Literature
Except otherwise stated, all results below include the premium.
See also : Literature in French Poems and lyrics Books 17th century books Incunabula Prints Ancient prints Ancient England
Chronology : 1460-1479 1620-1629
See also : Literature in French Poems and lyrics Books 17th century books Incunabula Prints Ancient prints Ancient England
Chronology : 1460-1479 1620-1629
1315-1323 the Rochefoucauld Grail
2010 SOLD for £ 2.4M by Sotheby's
Illuminated manuscripts are among the most beautiful objects made in the Middle Ages. They are most often dealing with Christian themes. When a beautiful ancient manuscript on a secular theme comes up for sale, it is an event.
But the Saint Graal (Holy Grail) is still better than any other secular theme. This search for truth brings into action the kings, the knights, with the morals of that time that included the courtly love. The strength of this first real novel in Western literature is precisely the fact that without contradicting the Bible it does not imitate it in any way.
A manuscript in French has been copied and illuminated in Flanders or Artois between 1315 and 1323. This specimen is known as the Rochefoucauld Grail assuming that it was done at the request of the head of this very ancient aristocratic family.
Well studied by medievalists, this beautiful book is illustrated with more than 100 miniatures and nearly 100 large initials. It is in large format, 405 x 295 mm. Somebody calculated that it took 200 cows to supply its 450 vellum leaves.
Bound in three volumes, it was sold for £ 2.4M from a lower estimate of £ 1.5M by Sotheby's on December 7, 2010.
But the Saint Graal (Holy Grail) is still better than any other secular theme. This search for truth brings into action the kings, the knights, with the morals of that time that included the courtly love. The strength of this first real novel in Western literature is precisely the fact that without contradicting the Bible it does not imitate it in any way.
A manuscript in French has been copied and illuminated in Flanders or Artois between 1315 and 1323. This specimen is known as the Rochefoucauld Grail assuming that it was done at the request of the head of this very ancient aristocratic family.
Well studied by medievalists, this beautiful book is illustrated with more than 100 miniatures and nearly 100 large initials. It is in large format, 405 x 295 mm. Somebody calculated that it took 200 cows to supply its 450 vellum leaves.
Bound in three volumes, it was sold for £ 2.4M from a lower estimate of £ 1.5M by Sotheby's on December 7, 2010.
1464 Gillion de Trazegnies
2012 SOLD for £ 3.85M by Sotheby's
The courtly romance was very popular in the early Middle Ages. The heroic deeds attributed to the knights during the Crusades become legends in which fantastic scenes mingle with realistic episodes. The good knight lived the most fabulous adventures for the honor of his wife.
At the end of the Hundred Years' War, the Duke of Burgundy Philip the Good maintains a prestigious court and is a patron of arts and literature. The prose novel Gillion de Trazegnies, composed at that time by an anonymous writer, is an amazing example of the revival of the courtly romance, with all the features of this literary genre.
The Trazegnies family actually existed in Hainaut, and the legend of the bigamist knight was told a long time before the writing of the novel. The reader is made weeping with this story of a pilgrim to the Holy Land who becomes a prisoner, believes that his wife is dead, becomes unintentionally a bigamist and is released of this accidental sin by his chevaleresque attitude.
This novel was published in 2011 by the medievalist Stéphanie Vincent, who had access to the five copies in illuminated manuscripts of the original edition, made in Antwerp or Bruges for the Duke and his entourage.
Louis de Gruuthuse, stadtholder of Holland and Zeeland, was one of the five privileged who received such a copy, illuminated in 1464 with 8 large and 44 small images. Then it belonged to Francis I king of France and to the Dukes of Devonshire. It was sold for £ 3.85M by Sotheby's on December 5, 2012.
Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's introducing both this romance and a Mystère de la Vengeance.
At the end of the Hundred Years' War, the Duke of Burgundy Philip the Good maintains a prestigious court and is a patron of arts and literature. The prose novel Gillion de Trazegnies, composed at that time by an anonymous writer, is an amazing example of the revival of the courtly romance, with all the features of this literary genre.
The Trazegnies family actually existed in Hainaut, and the legend of the bigamist knight was told a long time before the writing of the novel. The reader is made weeping with this story of a pilgrim to the Holy Land who becomes a prisoner, believes that his wife is dead, becomes unintentionally a bigamist and is released of this accidental sin by his chevaleresque attitude.
