Incunabula
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Chronology : 1460-1479
See also : Books Ancient maps Travel Judaica Literature Ancient England Poems and lyrics Inventions
Chronology : 1460-1479
1455 GUTENBERG Bible
Intro
Gutenberg developed in Mainz from 1450 the movable type printing using a printing press. At that time when illiteracy was 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.
Their 42-line Bible is the first book printed in Europe. The work is divided into two volumes, respectively covering the Old and New Testaments in the Latin text of the Vulgate, with a total of 1,282 pages 42 x 30 cm through 643 folios. It is printed on both sides in black ink in two columns per page of Gothic script imitating luxury manuscripts.
This is a superb technical achievement already including the strict alignment of the edges of columns, what is now called justification. A copyist would take three years to complete a manuscript of the same magnitude. Areas are left free for the client to execute the initials and illuminations. The color decoration and rubrication are not printed but a guide could be provided to the purchaser.
The original edition produced under the supervision of Gutenberg from 1452 is estimated at 150 copies on paper plus 30 copies on vellum. That first edition is available in 1455. 21 complete copies have survived, plus 13 limited to one of the two volumes and another 15 with several missing leaves.
This amazing productivity is not sufficient to bring profitability. This book printed only in black can not compete with the manuscripts. Fust is upset. Gutenberg goes bankrupt in 1456 after the justice court decided that the investment should be returned to Fust.
Their 42-line Bible is the first book printed in Europe. The work is divided into two volumes, respectively covering the Old and New Testaments in the Latin text of the Vulgate, with a total of 1,282 pages 42 x 30 cm through 643 folios. It is printed on both sides in black ink in two columns per page of Gothic script imitating luxury manuscripts.
This is a superb technical achievement already including the strict alignment of the edges of columns, what is now called justification. A copyist would take three years to complete a manuscript of the same magnitude. Areas are left free for the client to execute the initials and illuminations. The color decoration and rubrication are not printed but a guide could be provided to the purchaser.
The original edition produced under the supervision of Gutenberg from 1452 is estimated at 150 copies on paper plus 30 copies on vellum. That first edition is available in 1455. 21 complete copies have survived, plus 13 limited to one of the two volumes and another 15 with several missing leaves.
This amazing productivity is not sufficient to bring profitability. This book printed only in black can not compete with the manuscripts. Fust is upset. Gutenberg goes bankrupt in 1456 after the justice court decided that the investment should be returned to Fust.
1
1987 SOLD for $ 5.4M by Christie's
On October 22, 1987, Christie's sold for $ 5.4M a Volume I on paper, clean and fresh in its original Mainz binding. This book is currently kept at a private university in Japan.
2
1978 SOLD for $ 2.2M by Christie's
On April 7, 1978, Christie's sold for $ 2.2M a Gutenberg Bible on paper.
This almost perfect copy had been completed : the only missing leaf had been supplied in 1953 by a specialist bookseller.
It is currently kept at the Stuttgart State Library.
This almost perfect copy had been completed : the only missing leaf had been supplied in 1953 by a specialist bookseller.
It is currently kept at the Stuttgart State Library.
1460 the Mentelin Bible
2017 SOLD for € 820K before fees by Alde
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, 2017, Alde sold for € 820K before fees from a lower estimate of 450K a complete copy of the first volume including Genesis and Psalms of the Bible of Mentelin, lot 76. 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, 2017, Alde sold for € 820K before fees from a lower estimate of 450K a complete copy of the first volume including Genesis and Psalms of the Bible of Mentelin, lot 76. 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 Virgil
2013 SOLD for £ 1.18M by Christie's
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, 2013, Christie's sold for £ 1.18M from a lower estimate of £ 500K the works of Virgil published in 1470 by Vindelinus de Spira, lot 82. This book combining the Bucolica, Georgica and Aeneid along with comments (argumenta) is luxuriously printed on vellum and remarkably complete.
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.
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, 2013, Christie's sold for £ 1.18M from a lower estimate of £ 500K the works of Virgil published in 1470 by Vindelinus de Spira, lot 82. This book combining the Bucolica, Georgica and Aeneid along with comments (argumenta) is luxuriously printed on vellum and remarkably complete.
