56th California International Antiquarian Book Fair
9-11 February 2024
Pier 27, The Embarcadero, San Francisco
Booth 203
A chronological fair list of 40 items
-
1A lavishly illustrated portable Bible from southern Italy, Dominican useBiblia latina. Illuminated manuscript on vellum.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 …
-
2English Bible ManuscriptLatin manuscript on vellum.Northern France or England?, ca 1300 CE.
€ 145,000.00A beautiful, complete medieval 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 mei …
-
3Manuscript on the motion of the sun and stars, from the Bibliotheca PhillippicaCalculus temporum ecclesiasticus.Possibly England, ca. 1360.
€ 95,000.00With no other known textual witnesses, this extremely interesting Latin calendrical manuscript must be considered a unique work, possibly of English origin. It was formerly the property of the bibliophile Sir Thomas Phillipps (1792-1872), who lends the work its title (and short catalogue description) on its wrappers.
It appears likely that …
-
4The Mothers of the BelieversKitab al-simt al-thamin fi manaqib Ummahat al-Mu'minin [The Precious Book …Mecca, 5 Oct. 1457 CE = 16 Dhu'l-Qa'da 861 H.
€ 55,000.00A very early manuscript of this work on the biographies of the wives of the Prophet Muhammad, copied in Mecca, just over 160 years after the author's death in the same city, by 'Ali bin Hasab Allah bin Muhammad al-'Izzi al-Makki al-'Ajlani on Thursday, the 16th of Dhu al-Qa'dah 861 AH.
The Shafi'i traditionist and jurist Al-Tabari (1218-95 …
-
5Splendidly illuminated Northern French Book of Hours on vellum[Liber horarum - Use of Rouen].Rouen, ca. 1480 last quarter of the 15th century CE.
€ 65,000.00Splendidly illuminated Northern French Book of Hours on vellum. The nearly full-page miniatures (ca. 110 x 80 mm) show extended landscapes as well as interiors, comprising: fol. 14r, Annunciation (at the beginning of the matin of the Office of Mary); fol. 20r, Visitation (Lauds); fol. 26r, Crucifixion (Hours of the Cross); fol. 27r, Pentecost (Hours …
-
6Rouen Book of Hours: written for the use of a noble woman, with a portrait of the owner[Liber horarum - Use of Rouen].Rouen, Normandy, ca. 1480.
€ 165,000.00A Rouen Book of Hours of outstanding quality and in slightly larger than usual format, commissioned by a female patron who is portrayed in the last miniature awaiting the arrival of the Messiah.
The style of illumination is typical of that practised in Rouen during the late 15th century. Characteristic features include the profuse use of gold …
-
7Unique, early Renaissance alchemical manual drawing on Rhazes and the Arabic tradition, a source for Hieronymus Bock and Western botanyAn alchemist's handbook, in German. Illustrated manuscript on paper.Germany, ca. 1480/90.
€ 350,000.00A Renaissance alchemist's handbook, quoting Al-Razi by name and deeply rooted in the Islamic tradition of alchemical art. An intriguing manuscript which bears witness to early practical chemistry in 15th century Germany and to the immense influence of Arabic alchemy, illustrated with talented watercolour diagrams of the associated apparatus.
…
-
8"Where there are many women there are many witches"Malleus maleficarum.Speyer, before April 1487.
€ 175,000.00Considered unobtainable: the first edition of the notorious "Hammer of Witches", which laid down procedures for finding out and convicting witches. Called one of "the most vicious [...] book[s] in all of world literature" (Jerouschek, 500 Years of the Malleus Maleficarum, xxxi), it is certainly among the most misogynistic texts ever written and provided …
-
9An outstanding Flemish Book of Hours with 14 high-quality illuminationsBook of Hours (use of Rome).Southern Netherlands, probably Ghent, ca. 1500.
€ 150,000.00An outstanding, unpublished Book of Hours, produced around the year 1500, at the apogee of Flemish book illumination. The quality of illumination is remarkable, both in the borders and the full-page miniatures. The execution is neat and flawless.
At least three different miniaturists worked on the illumination cycle of this precious Book of …
-
10A Complicated Incunable for a Bohemian Witch-HunterSancte Roma[n]e eccl[esi]e fidei defe[n]sio[n]is p[ro]pungnaculu[m] [!] …Olmütz, 20 Apr 1501.
€ 85,000.00First edition of this polemic against the Bohemian Brethren, written by the author of the notorious "Malleus Maleficarum": a "Bulwark of Faith of the Holy Roman Church Against the Heresy of the Waldensians and Picards". Extremely rare: the present copy represents the hitherto unknown first impression of the first edition, still bearing a slightly …
-
11An important and early treatise on the table abacusAlgorithmus linealis cum pulchris conditionibus regule detri [...].Leipzig, 1509.
