Internationale Antiquariatsmesse New York 2026
30. April bis 3. Mai 2026
Park Avenue Armory
Stand B1
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1"Divine falcon, king of the gods, lord of powers": a Hymn to Osiris and the Book of CavesThe Funerary Papyrus of Iry-Iry.Probably from Memphis or possibly Thebes, 19th dynasty, ca. 1300-1160 BCE.
Auf AnfrageA hieroglyphic papyrus showing fragments of two vignettes of the deceased, written for the "Scribe of the Treasury of the Lord of the Two Lands, Iry-Iry", who is named four times in the surviving portions of the text. Iry-Iry appears to be unknown from other sources, and it has not been possible to identify other fragments of this manuscript. The …
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2An investigation into the death of an enslaved boy, one of the most famous and frequently cited papyriOrder and copy of a petition concerning the accidental death of the slave …Oxyrhynchus village of Senepta, 182 AD.
€ 95.000,00The death of an enslaved boy, discussed in an unusually complete papyrus scroll. Excavated as part of the Oxyrhynchus expeditions of Grenfell and Hunt in 1897, this remarkable document provides us with unique and personal insight into the social history of Roman Egypt, particularly in the areas of public medicine and slavery.
Dated to the seventh …
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3An early fourth-century tablet in Later Roman CursiveContract between Crescentius and Ianuarius.Goretianum, Byzacena, Roman North Africa, c. 301-350.
€ 45.000,00A wooden tablet from Roman North Africa, containing part of a contract between two individuals from the early fourth century AD. Written in ink on a reused wax tablet, this represents a rare survival of an original Roman document written in everyday script. The writing is in the Later Roman Cursive of the early fourth century, seemingly still with …
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4A fourth-century papyrus letter by a leader of gnostic women's circleAutograph letter signed, on papyrus.Egypt, early to mid-4th century ca. 330-340 CE.
€ 185.000,00Arguably one of the most famous early letters written by a woman, first brought to light in the 18th century and only recently released from institutional custody: an extraordinary opportunity to acquire a fourth-century document always considered beyond reach. It is written to a female recipient Atienateia, who still has a balance of 1,300 denarii …
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5"If ye find my beloved, tell him that I am sick of love": an early miniature Coptic biblical codexCantica Canticorum (Song of Songs 4:12-14 and 5:8-9), in Sahidic Coptic.Upper Egypt, c. 450 CE.
€ 35.000,00One of the earliest parchment manuscripts of the Bible in Coptic, consisting of two surviving leaves from a remarkably tiny miniature codex of the fifth century CE. Containing verses from the Song of Songs, they are originally from the same lost codex as two others now in the library of the famous Abbey of Santa Maria in Montserrat, Catalonia.
Schlüsser's …
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6Complete eighth-century Insular leaf, removed from a known Gospel book before AD 1000Epistola ad Laodicenses.North-central Britain, most probably Northumbria: likely Jarrow, Wearmouth or Tynemouth Abbey, eighth century, certainly prior to Alcuin’s revised canon; likely the third quarter thereof.
Auf AnfrageA complete eighth-century Insular leaf preserving the whole of the Pauline Epistle to the Laodiceans, preceded by the final words of Hebrews with its explicit and the incipit to Laodiceans, most probably a fugitive survivor from the manuscript now divided between CUL MS Kk.1.24 and BM Sloane MS 1044. It is distinguished not only by its early date …
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7A lost leaf from a rare Coptic textOn Christian Behaviour.Fayoum, Egypt, 998/999 CE.
€ 35.000,00A rare rediscovered leaf from one of only two known manuscripts of an original Coptic text from the first millennium CE, when it was at its peak as a literary language. Attributed to the great Abbot Shenoute, a central figure of Coptic spirituality and literature, the text provides exhortations and examples for persons at all levels of society to …
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8Byzantine Gospel Lectionary with ekphonetic notationGreek Gospel Lectionary with ekphonetic notation.Eastern Mediterranean, ca. 1050 / late 11th century.
Auf AnfrageA fine Byzantine lectionary preserving the Gospel pericopes in the liturgical sequence, with a fully developed system of ekphonetic notation for the chanting of Scripture.
Written predominantly in a regular, round 11th-century minuscule of the Perlschrift type in brown ink on ff. 1r-241v, with a substantial late 13th-century supplement (ff. …
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9One of only sixteen surviving copies: the sister volume to what is considered the earliest printed book preserved in AmericaDaban ruopo luomiduo jing (Maha-prajna-paramita sutra).Zhejiang Province, China, June 1162 = fifth lunar month, Renwu year Shaoxing reign.
