts discovered on the other side of the Atlantic were not the Indies but a New World.
Having become Cristobal Colon, he seeks protectors in Portugal and Spain without giving up his extravagant demands. In 1492 the treasurer of the house of Castile cleverly observes that the expected gain is much greater than the investment and Queen Isabella accepts the project.
The successful trip and return of two of the three ships of Columbus's fleet across the Atlantic Ocean, from August 3, 1492 to March 4, 1493, was an unprecedented feat in which the officers had to calm the sailors, panic-stricken after losing sight of the land. Six inhabited lands had been discovered and Columbus correctly recognized that all of them were islands.
Columbus writes a letter which is not at all an account of the many adventures of the trip but a resolutely appealing report intended to encourage the financing of a second and even more ambitious expedition. The natives from then named Indians are shy and easy to satisfy although it is recommended to be wary against some cannibals. There will be no obstacle to the exploitation of gold and spices.
Probably prepared in Spanish by Columbus himself, the letter was published in Barcelona in March or April 1493. Translated into Latin, it was published in Rome around May of the same year. The first illustrated edition, not located and undated, is named the first Basel edition because it anticipates the more ambitious edition realized in that city with the same woodcuts in 1494.
The Basel editions confirm the political purpose of the letter. Four naive images illustrate the life on the islands and sketch their map beside a glorious portrait of King Ferdinand and the coat of arms of Spain, reinforcing the information of Columbus's allegiance to the Reyes Catolicos against the claims of recuperation by Portugal.
Bound in the 19th century in the follow of another text to the glory of King Ferdinand, a highly rare complete copy of the second edition of Basel is estimated $ 700K for sale by Bonhams in New York on September 26, lot 2. This book had passed at Nate D. Sanders Auctions on January 26, 2017.
Nearly ten years later Amerigo Vespucci will finally have the intuition that the islands and coasts discovered on the other side of the Atlantic were not the Indies but a New World.
The #Columbus Letter on the discovery of #America, Menzies copy - Fine #Books & Manuscripts, Sept. 26 in #NY https://t.co/Y1KiN7IR6D pic.twitter.com/EbGP4voO9K
— BONHAMS (@bonhams1793) August 24, 2017
