60th New York Antiquarian Book Fair
March 5-8, 2020
Park Avenue Armory
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1One of the earliest textual witnesses for Ibn Sina's famous treatise: a complete 13th century manuscript, dated and signed by the scribeAl-Adwiyya al-Qalbiyya [Book on drugs for cardiovascular diseases].Central Asia, 1257 CE = 655 H.
InquireAn exceedingly early manuscript of Avicenna's most important contribution to the field of cardiology, dated and signed by the scribe Ali ibn Muhammad on the 29th of Jumada al-Ula in the year 655 H, placing it among the very earliest witnesses for the received text. The date of the manuscript has been confirmed in a paper analysis performed by Helen …
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2English Bible ManuscriptLatin manuscript on vellum.Northern France or England?, ca 1300.
€ 175,000.00A beautiful, complete mediaeval Bible written in a miniscule bookhand on extremely delicate vellum, probably copied in England or commissioned from there. As is common, the Bible is prefaced with the epistle of St Jerome to Paulinus (53: "Frater Ambrosius [...] moriturum", fols. 1r-3r), followed by Jerome's prologue to the Pentateuch ("Desiderii …
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315th century manuscript letter from Syria, with a postscript by "Marco Polo"Autograph letter signed.Homs Western Syria, 2 Aug 1407.
€ 45,000.00An early 15th century letter from a Venetian merchant based at Homs, a strategic trade centre of the ancient China Silk Road, to his brother Donato Soranzo (Donatus Supantius) in Tripoli, followed by a post-scriptum message from Marco Polo, probably a descendant of the famous traveller.
Both the letter and post-scriptum concern goods to be …
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4Finely illuminated Book of HoursLatin and French manuscript on vellum.Northern France Rouen?, last third of the 15th century.
InquireA meticulously penned and exceptionally finely illuminated livre d'heures from Northern France, possibly written in Normandy: the calendar commemorates St Romanus, the bishop of Rouen, in gilt letters (23 October). The miniatures include: folio 13r, the four evangelists; 25r, Annunciation of Mary; 42v, Nativity; 59r, King David; 72v, Crucifixion; …
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5"Intraboque torum, nuda puella, tuum": manual for the Holy Mass, including a manuscript about a wayward nun, "assolutamente oscena"Manuale parrochialium sacerdotu[m] multu[m] perutile. (Add: Latin manuscript) …Reutlingen, ca. 1492.
€ 12,500.00Fairly early edition of this manual for the Holy Mass, first published ca. 1483; this specimen made unique by including a contemporary manuscript poem about a bawdy nun. Quite rare even without such an addendum: copies of this incunable are attested in 19 holding institutions worldwide, only one in the USA (Bryn Mawr College, Goodhart Medieval Library).
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6Splendid vellum manuscript by Jean Coene, replete with illuminations of female saints, probably commissioned by a Paris nunneryLatin manuscript on vellum.Northern France, ca. 1500.
€ 185,000.00An uncommonly painstakingly prepared liturgical manuscript with remarkable illumination by the Parisian artist Jean Coene IV, known as the "Master of the Paris Entrances", probably commissioned for a nuns' order. Apart from the hundreds of initials, painted on gilt background and mostly decorated with flowers, berries, and leaves, the manuscript …
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7With two woodcuts by Albrecht DürerQuatuor libri amorum secundum quatuor latera Germaniae [...].Nuremberg, 5 Apr 1502.
€ 35,000.00Rare first edition of one of the finest and most interesting German woodcut books of its age. "Als Frucht der Erlebnisse während der zehnjährigen Wanderungen 1487/97 durch Deutschland erschien 1502 das Kaiser Maximilian I. gewidmete lyrische Hauptwerk des Celtis, 'Quatuor libri Amorum secundum quattuor latera Germaniae': vier kleine in sich geschlossene …
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8"I am a booklet, 'Enemy of Jews' by name"Ich bin ein buchlin. der Juden veindt ist mein name[n]. Yr schalckheit …Cologne, 3 Jan. 1509.