€ 165.000,00Exceptionally early Song-dynasty printing: one volume of the first sutra from the Chinese Buddhist canon, translated from Sanskrit, precisely dated to the fifth lunar month of 1162.
Block-printing had developed in China by the ninth century CE, but almost none of these earliest efforts survive. This early 12th century example predates by five …
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![Zhi chan bing miyao fa - juan shang [Secret Essential Methods for Curing Meditation Sickness. First Fascicle].](https://inlibris.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/img-bn68854-324x324.jpg)
10Dated fascicle from the Goryeo TripitakaZhi chan bing miyao fa - juan shang [Secret Essential Methods for Curing …Korea, 1244 CE.
€ 60.000,00A complete dated fascicle from the Goryeo Tripitaka. The "Zhi chan bing miyao fa" is a Mahayana-inflected sutra that details the methods for meditators to cure physical and mental illnesses when practicing meditation in a secluded place. An apocryphal Chinese Buddhist sutra, it was written in the fifth century "in the form of Indian Buddhist sutras …
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11An exceptionally large and abundantly illuminated medieval Bible from northern FranceBiblia sacra latina. Vulgate version with the prologue of St. Jerome and …Northern France, c. 1250.
€ 200.000,00With its original wide margins, this unusually large thirteenth-century Bible is notable for its virtually untrimmed state, a relative rarity for volumes that have been rebound over the centuries. Together with its exceptionally abundant and lively illumination, the fine decorated and historiated initials, contemporary marginalia, commentary and …
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12A lavishly illustrated portable Bible from southern Italy, Dominican useBiblia latina. Illuminated.Southern Italy, ca. 1260.
€ 480.000,00A lavishly illustrated, complete quarto Bible manuscript from southern Italy, decorated in the later 13th century, around the time of Emperor Frederick II. The content and order of the various books correspond entirely to those common for 13th century small-format Bibles. A highly unusual survival: portable Bibles were not usually illuminated (only …
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13Printing before Gutenberg: the earliest obtainable edition of Liu Wenshu’s cosmological medical classic, with pioneering hand mnemonicsSuwen rushi yunqi lun’ao.No place, 1279-1339 Yuan dynasty printing.
Auf AnfrageFoundational Song-era treatise on the five circulatory phases (wu yun) and six climatic influences (liu qi), here in a Yuan-period imprint - likely the earliest edition still surviving in private hands. It records the first published use of Chinese medical hand mnemonics, a distinct contribution to the Art of Memory and to clinical pedagogy in acupuncture …
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14Rare 1293 Royal Exchequer tally: the instrument from which the term ‘stock’ originally derivesBritish Exchequer tally stick.Westminster, 29 Sept. 1293 Michaelmas, in the 21st year of King Edward the First.
Auf AnfrageRoyal Exchequer tally stick ("stock"), recording the clearance of a sheriff’s account under Edward I: the surviving long half of a split instrument intended to be paired with its foil at Westminster. The text acknowledges receipt "from Sir William de Turville, lately sheriff, of the remainder of his account - handed over and cleared" (transl.), …
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![Kitab Ruju' al Shaykh ila Sibah fi al Quwa 'ala al bah [The return of the old man to youth through the power of sex].](https://inlibris.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/img-bn64146-324x324.jpg)
15300 years earlier than any other known copy: the original Arabic version of the Kitab Ruju' al-ShaykhKitab Ruju' al Shaykh ila Sibah fi al Quwa 'ala al bah [The return of the …Near East, before 1338/39 739AH.
€ 480.000,00A defining survival: the earliest known manuscript of the most important Islamic work on sexuality, whose dating serves to narrow down the work's long-elusive authorship as never before.
Often erroneously attributed to its famous Ottoman Turkish translator, Ibn Kemal (1469-1534), the original "Kitab Ruju' al-Shaykh" was not an Ottoman invention …
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![Sokushingi Mitsudan-sho bassui [Extracts from Notes on the Esoteric Discussion of the Sokushin-gi].](https://inlibris.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/img-bn68875-324x324.jpg)
16How Buddhahood may be realized in one’s present body: a 14th-century manuscript of 28 metresSokushingi Mitsudan-sho bassui [Extracts from Notes on the Esoteric Discussion …Japan, 1352 CE = Shohei 7.
