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Chronology : 1460-1479
See also : Books Ancient science Ancient maps Travel Judaica Literature Ancient England Poems and lyrics Inventions
Chronology : 1460-1479
key event
Pope Nicholas V and the Foundation of the Vatican Library
The mid-15th century, particularly under Pope Nicholas V (pontificate 1447–1455), marks one of the pivotal moments in the history of European intellectual culture: the conscious, state-sponsored (papal-sponsored) attempt to recover, collect, translate, and preserve the entire corpus of ancient Greek, Latin, Hebrew, and Arabic learning. This effort is now generally seen as the direct precursor to both the High Renaissance and the printing revolution that began a decade after his death (Gutenberg’s Bible ca. 1454–1455).
Pope Nicholas V and the Foundation of the Vatican Library
Nicholas V (born Tommaso Parentucelli, a scholar from humble origins in Sarzana) was himself a humanist, bibliophile, and former custodian of the library of Cosimo de’ Medici in Florence. When he became pope, he decided to create in Rome a universal public library that would surpass all existing collections.
Key facts and achievements (1447–1455):
Nicholas V died on 24 March 1455. His successor Calixtus III (1455–1458) showed little interest in the library and even considered selling parts of it. The collection remained technically the personal property of the pope until:1475 – Pope Sixtus IV (Francesco della Rovere):
Pope Nicholas V and the Foundation of the Vatican Library
Nicholas V (born Tommaso Parentucelli, a scholar from humble origins in Sarzana) was himself a humanist, bibliophile, and former custodian of the library of Cosimo de’ Medici in Florence. When he became pope, he decided to create in Rome a universal public library that would surpass all existing collections.
Key facts and achievements (1447–1455):
- He spent enormous sums (estimated at least 20,000–30,000 scudi, an astronomical figure for the time) on manuscripts and on paying scribes, translators, and agents across Europe and the Levant.
- He dispatched agents (most famously Giovanni Tortelli, Poggio Bracciolini’s successor, and others) to monasteries in Germany, France, England, and especially to the Byzantine East before and immediately after the fall of Constantinople (1453).
- Greek refugees fleeing the Ottoman conquest (Bessarion, George of Trebizond, Theodore Gaza, John Argyropoulos, etc.) were welcomed in Rome and given salaries to translate and copy Greek texts.
- By Nicholas’s death in March 1455, the papal collection already contained approximately 1,200–1,500 manuscripts (Latin and Greek combined), making it the largest library in Western Europe at that moment — larger than the Medici library or the Visconti-Sforza one in Pavia.
- The complete surviving corpus of Greek literature (philosophy, science, medicine, mathematics, history, poetry, drama, rhetoric).
- First complete Plato in the West (donated by Cardinal Bessarion later, but Nicholas began the process).
- Aristotle in new, accurate translations (many commissioned by Nicholas himself).
- All known Greek medical writers: Hippocrates, Galen, Dioscorides, Paul of Aegina, etc.
- Greek mathematicians and astronomers: Euclid, Archimedes, Apollonius, Ptolemy, Theon, etc.
- Greek Church Fathers (many hitherto unknown in the Latin West).
- Latin classics (Cicero, Virgil, Livy, Tacitus, etc.), often in newly discovered or corrected manuscripts.
- Hebrew and Arabic texts in translation (especially medicine, astronomy, and philosophy): Averroes, Avicenna, Maimonides, Albumasar, etc. Nicholas employed Jewish and converted Jewish scholars for this.
- Medieval scholastic authors (Thomas Aquinas, Duns Scotus) and contemporary humanists.
- Theology, canon law, liturgy, but now side-by-side with “pagan” and non-Christian authors — a revolutionary decision.
Nicholas V died on 24 March 1455. His successor Calixtus III (1455–1458) showed little interest in the library and even considered selling parts of it. The collection remained technically the personal property of the pope until:1475 – Pope Sixtus IV (Francesco della Rovere):
- Issued the bull Ad decorem militantis Ecclesiae (24 June 1475), which formally established the Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana as a public institution.
- Appointed Bartolomeo Platina (the humanist historian) as the first official librarian.
- Provided an annual budget and four new grand rooms in the Vatican Palace (the original “Vatican Library” rooms, still partly preserved).
- By 1475 the library had grown to about 2,500–3,000 manuscripts; by 1481 (end of Sixtus IV’s pontificate) it reached roughly 3,650, still the largest in Christendom.
- For the first time since late antiquity, a single institution consciously aimed to possess “omnis scientia” — all branches of knowledge, sacred and profane, Christian and non-Christian, ancient and modern.