InquireOne of four issues all bearing the same date, likely the first edition (VD 16 cites three others printed by Erhard Oeglin in Augsburg). Since 1507 Pfefferkorn had published several anti-Jewish polemical pamphlets, prefiguring his all-out attack on Jewish books and writings. What began on the initiative of an unknown and uneducated convert soon grew …
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9The life of St. Francis in contemporary colourDie Legend des heyligen Vatters Francisci. Nach der Beschreybung des Engelischen …Nuremberg, 7 April 1512.
€ 18,500.00The rare first German edition of Bonaventura's life of St Francis ("Legenda major beati Francisci"), printed by Höltzel on behalf and at the expense of the Tyrolean benefactor of the Franciscan church in Schwaz, Caspar Rosenthaler.
This volume, a remarkable copy in contemporary colour, is also the first to incorporate Wolf Traut's striking …
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1016th century military manuscriptMilitary treatises.No place, 1554-1562.
€ 18,000.00A pretty composite manuscript of the mid-16th century, in the main following closely or styled after the gunsmith manual repeatedly printed by Christian Egenolff between 1529 and 1597. The preface (14 pp., dated "1554" at the end) consists of "Eine lehr so Keiser Maximilian in seiner Jugent durch erfarne treffliche seine Kriegsräht zugestelt ist", …
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11A milestone of science, from the library of the Nuremberg humanist Joachim CamerariusDe re metallica.Basel, 1556.
€ 65,000.00First edition of "the first systematic treatise on mining and metallurgy, and one of the first technological works of modern times" (PMM), an immaculate copy with outstanding provenance. Dealing with "everything connected with the mining industry and metallurgical processes, including administration, prospecting, the duties of officials and companies, …
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1316th century illustrated Italian manuscript about the art of war in a fine contemporary bindingLibro utillissimo et molto necessario di varii secreti importantissimi …Italy, before 1581.
€ 85,000.00An unusual and attractive Italian Renaissance manuscript on the art of war, lavishly illustrated in colour and in a sumptuous contemporary binding. The text comprises eight chapters dealing with the duties of the captain, making gunpowder, siege-breaking devices, the deployment through artillery of artificial fire, smoke and poisonous fumes, the …
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14The 1586 Regensburg shooting festivalDas Herrlich Freundlich und Nachbarlich Freyschiessen so die Edlen, Ehrnvesten, …Regensburg, 1587.
InquireVery rare description of the Regensburger "Freischießen" in 1586, a festival featuring a target shooting competition where the winner could "shoot" himself free from taxes, gain prizes or other legal rights, written in humourous verses by the Augsburg Caspar Lerff, one of the fair's "Brutschenmaister" (masters of ceremonies). Five of the beautiful …
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15Fifty imaginary island cities, drawn for the Doge of Venice"Inmaginationi Millitari." Manuscript on paper, in Italian.Venice, 20 Sep 1595.
€ 250,000.00Unique album with splendid manuscript designs for imaginary fortified cities, created for and dedicated to Marino Grimani in the year of his appointment as Doge of the City and Republic of Venice, which he would reign over until his death. Grimani served as Superintendent of Fortresses before becoming Doge and worked for many years on the design …
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16A magnificent masterpiece of calligraphy and micrography for Princess Juliana of Hesse-DarmstadtGerman Psalter in the translation of Martin Luther.Oldenburg, 1634.
€ 125,000.00A splendid calligraphic manuscript on vellum and paper created for the 28-year-old Juliana of Hesse-Darmstadt (1606-59), countess of East Frisia, later in the collection of Victoria, Princess Royal, the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria and Albert of Saxe-Coburg. The micrographic text includes the liturgical calendar for 1634, the Psalms in mirror …
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17"An Innocent Arab Proposing the Destiny of the Universe"Astrologiae Nova Methodus. Francisci Allaei, Arabis Christiani.Rennes, 1654-1655.
€ 15,000.00Rare second, expurged edition of this remarkable treatise offering predictions for the destiny of European nations, issued without place or printer in the year of the almost unobtainable first edition, most copies of which were burned by the hangman at Nantes and Rennes shortly after publication. The first edition was deemed offensive due to the …
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18Foundational document of the University of Vienna's College of Oriental LanguagesProdromus novi linguarum orientalium collegii: Jussu, Augustißimi, Potentißimi …Vienna, 1674.