€ 110.000,00An imposing medieval witness to one of the central ideas of Shingon Buddhism. This complete two-volume manuscript preserves extracts from Seishin's Sokushin-gi Mitsudan-sho, with a dated colophon by its scribe Kenpo, and thus offers an early and clearly dated example of the scholastic tradition that grew around Kukai’s doctrine that Buddhahood …
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17Mid-15th-century Ethiopian amuletic prayerbook in original bindingPrayers to the Virgin Mary.Ethiopia, ca. 1450.
€ 85.000,00A rare medieval prayerbook from fifteenth-century Ethiopia, still with its original boards. Part of a small group of manuscripts produced around this time, whose most famous examples are in the British Library and the Berlin Staatsbibliothek, it is intended for private devotion and protection. The fine miniatures, depicting Ethiopian saints, place …
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![Regulae de constructione [Activum verbum est quod in o finitum format passiuum in or ut lego legor amo amor … tam arborem quam fructum significat].](https://inlibris.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/img-bn68469-324x324.jpg)
18The earliest known copy of the first humanist Latin grammarRegulae de constructione [Activum verbum est quod in o finitum format passiuum …Italy, Veneto possibly Verona, 1463.
€ 65.000,00An exceptional medieval manuscript of Gaspar of Verona's Latin grammar "Regulae de constructione", here in the earliest known dated copy, signed and dated by the scribe and preserved in its original binding. This manuscript was created during the lifetime of the author, and barely a day’s ride from his hometown.
The "Regulae de constructione" …
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![Belli civilis libri decem (alias Pharsalia) [Mannaei Lucani Civilis belli sive Pharsaliae Liber primus incipit. Bella per Emathios plus quam civilia campos [...] tui natura relinquet].](https://inlibris.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/img-bn68470-324x324.jpg)
19One of the greatest Latin epics after the Aeneid, here in a fine illustrated copyBelli civilis libri decem (alias Pharsalia) [Mannaei Lucani Civilis belli …Italy, perhaps Mantua, 1469.
€ 95.000,00An attractive copy of Lucan's "Pharsalia", one of the greatest epics of antiquity, written in fine Humanistic script and illustrated with coloured topographic diagrams.
The stoic poet Lucan (AD 39-65) was born in Cordoba, Spain, and educated in Rome and Athens. Generally known as "Pharsalia", his magnum opus is an epic based on the civil war …
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20Rare mnemonic aid for preachersArs memorandi per figuras evangelistarum. (Schreiber's edition III).Southern Germany Nuremberg?, ca. 1475-1480.
Auf AnfrageThe final leaf of the "Ars memorandi", a block-book designed to help remember the order and principal topics of the various chapters of the Gospels. Based on a suggestion by Jacobus Publicius of Venice, such mnemonic aids were intended for young and less educated clergymen who needed to recall instantly chapters of the Bible; they were particularly …
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21Unrecorded, early guide to the Marvels of RomeMirabilia urbis Rome.Rome, ca. 1480-1500.
€ 12.500,00A unique, previously unknown and apparently early edition of the the classic medieval guide book to "the Marvels of Rome" as it was widely used by pilgrims from the twelfth to the fifteenth century and beyond, surveying the city’s topography, monuments and legends.
From the early 1470s to the first decade of the sixteenth century, over 100 …
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22First edition: a wide-margined copy in original bindingsChronicon (Summa historialis). Partes I-III.Nuremberg, 31.07.1484.
€ 38.000,00Editio princeps of Antoninus's monumental world chronicle, presented through a series of examples of righteous living, here preserved as an uncommonly wide-margined three-volume set in robust contemporary bindings. Issued by Anton Koberger, one of the first printers of Nuremberg and probably the most important printer-publisher of his time, the set …
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23In contemporary Spanish Mudejar bindings: one of the first Spanish works to follow the Ptolemaic geographical visionCommentaria in psalmos.Valencia, 06.09.1484.
€ 95.000,00Editio princeps of a cosmographically relevant Spanish work, apparently the first published in Spain to adhere to the Ptolemaic theory of the world, printed at the first press established in Valencia and bound in a fascinating, strictly contemporary Spanish "Mudejar" style binding.
The defence of the Ptolemaic model was a groundbreaking novelty …
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24Editio princeps of the Argonautica in Lascaris’s types, bound for RenouardArgonautica.Florence, 1496.
€ 95.000,00Editio princeps of the principal epic of the Alexandrian period, produced at Florence by the foremost Greek press before Aldus and edited by Janus Lascaris.