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.
1470 St. Jerome Epistolae
2010 SOLD for £ 940K by Christie's
The first printed book, in 1455, had been the Latin Bible, or more exactly the Vulgate of St. Jerome. Fust is the sponsor, Gutenberg the publisher and Schöffer (Schoeffer) the technician and probably the foreman. After the commercial failure of that operation Fust and Schoeffer remain associates in Mainz. After the death of Fust in 1466 Schoeffer becomes his successor and son-in-law.
After having been one of the most important Fathers of the Church, Jerome becomes indeed the subject of an intense investigation. By a research in ecclesiastical and monastical libraries, a Benedictine monk known as Adrianus Brielis increases to 200 items the corpus of epistles written by Jerome.
This outstanding work is classified thematically by Brielis and published by Schoeffer in 1470 in two successive editions, incorporating new discoveries and significant reworks in the second edition.
The first workshops of movable type printing in southern Germany are inseparable from the industry of the copyists but also of the illuminators. Once printed, the specimens were illuminated by hand in more or less extent to be marketed at various prices.
On July 7, 2010, Christie's sold as lot 10 for £ 940K a deluxe copy printed in Mainz in 1470 by Schoeffer of the Letters (Epistolae) of St. Jerome (Hieronymus) gathered by Brielis. It passed in Paris Hôtel Drouot by OVA - Aristophil operated by Aguttes on June 16, 2018, lot 26.
It is a large-size book on vellum 48 x 33 cm. This extensively illuminated copy is in a remarkable original condition, still in its binding in two volumes made in period in Erfurt.
This copy from the first edition has been extensively amended in handwriting to add the modifications in preparation for the second edition, providing a fair view of the concurrent practice of editing and printing for that operation. For sure the expensive double printing including red ink for the rubrication did not invite for a scrap of the obsolete copies.
The discussion above is mostly based on my 2010 post.
After having been one of the most important Fathers of the Church, Jerome becomes indeed the subject of an intense investigation. By a research in ecclesiastical and monastical libraries, a Benedictine monk known as Adrianus Brielis increases to 200 items the corpus of epistles written by Jerome.
This outstanding work is classified thematically by Brielis and published by Schoeffer in 1470 in two successive editions, incorporating new discoveries and significant reworks in the second edition.
The first workshops of movable type printing in southern Germany are inseparable from the industry of the copyists but also of the illuminators. Once printed, the specimens were illuminated by hand in more or less extent to be marketed at various prices.
On July 7, 2010, Christie's sold as lot 10 for £ 940K a deluxe copy printed in Mainz in 1470 by Schoeffer of the Letters (Epistolae) of St. Jerome (Hieronymus) gathered by Brielis. It passed in Paris Hôtel Drouot by OVA - Aristophil operated by Aguttes on June 16, 2018, lot 26.
It is a large-size book on vellum 48 x 33 cm. This extensively illuminated copy is in a remarkable original condition, still in its binding in two volumes made in period in Erfurt.
This copy from the first edition has been extensively amended in handwriting to add the modifications in preparation for the second edition, providing a fair view of the concurrent practice of editing and printing for that operation. For sure the expensive double printing including red ink for the rubrication did not invite for a scrap of the obsolete copies.
The discussion above is mostly based on my 2010 post.
CAXTON
1
1473 Historyes of Troye
2014 SOLD for £ 1.08M by Sotheby's
William Caxton travels in the service of Edward IV. His function is both diplomatic and trading, and in 1462 he is appointed governor of the Company of Merchant Adventurers of London, acting in Flanders which was then under Burgundian rule.
He is a very important promoter of English literature, himself making many translations of secular texts. He understands the cultural incentive of the printing press during a visit to Cologne in 1471. He immediately transfers a printing press to Bruges.
Translated from French by Caxton and printed in Flanders in 1473, the Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye is the very first incunabula in the English language.
The court of Philippe le Bon had been 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 newlyweds, he translates into English the Troy of Lefèvre. He finishes this work in 1471.