This novel was published in 2011 by the medievalist Stéphanie Vincent, who had access to the five copies in illuminated manuscripts of the original edition, made in Antwerp or Bruges for the Duke and his entourage.
Louis de Gruuthuse, stadtholder of Holland and Zeeland, was one of the five privileged who received such a copy, illuminated in 1464 with 8 large and 44 small images. Then it belonged to Francis I king of France and to the Dukes of Devonshire. It was sold for £ 3.85M by Sotheby's on December 5, 2012.
Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's introducing both this romance and a Mystère de la Vengeance.
1477 The Canterbury Tales printed by Caxton
1998 SOLD for £ 4.6M by Christie'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 vernacular English. A copy was sold for £ 1.08M by Sotheby's on July 15, 2014, lot 502.
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.
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 vernacular English. A copy was sold for £ 1.08M by Sotheby's on July 15, 2014, lot 502.
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.
1623 SHAKESPEARE's First Folio
1
2020 SOLD for $ 10M by Christie's
The Globe Theatre is created in 1599. It is managed by the actors of the Lord Chamberlain's Men company in the form of a share capital. William Shakespeare has little stake in this business but he is the principal author of the plays which are performed there.
This man of the stage died in 1616 without having paid attention to the literary value of his own works. Half of his plays were unpublished. The others had been issued as poor quality booklets of which we can be assume that they were not verified by the author.
John Heminges and Henry Condell, who owned overall half of the shares of the Globe Theatre, judiciously decided to reconstruct with the best possible accuracy the whole of Shakespeare's dramatic work. They knew 36 plays of which 18 had never been published. They will have to buy back the publishing rights to some of them and to retrieve the partial manuscripts that had been entrusted to the actors to perform their own role.
The print is of the top luxury, in relation to the literary magnificence of the work. What would later be called the First Folio is a superb volume of 454 leaves 32 x 21 cm, printed in 1623 by Jaggard and Blount. It is forever used as the top reference for any Shakespearean scholarship.
The production run of the First Folio is estimated at around 750 copies. About 220 survive today. 56 are complete, of which only 5 are in private hands. All but six are from the third issue when the content was frozen and the error of a redundant page has been corrected.
Shakespeare is the greatest success in English literature and editions are multiplying. Garrick puts Shakespeare still higher in fashion and Edmond Malone devotes his life to the study of his work. Malone proposes in 1778 a chronology of the plays, observes the literary greatness of the First Folio and has a new edition published in 1790.
On October 14, 2020, Christie's sold a complete copy of the First Folio for $ 10M from a lower estimate of $ 4M, lot 12. In 1809 its owner had submitted it to Malone's appreciation just before having it bound. The expert's autograph letter is joined to the volume. Malone found it to be a fine, genuine copy of the First Folio. A few small repairs will be carried out according to his recommendations. This copy has retained the cleanliness observed by Malone more than 200 years ago.
This man of the stage died in 1616 without having paid attention to the literary value of his own works. Half of his plays were unpublished. The others had been issued as poor quality booklets of which we can be assume that they were not verified by the author.
John Heminges and Henry Condell, who owned overall half of the shares of the Globe Theatre, judiciously decided to reconstruct with the best possible accuracy the whole of Shakespeare's dramatic work. They knew 36 plays of which 18 had never been published. They will have to buy back the publishing rights to some of them and to retrieve the partial manuscripts that had been entrusted to the actors to perform their own role.
The print is of the top luxury, in relation to the literary magnificence of the work. What would later be called the First Folio is a superb volume of 454 leaves 32 x 21 cm, printed in 1623 by Jaggard and Blount. It is forever used as the top reference for any Shakespearean scholarship.
The production run of the First Folio is estimated at around 750 copies. About 220 survive today. 56 are complete, of which only 5 are in private hands. All but six are from the third issue when the content was frozen and the error of a redundant page has been corrected.
Shakespeare is the greatest success in English literature and editions are multiplying. Garrick puts Shakespeare still higher in fashion and Edmond Malone devotes his life to the study of his work. Malone proposes in 1778 a chronology of the plays, observes the literary greatness of the First Folio and has a new edition published in 1790.