Based on the tenth century manuscript discovered by Giovanni Aurispa (Cod. Laurentianus XXXII 9), Lascaris’s edition established the Hellenistic epic for Renaissance readers and provided …
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25Early Druze manuscript of the Epistles of WisdomRasa'il al-Hikmah (Epistles of Wisdom), volume II.Levant, late 15th or early 16th century.
€ 65.000,00A rare surviving volume of the Druze holy writings, copied for use in the Levant and preserving twenty-six epistles from the community’s core scripture. This manuscript represents an exceptionally early and important witness to the secretive faith of the Druze, a small but enduring religious community rooted in the mountains of Syria and Lebanon. …
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![[Elementa geometriae]. Opera a Campano interprete fidissimo tralata [...]. (Ed. Luca Pacioli).](https://inlibris.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/img-bn68416-324x324.jpg)
26Luca Pacioli, Leonardo, and the Geometry of the Renaissance[Elementa geometriae]. Opera a Campano interprete fidissimo tralata [...]. …Venice, 22 May 1509.
€ 185.000,00A rare and celebrated edition of Euclid’s Elements, the first with the extensive commentary by the humanist Luca Pacioli (1445-1517), a Franciscan mathematician and close friend of Leonardo da Vinci. Prepared at Leonardo’s request, as stated in the preface ("carissimus Leonardus vincius"), this edition - a reprint of Erhard Ratdolt's 1482 famous …
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![Rationarum evangelistarum omnia in se evangelia prosa, versu, imaginibusq[ue] qua[m] mirifice co[m]plectens.](https://inlibris.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/img-bn68670-324x324.jpg)
27Rationarum evangelistarum omnia in se evangelia prosa, versu, imaginibusq[ue] …Pforzheim, 1510.
Auf AnfrageErstmals 1502 von Anshelm gedruckte "Ars memorativa" des Petrus von Rosenheim (1380-1433), "worin in 15 [...] Holzschnitten [...] die vier Evangelistensymbole vorgeführt werden. Das Buch soll dazu dienen, dass man sich einprägt, in welchem Evangelium und in welchem Cap. desselben die einzelnen Scenen aus dem Leben Jesu erzählt werden. Man sieht …
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![Psalterium David et cantica aliqua - Canticum canticorum [The Psalter and the Song of Songs in Ethiopic].](https://inlibris.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/img-bn67635-324x324.jpg)
28The first book printed in Ethiopic, in a 16th century German bindingPsalterium David et cantica aliqua - Canticum canticorum [The Psalter and …Rome, 1513.
Auf AnfrageA fine copy of the first book ever printed in Ge'ez, also "the first book to be printed in the West in an oriental language other than Hebrew, and the first psalter to be printed in a language other than Hebrew, Greek, or Latin" (Austern). Apart from the Psalter, it contains the Song of Solomon as well as Biblical hymns and prayers.
In his …
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29First printing of one of the great Halakhic codesZeh sefer Toldot Adam ve-Havah (ve Sefer Mesharim).Constantinople, 1516.
Auf AnfrageFirst edition of Jeroham’s famous halakhic code, "Toledot Adam ve-Havah", issued together with his "Sefer Mesharim". These are the principal works of Jeroham (also known as Rabbenu Yerucham), celebrated as the codifier of Jewish religious law. Born in Provence in the late 13th century, he was a student of Asher ben Jechiel (the Rosh) in Toledo, …
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![Kitab Uqlidis fi ‘ilm al-handasa [Tahrir usul al-handasa wa’l-hisab].](https://inlibris.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/img-bn68174-324x324.jpg)
30Safavid-period copy of al-Tusi’s recension of Euclid’s Elements with extensive diagramsKitab Uqlidis fi ‘ilm al-handasa [Tahrir usul al-handasa wa’l-hisab].Kitab Uqlidis fi ‘ilm al-handasa, ca. 1540, or first half of the 16th century.
€ 35.000,00Early Safavid manuscript of Nasir al-Din al-Tusi’s celebrated recension (tahrir) of Euclid’s Elements, preserving the full didactic programme of text and diagrams.
The copyist’s careful mise-en-page frames a dense but legible text in twenty lines per page, with theorems and constructions clarified by a sustained sequence of ruled geometric …
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![[Arabic Gospel lectionary].](https://inlibris.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/img-bn67392-324x324.jpg)
31Early Gospel lectionary, copied in Arabic, acquired by the Church of Nativity, reputed site of the birth of Christ[Arabic Gospel lectionary].Levant, possibly Aleppo, 15th or 16th century CE.