InquireFoundational document of the University of Vienna's College of Oriental Languages, inaugurated in 1674. As in most Catholic countries, the study of Arabic had long been neglected in favour of the more urgent Turkish. The talented linguist Podesta (1625-88) from Fasano on Lake Garda had been made Vienna's first professor of oriental languages. "He …
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19Museum-quality manuscript herbalFlora delicians, sive icones plantarum ex hortis, pratis et nemoribus nostratibus …Memmingen, 1676.
€ 125,000.00Unique, museum-quality manuscript herbal, previously unknown to research, compiled for the Memmingen pharmacist Wolfgang Schötz by an unidentified but obviously professionally trained artist. The nearly 300 watercolours and gouaches, all impressively accomplished, show the principal Central European medicinal, poisonous, spice and ornamental plants …
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20The astronomy, astrology and allied sciences of the Arabs, Persians and Turks[At-Taqwim sana 609] sive Ephemerides Persarum per totum annum, juxta epochas …Augsburg, 1695-1696.
€ 25,000.00Only edition of this rare treatise on the astronomy, astrology and allied sciences of the Arabs, Persians and Turks. Once "said to be the first book printed with Persian characters" (Anderson, The library of the late George H. Hart of New York City, Part II [1922], no. 471), it remains an impressive achievement, even if the oriental languages are …
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21A landmark in the literature of Portuguese expansion in the East: rare, almost all copies having perished in the Lisbon earthquake of 1755Tratado dos descobrimentos antigos, e modernos. Feitos até a Era de 1550, …Lisbon, 1731.
€ 9,500.00Second edition of Galvao's great history of exploration and voyages, including the Portuguese conquests on the Arabian coast, in the Gulf, and in the Kingdom of Ormus. The first edition, published in 1563, is considered virtually unobtainable, as only some five or six copies are known to exist. "This second edition, says Innocencio, 'has been equally …
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22"An Innocent Arab Proposing the Destiny of the Universe": An Unpublished French Manuscript with 10 VolvellesNouvelle Methode Astrologique de François Allay Arabe Chretien. 1654.France, ca. 1750.
€ 28,000.00Sole recorded witness of a vernacular translation of this forbidden, volvelle-laden manual of prognostication, burned upon publication at the orders of the Bishop of Nantes. Appearing in 1654 as the "Astrologiae Nova Methodus", the work was immediately condemned (cf. Caillet and Dorbon) and is excessively rare in census today; no vernacular translation …
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23Unique: deluxe copy from the collection of the wealthiest man in the Habsburg monarchyBeytrag zur Naturgeschichte der Vögel. Vols. 1, 4, 5, and 6 (of 6).Vienna, 1790-1795.
€ 250,000.00Unique copy of one of the rarest works of zoological book illustration, from the library of the banker, art collector, and patron Moritz von Fries (1777-1826), for whom the set was in all likelihood specially produced. Around 1800, Fries was considered without doubt the richest man in the Habsburg monarchy. The splendid engraved plates were elaborately …
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24The rarest and most sumptuous publication marking the Enlightenment of the Ottoman EmpireTableau des nouveaux reglemens de l'Empire Ottoman.Constantinople, 1798.
€ 65,000.00First and only edition, printed at the second printing press established in Istanbul. "A rare and very interesting work outlining the military reforms and the regulations for the New Troops established by Selim III in 1796/97" (Blackmer). The author, Mahmoud Ra'if, was a member of the reform movement instigated in Turkey by Sultan Selim III, who …
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25The first periodical of the Arab world: the extremely rare, complete setLa Décade égyptienne. Journal littéraire et d'économie politique.Cairo, an VII-VIII 1798-1801.
€ 85,000.00Extremely rare, entirely complete run of this journal, praised by Guérmard as a "truly scientific review" and hailed by Glass and Roper as the first periodical published in the "Arab world". The 916 pages of these various issues appeared between 1798 and 21 March 1801: first every 10 days, then monthly for the second volume, and quarterly for the …
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26Dancing steps and musicCottillons / Angloises.Likely Northern Germany or Denmark, late 18th century.