On October 14, 2020, Christie's sold a complete copy of the First Folio for $ 10M from a lower estimate of $ 4M, lot 12. In 1809 its owner had submitted it to Malone's appreciation just before having it bound. The expert's autograph letter is joined to the volume. Malone found it to be a fine, genuine copy of the First Folio. A few small repairs will be carried out according to his recommendations. This copy has retained the cleanliness observed by Malone more than 200 years ago.
Only five complete copies of the 'First Folio' remain in private hands, and on 24 April in #NewYork, Christie’s will offer the first complete copy to come on the market in almost two decades during our #ExceptionalSale. https://t.co/orNUeX30H0 pic.twitter.com/k90SszIXD0
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) February 25, 2020
2
2001 SOLD for $ 6.2M by Christie's
On October 8, 2001, Christie's sold a copy of the First Folio for $ 6.2M, lot 100. It is complete and is considered one of the two finest copies in private hands.
Happy birthday #WilliamShakespeare! Here's the #FirstFolio we sold in 2001: http://t.co/5AT12N7jFV #otd #rarebooks pic.twitter.com/jNbnSAuScH
— Christie's Books (@ChristiesBKS) April 23, 20153
2006 SOLD for £ 2.8M by Sotheby's
On July 13, 2006, Sotheby's sold for £ 2.8M a complete copy in a mid-17th century binding. lot 95.
The image of the title page is shared by Wikimedia.
The image of the title page is shared by Wikimedia.
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#OnThisDay in 2006, Sotheby's sold Shakespeare’s First Folio in NYC for $5.2m. Having only previously been owned by two people, the First Folio is the first collected edition of plays, without which there may never have been a William Shakespeare. https://t.co/IMGeqgcaoI. pic.twitter.com/C89bgVNPHJ
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) July 13, 2021
4
2022 SOLD for $ 2.47M by Sotheby's
A copy of the First Folio was sold for $ 2.47M from a lower estimate of $ 1.5M by Sotheby's on July 21, 2022, lot 1002.
It has 16 leaves in facsimile. The names of five early owners, arguably Scottish, appear in manuscript prayers and clumsy poetry in the margins, nearly all of them uncorrelated with Shakespeare's text, for a total of 34 annotated pages. The 19th century morocco binding was made in Glasgow.
The quest for the exactitude of the text was extremely careful. The printing of the First Folio was suspended over a hundred times to make corrections so that one cannot find two identical books. On December 7, 2010, Sotheby's sold for £ 1.5M a First Folio in very good condition, lot 13. It has the rare feature of being complete as regards to the texts of all the 36 collected plays.
It has 16 leaves in facsimile. The names of five early owners, arguably Scottish, appear in manuscript prayers and clumsy poetry in the margins, nearly all of them uncorrelated with Shakespeare's text, for a total of 34 annotated pages. The 19th century morocco binding was made in Glasgow.
The quest for the exactitude of the text was extremely careful. The printing of the First Folio was suspended over a hundred times to make corrections so that one cannot find two identical books. On December 7, 2010, Sotheby's sold for £ 1.5M a First Folio in very good condition, lot 13. It has the rare feature of being complete as regards to the texts of all the 36 collected plays.
BLAKE
1
1795 Songs of Innocence and of Experience
2024 SOLD for $ 4.3M by Sotheby's
From his childhood and throughout his life, William Blake claims to have visions of God and the Angels. To please the archangels, he writes poems on the other world, illustrated in hand-colored engravings. That world shelters the dead, with whom he also communicates.
Of modest origin, son of a hosier, he follows an original path, wishing the union of all religions, in a hostile reaction against the evil philosophers of Reason.
To prepare his illuminated books, he develops in 1788 a technique of relief etched copper printing.
A prophetic book by Blake is made of individual etched plates. Each page contains the text of a poem supplemented or amended by a correlated illustration. Each copy is hand painted with another set of color by the poet-artist and his wife. They were unprecedented examples of what is now known as artists' books.
The sets titled There is no Natural Religion, in 1794, and All Religions are One, in 1795, clearly position Blake's mystical target.
Originally in 1789, Songs of Innocence is a collection of 23 poems dealing with a happy childhood and juvenile education in a pastoral harmony, a temporary and vulnerable condition rejecting the dogma of the original sin. Their 26 counterparts dealing with the fallen world including child labor and aging, conceived in 1794, are the Songs of Experience. Each plate is 11 x 7 cm.