€ 145.000,00An Arabic Gospel lectionary acquired from the Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem, on 18 December 1733, with an inscription in an early Spanish hand, "Este livro de Evangelios es del Conv.do de Belen. Se compro en 18 d. Dez. 1733".
This Gospel lectionary was copied in Arabic for a Byzantine Orthodox or Melkite rite religious observance. The manuscript …
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![[Kethabha dh-Ewangeliyon Kaddisha]. Liber Sancrosancti Evangelii de Iesu Christo Domino & Deo nostro.](https://inlibris.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/img-bn68781-324x324.jpg)
32The first printed book in Syriac: a unique New Testament with handwritten notes from 16th-century Reformers[Kethabha dh-Ewangeliyon Kaddisha]. Liber Sancrosancti Evangelii de Iesu …Vienna, 1562.
Auf AnfrageNot merely the first book to be printed in Syriac, but the influential New Testament edited and supplemented with a primer by Widmanstetter. This copy was owned by a sixteenth-century Heidelberg student, and includes dedicatory inscriptions from several notable contemporary theologians. Containing pious exhortations in Hebrew, Greek, Latin and French …
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33Mattioli's whitweedOriginal large-format woodblock of Micromeria graeca (whitweed).Germany, before 1565.
€ 15.000,00Original woodblock carved by the editor and printmaker Wolfgang Meyerpeck (ca. 1505-80), based on a design by Giorgio Liberale (ca. 1527-80), to form one of the illustrations for the 1565 Latin edition of Mattioli's seminal Dioscurides commentary. It shows the Greek micromeria (whitweed, savory), a genus of flowering plants in the mint family (lamiaceae) …
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34From the library of the Jesuit priest Simon KhudayrAl-qamus al-muhit.No place, 1567 CE = 975 H.
€ 35.000,00Important, early manuscript of Al-Qamus by Firuzabadi, a Persian-born lexicographer who was long resident in Baghdad, Damascus and Jerusalem before settling in Mecca. His famous dictionary, completed in 1410 CE, contains about 60,000 entries, including several of Yemenite origin. It served as the basis of many later European dictionaries of Arabic. …
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![Gosannen kassen emakimono [Illustrated Chronicle of the Later Three Years War in Mutsu Province].](https://inlibris.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/img-bn68525-324x324.jpg)
35Pre-Edo emaki of samurai warfare, ex Franklin and Lefty LewisGosannen kassen emakimono [Illustrated Chronicle of the Later Three Years …Japan, 16th century CE or earlier late Muromachi or Momoyama period.
€ 165.000,00Pre-Tokugawa painted narrative handscroll, assessed by Dr James Ulak (Freer Gallery, Smithsonian Institution) as 16th century or earlier, making it a genuine pre-Edo survival rather than an Edo-period antiquarian re-creation. A category whose rarity beyond Japan Colin Franklin expressed with characteristic bluntness: an emaki exhibition "has never …
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36Early 17th century illuminated Qur'an from ShirazSafavid Qur'an.Shiraz, 22 Feb. 1616 CE = 4 Safar 1025 H.
€ 45.000,00An absolutely exquisite Safavid Qur'an decorated with six full pages of glittering, minutely detailed illumination with twisting floral borders and medallions in azurite or lapis lazuli. Following throughout the text are an elaborate 'unwan and marginal illuminated medallions and illuminated titles in white ruqa', and the juz' and name of the surah …
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![Xinke Zhang Tianru taishi pingshi Kongsheng jiayu [Newly Cut 'School Sayings of Sage Confucius', with Commentaries by Hanlin Scholar Zhang Tianru].](https://inlibris.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/img-bn68098-324x324.jpg)
37Illustrated Late Ming Woodblock Edition of the "School Sayings of Confucius"Xinke Zhang Tianru taishi pingshi Kongsheng jiayu [Newly Cut 'School Sayings …Hangzhou, 1631-1641.
€ 75.000,00The second known copy: a rare and handsomely illustrated late-Ming woodblock printing of the "School Sayings of Confucius", a collection of conversations that the philosopher supposedly had during his lifetime. At least partly apocryphal, they cover such topics as Confucius's life and character, his discussions on governance, ritual, and ethics, …
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38The fall of the self-proclaimed MessiahDeß vermeinten Jüdischen Messiae entdeckter Betrug und Abfall.Augsburg, 1666/1667.