Charles the Bold was like his father a keen patron of the illuminators. Caxton had traveled throughout Europe and his confidence in printing is extraordinary in this context. The Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye becomes in 1473 or 1474 the first book printed in vernacular English. A copy was sold for £ 1.08M from a lower estimate of £ 600K by Sotheby's on July 15, 2014, 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.
He is a very important promoter of English literature, himself making many translations of secular texts. He understands the cultural incentive of the printing press during a visit to Cologne in 1471. He immediately transfers a printing press to Bruges.
Translated from French by Caxton and printed in Flanders in 1473, the Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye is the very first incunabula in the English language.
The court of Philippe le Bon had been 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 newlyweds, he translates into English the Troy of Lefèvre. He finishes this work in 1471.
Charles the Bold was like his father a keen patron of the illuminators. Caxton had traveled throughout Europe and his confidence in printing is extraordinary in this context. The Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye becomes in 1473 or 1474 the first book printed in vernacular English. A copy was sold for £ 1.08M from a lower estimate of £ 600K by Sotheby's on July 15, 2014, 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.
First book printed in English □#OnThisDay in 2014 a copy of The Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye, first published around 1474, sold at @Sothebys for £1,082,500. The book was a translation by British print pioneer William Caxton of a French original. pic.twitter.com/e2l95HRNLf
— GuinnessWorldRecords (@GWR) July 15, 2019
2
1477 The Canterbury Tales
1998 SOLD for £ 4.6M by Christie's
After his successful experience in Flanders, Caxton returned to London in 1476. His expertise in the new art of printing was eagerly awaited. He instals a press in Westminster, the first of its kind in England.
His passion for English literature is heightened by this possibility of dissemination. He is a great admirer of Chaucer, which he publishes without resorting to sponsors. Chaucer's masterpiece, The Canterbury Tales, becomes in 1477 the first masterpiece of English printing. This achievement is all the more meritorious as Caxton later complained of the poor literary quality of the manuscript at his disposal.
About ten copies of this original edition have survived, plus three important fragments. The only complete copy, which had belonged to King George III, is in the British Library. The illuminated copy kept in Oxford has been completed.
On 8 July 1998 at lot 2, Christie's sold for £ 4.6M the only copy in private hands, which is also one of the most complete with only 4 lacking leaves.
His passion for English literature is heightened by this possibility of dissemination. He is a great admirer of Chaucer, which he publishes without resorting to sponsors. Chaucer's masterpiece, The Canterbury Tales, becomes in 1477 the first masterpiece of English printing. This achievement is all the more meritorious as Caxton later complained of the poor literary quality of the manuscript at his disposal.
About ten copies of this original edition have survived, plus three important fragments. The only complete copy, which had belonged to King George III, is in the British Library. The illuminated copy kept in Oxford has been completed.
On 8 July 1998 at lot 2, Christie's sold for £ 4.6M the only copy in private hands, which is also one of the most complete with only 4 lacking leaves.
1477 Ptolemy Cosmographia
2006 SOLD for £ 2.14M by Sotheby's
In Greco-Roman antiquity, knowledge was transmitted and enriched by compilers. Chronologically, Ptolemy appears between Pliny the Younger and Galen, in the 2nd century CE. His celestial compilation totaled 1,022 stars grouped into 48 constellations. His geography listed the positions of 8,000 localities. His proposed method for drawing maps was a new algorithm for projecting the sphere onto a flat surface, developed from Euclid.
This monumental work is ignored in the Christian world and rediscovered by astronomers in Baghdad at the beginning of the 9th century. Around 1300 CE the Byzantine scholar Planudes finds a Greek version of the Geography of Ptolemy, which then takes the name of Cosmographia, and reconstructs the maps. A Latin translation of the text in 1406 by Jacobus Angelus is used for the first printed editions.
The 26 maps based on Ptolemy's informations are engraved on copper plates prepared by Taddeo Crivelli. They are published with the text of Jacobus Angelus in Bologna in 1477. Each map occupies a double page 42 x 56 cm overall, which is the prestigious Royal folio format used in particular by Gutenberg in his Bible.