InquireVery appealing and well-preserved volumes of musical notes and dance-steps, drawn in red and black ink. Most of the dances are titled in French ("Passe-temps", "La Vole", "L'Impromtu", "La Beguine"), occasionally in English ("King George"), while the annotations to the steps of the "angloises" are in Danish.
Anglaises and cottillons are contra-dances …
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27A 'Zealous Muslim' and a Hajji: Alexander the Great in the Islamic TraditionEskander-Nama.Kashmir, ca. 1800 / late 18th or early 19th century.
€ 7,500.00Full manuscript, complete in 72 titled stanzas and 6,866 verse couplets, of this celebrated Islamic biography of Alexander the Great (356-323 BC). The colophon of the present manuscript states that it was composed in the Persian Year 570, i. e. 1202 AD, and we suspect that the present copy was executed in Northern India, probably Kashmir (where Alexander …
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28The personal writing case of Archduke CharlesPortable writing case.Austria or southern Germany, early 19th century.
€ 3,500.00The personal writing case of Archduke Charles, famous for his victory over Napoleon in the Battle of Aspern and as the modernizer of Austrian military organization and administration during his long tenure, from 1801 to 1809, as President of the Council of War. A master binding from the collection of the Austrian art historian and longtime director …
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29Alexander von Humboldt's detailed study of the salt mines of Zipaquirá"Memoire raisonné sur la Saline de Zipaquira". Autograph manuscript signed …Zipaquirá, Cundinamarca, Colombia, Sept. 1801.
€ 65,000.00An exceptional report and a fine example of the observational and analytical skills that marked Humboldt's work on his celebrated expedition to Spanish America, authorized by the Spanish monarchy in 1799. Accompanied by Aimé Bonpland he arrived in Colombia, after having spent three months in Cuba, in July 1801. In September he visited the vast salt …
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30A To-Do List for Beethoven's ServantAutograph document.Vienna, ca. 1817.
InquireA shopping list, written for a servant, comprising six items to be obtained in Vienna: "Beym Met Uhrmacher den Metronomm. / MäuseFall / ZündMaschine / BalbierMeßer 3 / WaschSeife an der Bognergaße / Bücher Maschin in der Wohn[un]g des Hr. Bruders" ("Metronome at the watchmaker's; mousetrap; lighter; 3 razors; washing soap from Bognergasse; book …
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31"preserve inviolable the friendship which the United States have deemed well to profess towards us"Letter signed ("Bolivar").Huaraz Peru, 13 Jun 1824.
InquireIn English, to Commodore Isaac Hull, in response to the protests formulated by Hull and Commodore Thomas Brown, relative to the naval blockade of Callao during the Peruvian war of independence: "[…] It is very satisfactory to me to be able to assure you that my answer is almost entirely in accordance with the sentiments which you & Comd. Brown …
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32"A specimen of Persian humour, founded upon female customs"[Kitab-e Kulsum Nani]. Customs and Manners of the Women of Persia, and …London, 1832.
€ 3,500.00First English edition: a prose version by the British oriental scholar James A. Atkinson (1780-1852). "This is a specimen of Persian humour, a jeu d'esprit, founded upon female customs and superstitions. It pretends to be a grave work, and is in fact a circle of domestic observances, treated with the solemnity of a code of laws" (preface). With a …
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33"Amongst our weaponry are such diverse elements as:" Lepsius's unpublished autograph manuscript(De armatura). Arma Graecorum, Romanorum, gentiumque Barbarorum. Recensuit …Paris, ca. 1833-1835.
€ 18,000.00An encompassing study of the weapons of classical antiquity, commissioned by the Duc de Luynes and prepared by the great classical scholar Lepsius, who was to head the Prussian expedition to Egypt in 1842-45. The antiquary and numismatist Honoré d'Albert de Luynes (1802-67) was an important patron of scholarship and the arts. During his sojourn …
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34Written in the year of "Ulalume", one of Poe's most powerful tragic balladsAutograph letter signed ("Edgar A. Poe").New York, 31 Aug 1847.