€ 15.000,00An extremely rare broadside depicting the capture of the Ottoman Rabbi Shabbatai Zevi (1626-76), who proclaimed himself the Messiah, and his forced apostasy from Judaism to Islam. The event captured the imagination not merely of Jews who had long waited for the fulfilment of the Biblical prophecy, but also of European Christians. Apparently part …
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![Kitab bustan al-'arifin [The Garden of Sages].](https://inlibris.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/img-bn62346-324x324.jpg)
39Samarqandi's Bustan al-'arifin, purchased in Damascus by Johann Ludwig BurckhardtKitab bustan al-'arifin [The Garden of Sages].Syria?, 1673/74 CE = 1084 H.
€ 28.000,00An important religious and ethical treatise by the famous Hanafi jurist and Qu'ran commentator Abu al-Layth al-Samarqandi (944-983) with historically significant provenance and an interesting appendix of recipes for scribes on the verso of the final leaf, including a formula for a type of white-out, allowing the scribe to correct errors, and a recipe …
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![Hyakunin isshu zôsanshô [Commentary on One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets, with Explanatory Pictures].](https://inlibris.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/img-bn68506-324x324.jpg)
40Owned by one of the greatest Western collectors of Japanese books of all timeHyakunin isshu zôsanshô [Commentary on One Hundred Poems by One Hundred …Edo Tokyo, Empô 6 1678.
€ 35.000,00One of the canonical classics of Japanese literature: the "One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets", illustrated throughout in the sumi-e style by Hishikawa Moronobu (1618-84), undoubtedly the foremost Japanese book illustrator of the 17th century. This is a fine, complete copy of the first printing, predating the example in the Ryerson collection …
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41The third known copy: first edition of Micheli’s Sicilian baroque guitar manualLa nuova chitarra di regole, dichiarationi e figure, con la regole della …Palermo, 1680.
€ 35.000,00The exceptionally scarce first edition of Don Antonino di Micheli’s Palermo guitar method, issued in the year of his death and preserving the dedication to Don Alessandro della Torre, "Prencipe della Torre". Only two other copies are known, both in the Biblioteca Comunale di Palermo (cf. Failla).
A practical tutor for the five-course baroque …
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![Sharh Gulistan [Commentary on the Rose Garden].](https://inlibris.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/img-bn60713-324x324.jpg)
42Rare and comprehensive Arabic commentary on one of the greatest works of Persian poetrySharh Gulistan [Commentary on the Rose Garden].Ottoman Turkey, ca. 1700 / 17th century CE.
€ 18.000,00A rare example of an Arabic commentary on the famous Gulistan of Sa'di, composed in Istanbul by Mustafa Sururi Efendi (1491-1561) for his student, Prince Mustafa (1515-53), the son of Sultan Süleyman I. The colophon states that the work was completed at the end of Rabi' II 957 AH (May 1550 CE) in Amasiyah (Amasya, Turkey).
This is one of two …
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![Kitab madkhal al-eabad wa-arshad al-eabad li-subul al-rashad [Introduction à la vie dévote (Arabic): The Book of Introduction and Guidance for Servants to the Paths of Righteousness].](https://inlibris.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img-bn67393-324x324.jpg)
43A French saint's instructions, translated into Arabic and copied in JerusalemKitab madkhal al-eabad wa-arshad al-eabad li-subul al-rashad [Introduction …Ottoman Jerusalem, 04.04.1703.
€ 18.000,00An early Arabic translation of the popular spiritual Christian text composed originally in French by Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622 CE). St Francis was consecrated the Bishop of Geneva in 1602 and remained in the position until his death in 1622. The text was edited and completed shortly before the death of the saint and published in 1619. Remarkably, …
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44Imperial Ethiopian codex with ninety-two paintingsThe Life Of Mäba’a S’eyon. (With:) The Acts Of Gäbrä Krestos (St. …Ethiopia, second quarter of the 18th century.
€ 135.000,00An especially fine Second Gondarine manuscript of two major Ethiopian hagiographical texts, preserved with an exceptional cycle of ninety-two paintings and distinguished by provenance from the library of Emperor Tewodros II. This copy matters not only for the scale of its illumination, but also for the unusually close documentation of its later history, …
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45An exceptional Ethiopian Manuscript with confirmed date, colophon and provenanceMiracles of Zär'a Buruk; the History of Abba Bula Abib; Miracles of the …Ethiopia, 1732-1754.