- The fall of Constantinople in 1453 dramatically accelerated the influx of Greek manuscripts and scholars into Italy exactly during and immediately after Nicholas V’s pontificate.
- The new attitude is reflected in Nicholas V’s famous remark (reported by Vespasiano da Bisticci): he wanted to build “ad communem doctorum utilitatem” — “for the common use of scholars.”
- This universalist vision directly fed the printing revolution: the first printers (Sweynheym and Pannartz in Subiaco/Rome 1465–1467, Johannes de Spira in Venice 1469, etc.) had many of their earliest texts supplied or corrected from the papal collection or from humanists who worked there.
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.
On October 22, 1987, Christie's sold for $ 5.4M a Volume I on paper, clean and fresh in its original Mainz binding. On April 7, 1978, Christie's sold for $ 2.2M a Gutenberg Bible on paper.
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.
On October 22, 1987, Christie's sold for $ 5.4M a Volume I on paper, clean and fresh in its original Mainz binding. On April 7, 1978, Christie's sold for $ 2.2M a Gutenberg Bible on paper.
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 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 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 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 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.
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 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.
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.
1469-1470 Natural History by Pliny
2025 SOLD for $ 1.27M by Sotheby's
A copy of Pliny's first edition, 355 leaves printed in Venice in 1469 in Royal folio 39.4 x 26.5 cm, was sold for £ 880K by Christie's on July 9, 2025, lot 46.
The second edition of Pliny's Historia Naturalis was printed in about 300 copies in Rome in 1469-1470, very soon after the first error-riddled edition printed in Venice.
An illuminated copy on 38 x 27 cm vellum folio was sold for $ 1.27M from a lower estimate of $ 900K by Sotheby's on December 9, 2025, lot 19. It is rubricated throughout in red and blue.
In the same sale from the same collection, a copy of the first edition in Italian, printed in 1476 in Venice by Nicolaus Jenson, was sold for $ 356K, lot 20.
Asking Grok to identify the printed book as a breakthrough for the dissemination of knowledge in the 1470s. Include in that review Pliny (an example for sale by Sotheby's on December 9, 2025, lot 19, see below) and Aristotle (a copy of De Animalibus sold by Bonhams on June 8, 2016, lot 1).
The Printing Press as a Breakthrough in Knowledge Dissemination: Focus on the 1470s
The invention of the movable-type printing press by Johannes Gutenberg around 1440 marked a pivotal technological revolution, but its true breakthrough as a tool for the mass dissemination of knowledge crystallized in the 1470s. During this decade, printing technology proliferated across Europe—from established hubs like Mainz and Rome to emerging centers in Paris, Lyon, Barcelona, Frankfurt, and beyond—enabling the rapid production and distribution of books on an unprecedented scale. This expansion slashed book prices by up to two-thirds between 1450 and 1500, democratizing access to texts previously confined to elite monasteries and wealthy patrons through labor-intensive manuscript copying. The result was a seismic shift in intellectual life: classical works, scientific treatises, and religious texts flooded markets, fostering the Renaissance's rebirth of learning, accelerating the Reformation's doctrinal debates, and laying the groundwork for modern science by standardizing and preserving knowledge against the errors inherent in handwritten copies. By 1480, over 110 European cities hosted presses, creating an "invisible web" of scholarship that transcended borders and social classes, transforming knowledge from a scarce commodity into a shared resource.
This era's impact is vividly illustrated by two landmark incunabula (early printed books produced before 1501), both exemplars of how printing revived ancient authorities like Pliny the Elder and Aristotle, whose ideas on natural history and philosophy had shaped Western thought for centuries. These volumes not only preserved but amplified their authors' legacies, influencing fields from biology to cosmology.
In reviewing such works, the 1470s emerge not as printing's origin but its apotheosis—a decade when the press evolved from novelty to engine of enlightenment. Pliny and Aristotle's editions, through their survival and market allure, remind us that this breakthrough wasn't merely mechanical; it was profoundly human, amplifying voices from antiquity to ignite Europe's intellectual fire. As these volumes change hands at auction, they reaffirm printing's legacy: knowledge, once fragile, became indelible.
Pliny the Elder: Historia Naturalis (Rome: Sweynheym and Pannartz, 1470)
Pliny's encyclopedic Natural History—a 37-volume compendium of Roman-era knowledge on astronomy, botany, zoology, and more—epitomized the 1470s printing boom's role in reviving classical science. Printed on luxurious vellum by Conrad Sweynheym and Arnold Pannartz, the pioneering German printers who established Europe's first press in Rome's Benedictine monastery of Subiaco in 1465, this edition was one of the decade's grandest productions. Limited to just 100 copies (with around 50 on vellum), it featured meticulous two-color rubrication, illuminated initials, and a clean Roman typeface, bridging medieval manuscript traditions with print's efficiency. Priced at an astronomical 25 gold florins—equivalent to a year's wages for a skilled worker—it targeted scholars and institutions, yet its standardized text corrected centuries of scribal corruptions, ensuring reliable dissemination of Pliny's empirical observations (e.g., on minerals and exotic animals) to Renaissance naturalists like Leonardo da Vinci.