€ 4,000.00An important treatise on the line or table abacus, "one of the earliest of the type represented also by Huswirt" (Smith). Lotter published four editions between 1500 and 1515, all of which are rare (this is the second).
"Licht was a German rechenmeister from the Leipzig area. [The 1509] edition of this work is dedicated to his teacher, Udalricus …
-
1216th century collection of nine alchemical tracts, including one by Ibn SinaDe alchimia opuscula complura veterum philosophorum, quorum catalogum sequens …Frankfurt, 24 March 1550 preface.
€ 25,000.00Extremely rare edition of this collection of nine alchemical tracts, including "De tinctura metallorum" (On the Colorations of Metals), attributed to the great Arab scientist Ibn Sina, who is known in the Latin tradition as Avicenna. Ibn Sina was one of the most significant thinkers and writers of the Islamic golden age, and his bibliography comprises …
-
13The first collected works of Melanchthon's head mathematician, colleague of Copernicus and teacher of Rheticus: banned by Rome, studied by a Premonstratensian monkOpera mathematica.Nuremberg, 1551.
€ 35,000.00A rare and important astronomical work, this copy closely studied and annotated at a Bohemian monastery in spite of the fact that the author had been banned by Rome.
This is the first edition of the collected works by Johann Schöner (1477-1547), mathematician, astronomer, cartographer, and scientific instrument maker from Karlstadt, in Bavaria. …
-
15Paracelsus's "Septem libri de gradibus" - Norman copySeptem libri de gradibus, de compositionibus, de dosibus receptorum ac …Basel, 1568.
€ 18,000.00The Norman copy of the first edition thus, very rare, containing "most of [Paracelsus's] innovations in chemical therapeutics" (Garrison/M.). Paracelsus (ca. 1493-1541) was a key member of the German Renaissance and a pioneer of the medical revolution. He was interested in chemistry, hermeticism, and toxicology alongside and in conjunction with his …
-
16A cross-cultural milestone, unpublished for more than 150 years: a Polish-born Turk's Osmanli Bible, produced under the auspices of a Dutch project for universal peaceTurkish translation of the New Testament. Secretarial manuscript with Ali …Constantinople, 1665.
€ 75,000.00Considered lost: a volume of Ali Ufki Bey's famous Bible translation, "the lineal ancestor of today’s Turkish Bible" (Privratsky), the last manuscript in private hands.
A project born of Protestant disappointment with the outcome of the 30 Years' War, the 17th century enterprise to translate the Bible into Turkish was informed by Christian …
-
17"Thus speaks out the manuscript": the musical notation of the Samaveda[The Veyagana].Toddapur, India, 1672.
InquireWith musical notation that can be traced back to the Vedic period of late Bronze Age: a manuscript of the Veyagana, executed in traditional style in 17th century India. Also known as the Gramageyagana, the Veyagana is one of the songbooks (ganas) of the Samaveda, the text which is itself described as the "Rigveda set to music", and one of the most …
-
18Fate casts the diceLoßkunst mit den Würfeln, der hailigen Alttvätter, Propheten und Aposteln, …Germany or Austria, ca. 1700.
InquireHighly unusual German manuscript describing the art of fortune-telling and decision-making by casting lots with three dice.
The motto on the title-page explains the "art of casting lots" as that which was used by the apostles when they appointed Matthias to replace Judas Iscariot as the twelfth disciple: "And they appointed two, Joseph called …
-
19The original manuscript written by the "father superior of Chinese Astronomy" (Needham)"Histoire abrégée de l'Astronomie Chinoise". Autograph manuscript.Beijing, 1727-1731.
InquireThe first European history of Chinese astronomy, in the hand of its author as written in China, used and extensively annotated by its editor Étienne Souciet SJ (1671-1744), librarian in the Collège Louis-le-Grand in Paris.
This is the original manuscript by Gaubil, which was published by Souciet as the second volume of the "Observations …
-
20An Arabic translation of ParacelsusAl-tibb al-jadid al-kimiya'i alladhi ikhtara'ahu Barakalsus [The New Chemical …Ottoman Provinces, 1 Dec. 1732 CE = 13 Jumada II 1145 H.
€ 35,000.00A fascinating Arabic alchemical manuscript, forming a compendium of alchemical works from early modern Europe. Ibn Sallum (d. 1671) was a noted physician in Aleppo and subsequently served as chief physician in Istanbul, where he rose to become a physician of Sultan Mehmet IV (1648-87). In an interesting cultural exchange, ibn Sallum's sources are …
-
21Orthodox Book of Hours and Hymns in ArabicSalat al-Sawa'i [Arabic Book of Hours].Damietta, Egypt, 1750 CE.