Auf AnfrageAn outstanding illuminated collection of miracles, largely associated with the important 17th-century religious reformer Zär'a Buruk, still in its contemporary binding. The numerous, beautifully executed illustrations depict episodes from the text as well as general biblical material, in particular the life of Christ, from the Annunciation through …
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46A famously knotty language problem: polychrome quipu plates, Umberto Eco’s copyLettera apologetica dell' esercitato Accademico della Crusca contenente …Naples, 1750-1751.
€ 35.000,00A defining survival of eighteenth-century colour printing and one of the earliest sustained European attempts to read the Andean quipu. Raimondo di Sangro’s "Lettera apologetica", outwardly framed as a defence of Madame de Graffigny’s fashionable epistolary novel "Lettres d’une péruvienne" (1747), is in fact the Prince of Sansevero’s most …
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47The Chinese original drawings which served as model for Amiot’s Vie de ConfuciusAlbum of 107 brush drawings, collected by Amiot in China and partly used …China, ca. 1780.
€ 250.000,00The original, long-lost Chinese drawings last seen by Cordier, the visual source for one of the most influential Enlightenment biographies of Confucius. Comprising 105 narrative scenes augmented by two portraits, the present album preserves the complete Chinese pictorial cycle after which Amiot prepared the reduced set of drawings which were used …
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!['Aja'ib al-Makhluqat wa Ghara'ib al-Mawjudat [A section of The Wonders of Creation and the Oddities of Existence].](https://inlibris.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/img-bn65432-324x324.jpg)
48Cosmology and wonder-tales, splendidly illustrated'Aja'ib al-Makhluqat wa Ghara'ib al-Mawjudat [A section of The Wonders …Persia, 18th century CE.
Auf AnfrageThe great work of the cosmographer al-Qazwini: a manuscript comprising several sections of his "'Aja'ib al-Makhluqat", wonderfully illustrated with over three hundred miniatures. These colourful paintings show an elephant giving birth, two unicorns, fifty-eight distinct species of bird, fifty-two animals (including camels, donkeys, and tigers), botanical …
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![[Mets’ihafe negešiti]. The Book of Kings in Ethiopic, containing 1-4 Kings, with diagrams of the Tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant.](https://inlibris.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/img-bn68894-324x324.jpg)
49Complete Ethiopic Kings with two Tabernacle diagrams[Mets’ihafe negešiti]. The Book of Kings in Ethiopic, containing 1-4 …Ethiopia, 18th century.
Auf AnfrageA complete 18th century Ethiopic manuscript of the Books of Kings (Mets’ihafe negešiti), remarkable for the addition of two full-page diagrammatic renderings of the Tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant and for the survival of its original high-status binding.
The codex transmits in Ge'ez the Ethiopian fourfold division of Kings, comprising …
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50Arabic poetryKitab Maqamat al-Hariri.Ottoman Syria or Egypt, late 18th to mid-19th c. CE.
€ 25.000,00A complete Ottoman copy of the Maqamat ("Assemblies" or "Sessions") of al-Hariri of Basra (1054-1122): a virtuoso display of Arabic poetry, consisting of fifty anecdotes written in stylized prose which used to be memorized by scholars. "Al-Hariri's Maqamat tie in with the tradition of al-Hamadani. Like he, al-Hariri tells us of the experiences of …
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![Autograph musical manuscript of two short works for piano: "All[egre]tto" (24 bars, in contrasting A major and A minor sections), and "Mazur" (14 bars in D minor), signed ("Ch") twice at the end of each piece.](https://inlibris.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/img-bn53632-324x324.jpg)
51Two short piano works inspired by Polish folk musicAutograph musical manuscript of two short works for piano: "All[egre]tto" …No place, ca. 1832-1833.
€ 240.000,00Two short piano works inspired by Polish folk music. Kobylanska considers that whilst both works are signed by Chopin, they are too unsophisticated to be his own compositions, and are perhaps transcriptions of Polish folk tunes: "Beide Stücke sind zwar mit Ch signiert, in ihrer ganzen Art jedoch zu primitiv, als daß man sie für eigene Kompositionen …
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![Fugaku Hyakkei [One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji].](https://inlibris.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/img-bn68480-324x324.jpg)
52The Goncourt copy of the most famous and influential illustrated book of JapanFugaku Hyakkei [One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji].Edo & Nagoya, 1834-1835 and 1847.