A rare vellum copy from this edition, known as the Macclesfield copy (named for its provenance in the Earl of Macclesfield's library), highlights printing's enduring value. Acquired by collector Barry Yampol (1937–2023), whose dual passions for minerals and rare books mirrored Pliny's own encyclopedic scope, it will be offered for sale by Sotheby's on December 9, 2025, as lot 19 in The Library of Barry Yampol: A First Selection, Part 1. This auction, held in New York, underscores the book's status as a cultural artifact: its pristine condition, with original binding and provenance tracing to 16th-century English nobility, positions it as a tangible link to the 1470s' knowledge explosion. Estimated in the high six figures, it exemplifies how early printed editions continue to command premium prices, reflecting their role in perpetuating Pliny's "wonder cabinet" of the natural world.
The second edition of Pliny's Historia Naturalis was printed in about 300 copies in Rome in 1469-1470, very soon after the first error-riddled edition printed in Venice.
An illuminated copy on 38 x 27 cm vellum folio was sold for $ 1.27M from a lower estimate of $ 900K by Sotheby's on December 9, 2025, lot 19. It is rubricated throughout in red and blue.
In the same sale from the same collection, a copy of the first edition in Italian, printed in 1476 in Venice by Nicolaus Jenson, was sold for $ 356K, lot 20.
Asking Grok to identify the printed book as a breakthrough for the dissemination of knowledge in the 1470s. Include in that review Pliny (an example for sale by Sotheby's on December 9, 2025, lot 19, see below) and Aristotle (a copy of De Animalibus sold by Bonhams on June 8, 2016, lot 1).
The Printing Press as a Breakthrough in Knowledge Dissemination: Focus on the 1470s
The invention of the movable-type printing press by Johannes Gutenberg around 1440 marked a pivotal technological revolution, but its true breakthrough as a tool for the mass dissemination of knowledge crystallized in the 1470s. During this decade, printing technology proliferated across Europe—from established hubs like Mainz and Rome to emerging centers in Paris, Lyon, Barcelona, Frankfurt, and beyond—enabling the rapid production and distribution of books on an unprecedented scale. This expansion slashed book prices by up to two-thirds between 1450 and 1500, democratizing access to texts previously confined to elite monasteries and wealthy patrons through labor-intensive manuscript copying. The result was a seismic shift in intellectual life: classical works, scientific treatises, and religious texts flooded markets, fostering the Renaissance's rebirth of learning, accelerating the Reformation's doctrinal debates, and laying the groundwork for modern science by standardizing and preserving knowledge against the errors inherent in handwritten copies. By 1480, over 110 European cities hosted presses, creating an "invisible web" of scholarship that transcended borders and social classes, transforming knowledge from a scarce commodity into a shared resource.
This era's impact is vividly illustrated by two landmark incunabula (early printed books produced before 1501), both exemplars of how printing revived ancient authorities like Pliny the Elder and Aristotle, whose ideas on natural history and philosophy had shaped Western thought for centuries. These volumes not only preserved but amplified their authors' legacies, influencing fields from biology to cosmology.
In reviewing such works, the 1470s emerge not as printing's origin but its apotheosis—a decade when the press evolved from novelty to engine of enlightenment. Pliny and Aristotle's editions, through their survival and market allure, remind us that this breakthrough wasn't merely mechanical; it was profoundly human, amplifying voices from antiquity to ignite Europe's intellectual fire. As these volumes change hands at auction, they reaffirm printing's legacy: knowledge, once fragile, became indelible.
Pliny the Elder: Historia Naturalis (Rome: Sweynheym and Pannartz, 1470)
Pliny's encyclopedic Natural History—a 37-volume compendium of Roman-era knowledge on astronomy, botany, zoology, and more—epitomized the 1470s printing boom's role in reviving classical science. Printed on luxurious vellum by Conrad Sweynheym and Arnold Pannartz, the pioneering German printers who established Europe's first press in Rome's Benedictine monastery of Subiaco in 1465, this edition was one of the decade's grandest productions. Limited to just 100 copies (with around 50 on vellum), it featured meticulous two-color rubrication, illuminated initials, and a clean Roman typeface, bridging medieval manuscript traditions with print's efficiency. Priced at an astronomical 25 gold florins—equivalent to a year's wages for a skilled worker—it targeted scholars and institutions, yet its standardized text corrected centuries of scribal corruptions, ensuring reliable dissemination of Pliny's empirical observations (e.g., on minerals and exotic animals) to Renaissance naturalists like Leonardo da Vinci.