On October 10, 2006, Sotheby's sold a complete copy of the Bologna Cosmographia with in period hand-coloring and binding for £ 2.14M, lot 394. It most certainly belonged to the bibliophile Hieronymus Münzer, who started his collection of printed books in 1476 and was also a keen traveler. This undocumented provenance is made plausible by its later belonging to the humanist Pirckheimer from whom a letter containing a posthumous praise of Münzer is known.
The next step is the integration of the explorers' discoveries. From 1477 Nicolaus Germanus creates a terrestrial and a celestial globe. In 1482 the Ulm edition of Ptolemy's Cosmographia is the first modern atlas, integrating the maps of Nicolaus.
This monumental work is ignored in the Christian world and rediscovered by astronomers in Baghdad at the beginning of the 9th century. Around 1300 CE the Byzantine scholar Planudes finds a Greek version of the Geography of Ptolemy, which then takes the name of Cosmographia, and reconstructs the maps. A Latin translation of the text in 1406 by Jacobus Angelus is used for the first printed editions.
The 26 maps based on Ptolemy's informations are engraved on copper plates prepared by Taddeo Crivelli. They are published with the text of Jacobus Angelus in Bologna in 1477. Each map occupies a double page 42 x 56 cm overall, which is the prestigious Royal folio format used in particular by Gutenberg in his Bible.
On October 10, 2006, Sotheby's sold a complete copy of the Bologna Cosmographia with in period hand-coloring and binding for £ 2.14M, lot 394. It most certainly belonged to the bibliophile Hieronymus Münzer, who started his collection of printed books in 1476 and was also a keen traveler. This undocumented provenance is made plausible by its later belonging to the humanist Pirckheimer from whom a letter containing a posthumous praise of Münzer is known.
The next step is the integration of the explorers' discoveries. From 1477 Nicolaus Germanus creates a terrestrial and a celestial globe. In 1482 the Ulm edition of Ptolemy's Cosmographia is the first modern atlas, integrating the maps of Nicolaus.
1482 Torah
2014 SOLD for € 2.8M by Christie's
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 was sold for € 2.8M from a lower estimate of € 1M by Christie's on April 30, 2014, lot 36.
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 was sold for € 2.8M from a lower estimate of € 1M by Christie's on April 30, 2014, lot 36.
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
1493 The Columbus Letter
2023 SOLD for $ 3.9M by Christie's
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.
Prepared in Spanish by Columbus himself, the original letter was addressed to Gabriel Sanchez, Treasurer General of the kingdom of Aragon. It was published in Barcelona as a two leaf folio in March or April 1493, possibly without the authorization of the author. The only surviving copy is held by the New York Public Library.
Translated into Latin, it was published in Rome around May of the same year. A quarto 4 leaves 20 x 14 cm of that Epistola resided for nearly a century in a private library. It was sold for $ 3.9M from a lower estimate of $ 1M by Christie's on October 19, 2023, lot 308.
The first illustrated edition, not located and undated, is identified as 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 after another text to the glory of King Ferdinand, a highly rare complete copy of the second edition of Basel was sold for $ 750K by Bonhams on September 26, 2017, lot 2.
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.
Prepared in Spanish by Columbus himself, the original letter was addressed to Gabriel Sanchez, Treasurer General of the kingdom of Aragon. It was published in Barcelona as a two leaf folio in March or April 1493, possibly without the authorization of the author. The only surviving copy is held by the New York Public Library.
Translated into Latin, it was published in Rome around May of the same year. A quarto 4 leaves 20 x 14 cm of that Epistola resided for nearly a century in a private library. It was sold for $ 3.9M from a lower estimate of $ 1M by Christie's on October 19, 2023, lot 308.
The first illustrated edition, not located and undated, is identified as 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 after another text to the glory of King Ferdinand, a highly rare complete copy of the second edition of Basel was sold for $ 750K by Bonhams on September 26, 2017, lot 2.
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.
Bidding for our sale FINE PRINTED BOOKS AND MANUSCRIPTS INCLUDING AMERICANA starts today!
— Christie's Books (@ChristiesBKS) October 5, 2023
Open until October 19 □
You can browse the sale here: https://t.co/gFfwJXBciy pic.twitter.com/BchYvnV6Mv