Some songs may jump from one series to the other, and a combining of both in one volume is titled from 1794 as Songs of Innocence and of Experience Shewing the Two Contrary States of the Human Soul. The whole is the cornerstone of Blake's social commentary.
24 copies of the full set are known. Some of them are composite. The apart production of the Songs of Innocence was about 18 copies.
A composite set of 53 plates including the intermediate frontispieces is identified as the Copy J. Plates were inlaid to a larger sheet 20 x 12 cm in the later 19th century and bound in one volume ca 1900. It was sold for $ 4.3M from a lower estimate of $ 1.2M by Sotheby's on June 26, 2024, lot 1. It includes a detailed manuscript appreciation established by Coleridge in 1818, ranking the quality of the images. The image of the title page of this copy is shared by Wikimedia.
The poems were certainly intended by Blake to be sung. They were to inspire many musicians including Vaughan Williams, Britten and Dylan and albums were released by Allen Ginsberg and U2.
Of modest origin, son of a hosier, he follows an original path, wishing the union of all religions, in a hostile reaction against the evil philosophers of Reason.
To prepare his illuminated books, he develops in 1788 a technique of relief etched copper printing.
A prophetic book by Blake is made of individual etched plates. Each page contains the text of a poem supplemented or amended by a correlated illustration. Each copy is hand painted with another set of color by the poet-artist and his wife. They were unprecedented examples of what is now known as artists' books.
The sets titled There is no Natural Religion, in 1794, and All Religions are One, in 1795, clearly position Blake's mystical target.
Originally in 1789, Songs of Innocence is a collection of 23 poems dealing with a happy childhood and juvenile education in a pastoral harmony, a temporary and vulnerable condition rejecting the dogma of the original sin. Their 26 counterparts dealing with the fallen world including child labor and aging, conceived in 1794, are the Songs of Experience. Each plate is 11 x 7 cm.
Some songs may jump from one series to the other, and a combining of both in one volume is titled from 1794 as Songs of Innocence and of Experience Shewing the Two Contrary States of the Human Soul. The whole is the cornerstone of Blake's social commentary.
24 copies of the full set are known. Some of them are composite. The apart production of the Songs of Innocence was about 18 copies.
A composite set of 53 plates including the intermediate frontispieces is identified as the Copy J. Plates were inlaid to a larger sheet 20 x 12 cm in the later 19th century and bound in one volume ca 1900. It was sold for $ 4.3M from a lower estimate of $ 1.2M by Sotheby's on June 26, 2024, lot 1. It includes a detailed manuscript appreciation established by Coleridge in 1818, ranking the quality of the images. The image of the title page of this copy is shared by Wikimedia.
The poems were certainly intended by Blake to be sung. They were to inspire many musicians including Vaughan Williams, Britten and Dylan and albums were released by Allen Ginsberg and U2.
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2
1794 Urizen
1999 SOLD for $ 2.53M by Sotheby's
From his childhood and throughout his life, William Blake claims to have visions of God and the Angels. To please the archangels, he writes poems on the other world, illustrated in hand-colored engravings. That world shelters the dead, with whom he also communicates.
Of modest origin, son of a hosier, he follows an original path, wishing the union of all religions, in a hostile reaction against the evil philosophers of Reason.
To prepare his illuminated books, he develops in 1788 a technique of relief etched copper printing.
A prophetic book by Blake is made of individual etched plates. Each page contains the text of a poem supplemented or amended by a correlated illustration. Each copy is hand painted with another set of color by the poet-artist and his wife. They were unprecedented examples of what is now known as artists' books.
The sets titled There is no Natural Religion, in 1794, and All Religions are One, in 1795, clearly position Blake's mystical target.
The First Book of Urizen, conceived by Blake in 1794, is a parody of the Book of Genesis. In the invention of the artist, the long white bearded elderly patriarch is the evil God who manages the fall of the world at its origins. He is combining deism, the laws of Newton and the laws of Moses. The four elements are his sons.
8 copies are known. Only one, described as Copy E by Bentley, is in private hands. It was sold for $ 2.53M from a lower estimate of $ 500K by Sotheby's on April 23, 1999, lot 535 in the Whitney estate sale.