A rare vellum copy from this edition, known as the Macclesfield copy (named for its provenance in the Earl of Macclesfield's library), highlights printing's enduring value. Acquired by collector Barry Yampol (1937–2023), whose dual passions for minerals and rare books mirrored Pliny's own encyclopedic scope, it will be offered for sale by Sotheby's on December 9, 2025, as lot 19 in The Library of Barry Yampol: A First Selection, Part 1. This auction, held in New York, underscores the book's status as a cultural artifact: its pristine condition, with original binding and provenance tracing to 16th-century English nobility, positions it as a tangible link to the 1470s' knowledge explosion. Estimated in the high six figures, it exemplifies how early printed editions continue to command premium prices, reflecting their role in perpetuating Pliny's "wonder cabinet" of the natural world.
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.
First Books Printed in Venice
Printing in Venice was nascent before 1470. De Spira's press, operational from early 1469, produced exactly three books that year:
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.
First Books Printed in Venice
Printing in Venice was nascent before 1470. De Spira's press, operational from early 1469, produced exactly three books that year:
- Cicero's Epistolae ad familiares (first edition, 100 copies).
- Cicero's Epistolae ad familiares (second edition, 300 copies).
- Pliny's Historia naturalis (100 copies).
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
COLUMBUS Letter
1
1493 early Latin edition
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.
Response by Grok :
Quote
bitckoni @bitckoni06930 Oct 11, 2023
An Early Edition of an ‘Unhinged’ Christopher Columbus Letter Outlining What He Discovered in America Could Fetch $1.5 Million at Auction | Artnet News General, America, Art News, Artnet, artnet-news, auction, auctions, christie's, Christopher, Christoph… https://ift.tt/OXJLr3P
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.
Response by Grok :
Quote
bitckoni @bitckoni06930 Oct 11, 2023
An Early Edition of an ‘Unhinged’ Christopher Columbus Letter Outlining What He Discovered in America Could Fetch $1.5 Million at Auction | Artnet News General, America, Art News, Artnet, artnet-news, auction, auctions, christie's, Christopher, Christoph… https://ift.tt/OXJLr3P
- The image shows an early printed edition of Christopher Columbus's 1493 letter, likely from the Roman printer Stephen Plannck, which omitted details of his journey but claimed possession of the Indies, a strategic move later supported by the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas that divided New World territories between Spain and Portugal.
- Historical analysis, including the 1989 facsimile by Rumeu de Armas and 1993 translation by Zamora, suggests Columbus exaggerated discoveries (e.g., gold, spices) to boost Spanish support, with later trips revealing these claims were false, as noted in Christie’s auction essay.
- The letter’s $1.5 million estimate value reflects its rarity and role in early propaganda, challenging the sanitized "discoverer" myth, as DNA evidence (e.g., 2006 study in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology) confirms his remains but not his overstated legacy.
An Early Edition of an ‘Unhinged’ Christopher Columbus Letter Outlining What He Discovered in America Could Fetch $1.5 Million at Auction | Artnet News
— bitckoni (@bitckoni06930) October 11, 2023
General, America, Art News, Artnet, artnet-news, auction, auctions, christie's, Christopher, Christoph… https://t.co/CGEaRw74dp pic.twitter.com/9mbe1bqHKD
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
2
1494 2nd Basel Edition
2025 SOLD for $ 1.65M by Christie's
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 six of the same woodcuts in 1494 by Johann Bergmann. In that second Basel edition, the Letter is an appendix to a prose drama reminding the capture of Grenada by the army of King Ferdinand.
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.
A copy of the second Basel edition identified as the Menzies copy was sold for $ 750K by Bonhams on September 26, 2017, lot 2. This small 4to 22 x 16 cm was bound in the 19th century. The Columbus letter is complete.
Another example known as the Huth and McCoy copy was sold for $ 1.65M by Christie's on October 16, 2025, lot 31.
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.
A copy of the second Basel edition identified as the Menzies copy was sold for $ 750K by Bonhams on September 26, 2017, lot 2. This small 4to 22 x 16 cm was bound in the 19th century. The Columbus letter is complete.
Another example known as the Huth and McCoy copy was sold for $ 1.65M by Christie's on October 16, 2025, lot 31.