€ 135,000.00Poe's final letter to the Philadelphia lawyer and playwright Robert Taylor Conrad (1810-58), of "Graham's Magazine": "It is now a month since I wrote you about the two articles I left with you - but, as I have heard nothing from you, I can only suppose that my letter has not reached you - or, at all events, that, in the press of other business, you …
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35An exceptional series of 50 meticulously executed miniaturesA series of miniatures showing Persian scribes.Persia, mid-Qajar period 1850s.
€ 75,000.00An exceptional series of 50 meticulously executed miniatures, compiled and painted by an anonymous artist. 41 of the delicate watercolours represent famous calligraphers, 5 (1 in grisaille) presumably represent sufis, and one more (not coloured) shows a seated prince, while 3 miniatures (2 in grisaille) depict flowers.
The main series of calligraphers …
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36A fine presentation copy of the first edition in FrenchLe Capital. Traduction de M. J. Roy, entièrement revisée par l'auteur.Paris, 1872-1875.
€ 650,000.00First edition in French, first issue, a fine presentation copy, inscribed by Marx to the Frankfurt banker Sigmund Schott, with whom Marx exchanged ideas central to his philosophies and work: "Mr Sigmund Schott, de la part l'auteur, Londres, 3 Novembre 1877" to the first engraved title page. Presentation copies of Capital are exceptionally rare, with …
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37The complete text of the BhagavadgitaIlluminated Hymns in Praise of Lord Visnu.India/Pakistan, late 19th/early 20th c.
€ 9,500.00A devotional compilation in Sanskrit, written in Gurmukhi script. The bulk of the manuskript, fols. 7 to 163, consists of the complete text of the Bhagavadgita, the famous Hindu devotional poem. The six preceding folios contain a purificatory prayer to be recited before reading the Bagavadgita. Folios 163-192 contain three devotional hymns: eight …
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38Memorial album for Vienna's first women's shelter"Erzherzogin Marie Valerie Wiener Frauenheim". Memorial album for the 25th …Probably Vienna, 1907.
€ 9,500.00The splendid album celebrating the 25th anniversary of the women's shelter and retirement home, which was established in 1883 and rebuilt in 1906/07 after plans by Karl Holzer. It begins with a portrait photograph of Archduchess Marie Valerie, who functioned as the institution's patron in 1903. The portrait is followed by a history of the building …
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39For the passengers of the Hejaz railwayA Pilgrimage Souvenir.Constantinople Istanbul, 1913.
InquireAn advertising booklet for the passengers of the Hejaz railway, printed in English, Russian and Arabic. Contains information for the pilgrims to Al-Madinah, the price of a ticket to Al-Madinah on the train from Haifa and from Damascus, the dining and bedding options offered on the train, the stations, and more. The ten photographs show the train …
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40The four Grand Duchesses of RussiaSigned original photograph of the four daughters of Czar Nicholas II.Likely St. Petersburg, 1916.
€ 95,000.00A formal portrait photograph of the four Grand Duchesses of Russia, taken in 1913 for the Romanov Tercentenary and signed by all four and dated "1916" at the bottom. The sisters were very close and frequently signed letters to family relations as "OTMA", rather than use their individual names.
Olga (born 15 November 1895), Tatiana (10 June …
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41Young Oskar discussing hard times at schoolAutograph letter signed ("Oskar").Zwittau, 9 Jan 1920.
€ 28,000.00Charming German-language letter by the 12-year-old to his cousin Emilie Tyrolt, in the United States, thanking for a "lovely Christmas card" and describing his efforts at school: "Habe Deine liebe Weihnachtskarte erhalten, für der ich Dir bestens danke. Unter einem sende ich Dir ein Bild von meinem Schwesterlein, den 'Pitzbub' wirst Du hoffentlich …
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42''Confidential.''Operations in Waziristan 1919-1920. Confidential. Compiled by the General …Calcutta, 1921.
€ 2,800.00First edition.