This 24-leaf book was presented in a slim green morocco slip case. Other copies had up to four more plates.
Of modest origin, son of a hosier, he follows an original path, wishing the union of all religions, in a hostile reaction against the evil philosophers of Reason.
To prepare his illuminated books, he develops in 1788 a technique of relief etched copper printing.
A prophetic book by Blake is made of individual etched plates. Each page contains the text of a poem supplemented or amended by a correlated illustration. Each copy is hand painted with another set of color by the poet-artist and his wife. They were unprecedented examples of what is now known as artists' books.
The sets titled There is no Natural Religion, in 1794, and All Religions are One, in 1795, clearly position Blake's mystical target.
The First Book of Urizen, conceived by Blake in 1794, is a parody of the Book of Genesis. In the invention of the artist, the long white bearded elderly patriarch is the evil God who manages the fall of the world at its origins. He is combining deism, the laws of Newton and the laws of Moses. The four elements are his sons.
8 copies are known. Only one, described as Copy E by Bentley, is in private hands. It was sold for $ 2.53M from a lower estimate of $ 500K by Sotheby's on April 23, 1999, lot 535 in the Whitney estate sale.
This 24-leaf book was presented in a slim green morocco slip case. Other copies had up to four more plates.
2007 Beedle the Bard by JK Rowling
2007 SOLD for £ 1.95M by Sotheby's
Joanne 'Jo' Rowling is 25 years old in 1990. She is a fragile young woman with no regular job. As a teenager she had enjoyed creating stories for her friends and reading The Lord of the Rings. Her train is four hours late and she has nothing else to do but daydream. She invents Harry Potter. The saga will be written under the pen name J.K. Rowling.
In seven books, Harry Potter reaches an unprecedented popular success with 450 million copies sold. J.K. Rowling uses much of her immense wealth for charities.
The author has learned to maintain the excitement through the media. In 2007, the final volume of Harry Potter is published. A character in this book reads a fictitious collection of fantastic stories entitled The Tales of Beedle the Bard.
J.K. decides to give a reality to this fictitious book. She writes five stories which she collects and prepares in seven autograph copies, illustrated by herself. The first six are sent by mail on December 12, 2007 in gratitude to friends who had helped her to publish the Harry Potter books.
The next day the seventh manuscript was sold by her at Sotheby's for The Children's Voice charity after an intense media buzz. Estimated between £ 30K and 50K and offered without buyer's fees, it is acquired by a broker acting for Amazon for £ 1.95M. See report in Wikipedia page dedicated to the title. The public is excited and frustrated by this book which is not accessible to them. J.K. authorizes Amazon to use their copy for preparing an edition which becomes a new best seller as soon as it is released.
The manuscript number three was sold for £ 370K by Sotheby's on December 13, 2016, lot 319. Please watch the video shared by the auction house, a reading at the fireplace by a storyteller. It was sold for $ 300K on June 28, 2024, again by Sotheby's, lot 1141. Please watch the 2024 video.
In seven books, Harry Potter reaches an unprecedented popular success with 450 million copies sold. J.K. Rowling uses much of her immense wealth for charities.
The author has learned to maintain the excitement through the media. In 2007, the final volume of Harry Potter is published. A character in this book reads a fictitious collection of fantastic stories entitled The Tales of Beedle the Bard.
J.K. decides to give a reality to this fictitious book. She writes five stories which she collects and prepares in seven autograph copies, illustrated by herself. The first six are sent by mail on December 12, 2007 in gratitude to friends who had helped her to publish the Harry Potter books.
The next day the seventh manuscript was sold by her at Sotheby's for The Children's Voice charity after an intense media buzz. Estimated between £ 30K and 50K and offered without buyer's fees, it is acquired by a broker acting for Amazon for £ 1.95M. See report in Wikipedia page dedicated to the title. The public is excited and frustrated by this book which is not accessible to them. J.K. authorizes Amazon to use their copy for preparing an edition which becomes a new best seller as soon as it is released.
The manuscript number three was sold for £ 370K by Sotheby's on December 13, 2016, lot 319. Please watch the video shared by the auction house, a reading at the fireplace by a storyteller. It was sold for $ 300K on June 28, 2024, again by Sotheby's, lot 1141. Please watch the 2024 video.