€ 160.000,00The copy owned by Edmond de Goncourt: the rare first issue of this renowned Japanese illustrated book, the "Falcon Feather" edition of the One Hundred Views of Mt. Fuji in fine impressions.
Hokusai's "Falcon Feather" Fugaku Hyakkei is perhaps the only Japanese woodblock book that transcends its nationality and ranks among the highest tier of …
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53Rare early Lovelace letter on theatre patronageAutograph letter signed (in the third person).St James's Square London, 25.02.1841.
€ 18.000,00A rare and early letter to Alfred Bunn, manager of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, informing him that she has decided to subscribe to a stall for the season and asking him to call at her home to settle its position and related arrangements: "Lady Lovelace presents Her Compliments to Mr Bunn, & has made up her mind to engage a Stall for the Season …
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54Manuscript history of Persia, with interesting provenanceKitab al-Mu'jam fi athar muluk al-ajam.Persia, 1847 CE.
€ 12.500,00A beautiful manuscript of this history of ancient, pre-Muslim Persia, decorated with an intricate gold and blue 'unwan headpiece and two pages of gold-decorated margins, once owned by a family friend of Oscar Wilde.
The famous chronicle was composed by Sharaf al-Din Qazvini (d. 1339 CE) for the ninth Atabak of Luristan, the Hazaraspid ruler …
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55Edward Clifford’s Bible, with inscription by Saint Damien of Molokai, the Apostle of the LepersThe English Version of the Polyglot Bible Containing the Old and New Testaments: …London, ca. 1865.
€ 75.000,00The British artist Edward Clifford’s Bible with an inscription by Saint Damien of Molokai: a heavily worked and extraordinarily personal copy of Bagster’s English Polyglot Bible, transformed by the owner into a hybrid of devotional book, travel diary, sketch-album, and memorial volume, and inscribed by Damien at Kalawao on 20 December 1888, only …
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56The first book in Braille script to be printed in the Arabic worldA successful method for teaching the blind to read and write Arabic, Turkish …Cairo, 1874 CE = 1291 H.
Auf AnfrageApparently unrecorded tactile primer for teaching blind readers and writers in Arabic, Ottoman Turkish, and Persian, followed by an Arabic alphabet and elementary writing lessons for older beginners.
The author was the founder and director of the Cairo School for the Blind, for which the book was printed. Having trained in Paris, Muhammad Anas …
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57Illustrated French manuscript of Sheikh Nefzaoui’s "Le Jardin parfumé", with Pozzi provenanceLe Jardin Parfumé. Manuscript copy of the French translation.France, 1877 CE.
€ 9.500,00A striking 19th-century French manuscript copy of Sheikh Nefzaoui’s legendary Arabic work on love and sexuality, known as "Al-rawd al-'atir fi nuzhat al-khatir" ("The Perfumed Garden of Sensual Delight)". Produced in 1877, this manuscript faithfully follows the clandestine 1876 edition of Auguste Regnault’s French translation, printed in only …
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![Bagh o Bahar [Garden and Spring].](https://inlibris.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/img-bn63894-324x324.jpg)
58A folktale masterpiece in UrduBagh o Bahar [Garden and Spring].India, likely Delhi, 19th century CE.
€ 18.000,00A beautiful piece of Urdu literature and a very scarce manuscript, translated in 1801 by Mir Amman (1748-1806 CE) from one of the most beloved Persian folk tales, Amir Khusrau's "Four Dervishes". While the published editions in English and Urdu of his text are available to scholarship, manuscripts are surprisingly rare, with only two listed in institutional …
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59A memory aid from a Navajo chanter's bundleNavajo painted memory aide.Probably Southwestern United States, ca. 1900-1920.
Auf AnfrageA memory aid from a Navajo chanter's bundle, sometimes referred to as a "muslin" after the trade cloth they are typically painted on. Variations in Navajo sandpaintings and prayer sticks number in the hundreds, and though it is preferred that a chanter know his material perfectly, some resort to memory aids. A mistake in a painting or prayer stick …
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60Exceedingly uncommon signed photographPhotograph signed and inscribed.No place, ca. 1884-1889.
€ 95.000,00Vignetted bust portrait by Gustav Adolf Schultze (1825-1897) of Naumburg, taken in late 1882 and showing Nietzsche as he appears on the frontispiece of the 1893 edition of "Also sprach Zarathustra". Inscribed in the image, lower centre, to Meta von Salis ("Fräulein von Salis"). Although Nietzsche was known to have sent photographs of himself to …