The British-Indian Army's official account of the 1919-20 Waziristan campaign, marked "Confidential" on the title-page. The operations followed unrest that arose in the aftermath of the Third Anglo-Afghan War; they were conducted in the mountainous region of Waziristan (now in Pakistan) by British and Indian forces against the …
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43Politely rejecting co-operation with the Nordic SocietyTyped letter signed ("JM Keynes").London, 22 Jun 1925.
€ 7,500.00To the secretary of the Nordische Gesellschaft (Nordic Society) in Lübeck; a reply to an invitation to participate in the economic propaganda of the Nordische Gesellschaft whose purpose was to reinforce cultural and political co-operation between Germanic and Scandinavian countries. The Nordische Gesellschaft would become a central institution for …
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44"one must seek to replace resentment towards the Arabs with psychological understanding and an honest desire for co-operation"Typed letter signed ("A. Einstein").Berlin, 19 Nov 1929.
€ 45,000.00In German, to the Austrian politician and writer Heinrich York-Steiner, a pioneer of Zionism, in answer to a request for permission to reprint a statement on Palestine. Einstein expresses his deepest admiration for York-Steiner's book "Die Kunst als Jude zu leben" (1928), which he has read in its entirety, fully agreeing with its analysis and finding …
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45Einstein and the Atomic Age: "And what is E=mc² without Einstein?"Copy of typewritten script of the episode "The Atom" of the TV programme …No place, May 1946.
InquireSigned by Albert Einstein in ink in the upper right corner of the first page: the original script of a 1946 NBC programme on "The Atom", which dramatises Einstein's discovery of the iconic E=mc² equation. A unique survival documenting the enormous popular interest in Einstein's achievements, especially his special theory of relativity and its relationship …
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46Alfred Hitchcock's storyboard for "Stage Fright" in 340 pencil drawingsSketches with autograph annotations: storyboard for "Stage Fright".No place, circa 1949.
€ 150,000.00Extraordinary autograph pre-production storyboard for Hitchcock's 1950 film "Stage Fright", comprising preparatory sketches for some three quarters of the film, including the infamous "false flashback" initial sequence, the rest of the first half of the film, the garden party scene and the finale. A rare collection of sketches and comments detailing …
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47"To aid research workers faced with problems of interpreting current information on Communist China"China. Provisional Atlas of Communist Administrative Units. CIA/RR GR 59-20.Washington, DC, 1959.
€ 8,500.00Rare CIA-produced atlas of the People's Republic a decade after the "loss of China", at the onset of the country's "Great Leap Forward". It was designed to provide U.S. analysts with "fuller information on Communist adminstrative units" and to aid their interpretation of data emanating from the PRC, of "its statistical reporting, and the complexity …
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48Rare Calligraphic DedicationAutograph inscription signed in: Mao Zedong, "Oeuvres choisies de Mao Tse-Toung. …Beijing, 1962.
€ 680,000.00First French edition, containing an extremely rare calligraphic inscription, brush-written by Mao Zedong in 1965 shortly before the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, to the foreign diplomat Charles Meyer (1923-2004). The French national Meyer spent 25 years in Indochina, including 15 years in Cambodia during the 1950s and 1960s, serving King …
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49Cambodia's relations with China during the Cultural RevolutionThe Diplomatic Archive of Charles Meyer, including the relations between …China, Cambodia, 1961-1965 1958-1970.
€ 35,000.00This collection focuses on King Norodom Sihanouk's politics, constituted in the circles of power through Charles Meyer, his advisor for communication and public relations. Especially Sihanouk's relations to global political agents become clear during this troubled period, which shows China and Vietnam in the first row with America und France.
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50The quest for gravitational waves, helping a student, and announcing the birth of his daughter, LucyTyped letter signed ("Stephen") to Charles W. Misner.Cambridge, 10 Nov 1970.
€ 65,000.00One of Hawking’s students, Gary Gibbons, is to attend the meeting of the American Physical Society in New Orleans from 23-25 November, "where he will report on the British work on the design and construction of gravitational wave detectors. We think that, without the use of liquid helium, we can improve the sensitivity by a factor of 100. The first …