InquireAn extraordinary Arabic Book of Hours owned by a man named Mikhai'l bin Yaqub bin Ubayd, who was Arab by lineage, Orthodox by faith, Egyptian by birth, and a silk trader by profession, and who died in Cairo in 1800, a year before the final retreat of Napoleon's army from the city. Mikhai'l's identity is known because his grandson, to whom the Book …
-
22Ottoman Qur'an manuscript owned by a womanAn Ottoman Qur'an manuscript.Ottoman Turkey, 18th century CE.
€ 18,000.00An interesting Qur'an manuscript, probably from the early years of the era of Sultan Abdul Hamid I. The first leaf of the manuscript contains a waqf inscription dated AH 1191 (1777 CE), stating that the volume was given as a religious endowment in that year by a woman named Khadija bint al-hajj 'Umar Oghlu al-hajj Ahmad Agha.
Provenance: Bonhams, …
-
23Geometrical diagrams on blue-dyed paperKhulasat al-hisab [Summa of Arithmetic].Central Asia, 18th century CE.
€ 9,500.00A remarkably beautiful mathematics treatise on blue dyed paper with prolific diagrams in black and red, comprising one of the important and little-studied scientific manuscripts by Sufi polymath Baha al-Din al-Amili (1547-1621). Born in present-day Lebanon, Bahaddin emigrated to Safavid Persia with his family as a child after the execution of his …
-
24An early Islamic manuscript on the zodiac with fine miniaturesDhakhirat al-Iskandar al-Malik ibn Filiqs Dhi al-Qarnayn.Persia or Central Asia, 18th century CE.
€ 14,000.00A thoroughly illustrated astrological and talismanic manuscript attributed by legend to Aristotle and supposedly written for his student, Alexander the Great. It was said to have been translated into Arabic at the request of the Caliph al-Mu'tasim, and comprises eight chapters on esoteric knowledge.
Columbia University holds another copy of …
-
25Arabic manuscript of the "Optics"Tahrir kitab al-manazir. [Optics].Central Asia, 19th century.
€ 2,800.00An Arabic manuscript of the "Optics" by Euclid, a work on the geometry of vision. According to Euclid, the eye sees objects that are within its visual cone. The visual cone is made up of straight lines, or visual rays, extending outward from the eye. These visual rays are discrete, but we perceive a continuous image because our eyes, and thus our …
-
26Makharij Al-Huroof: Persian phonetic diagramsKhulasat al-Nawadir.India, mid-19th century.
InquireAn Indo-Persian manuscript on recitation featuring two striking illustrations of the Makharij al-Huroof ("the points of articulation for [Arabic] letters"): a sketched cross-section of a head with mouth, throat and tongue in the process of speech, labelled to show how the sound of each letter is to be formed physically. These early phonetic diagrams …
-
27On the Cultivation of GoldNihayat al-talab fi sharkh al-muktasab [On the Cultivation of Gold].Egypt, 1880-1882 CE = 1298-1299 H
€ 28,000.00An extensive alchemical treatise by the Egyptian alchemist and philosopher Aydamir ibn 'Abd Allah al-Jildaki (or al-Jaldaki, d. 1342 CE in Cairo), forming a long commentary (sharkh) on the "Kitab al-Muktasab fi zira'at al-dhahab" ("The book of knowledge acquired concerning the cultivation of gold") by the little-known alchemist Muhammad ibn Ahmad …
-
28The dawn of the computer age, in the form of a bookLivre de prières tissé d'après les enluminures des manuscrits du XIVe …Lyon, 1886.
InquireA technical feat of bookmaking, weaving, and scientific ingenuity. Only approximately fifty - and no more than sixty - copies of this book were produced over two years; each page is entirely woven from silver silk thread, programmed into the Jacquard loom using over 200,000 individual punch cards, making this one of the earliest examples of what …
-
29The earliest guide to MeccaFutuh al-Haramayn [Description of the Holy Cities].India or Persia, late 19th or early 20th century CE.
€ 35,000.00Monumental manuscript copy of the first Islamic guidebook for the pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina, which Muhi al-Din Lari (d. 1526/27) completed in India in 1505/06. The book provides instructions on the Hajj pilgrimage rituals and descriptions of important sites that Muslim pilgrims can visit, including of the Kaaba in Mecca. Whilst no early illustrated …
-
30"All of my inventions are turning out to be a splendid success"Typed letter signed ("N. Tesla").New York City, 27 Feb 1909.
€ 65,000.00A rare glimpse into the mind of Nikola Tesla in early 1909, hard at work on his inventions and his investors alike. Communicating with Anita Drysdale Hawkins (1874-1957), a friend and employee at his Wardenclyffe plant, he discusses the recent departure of a troublesome guest, chastising himself: "I am glad that he is gone [...] Time and time again …
-
31The meeting of two men who defined modern French cuisineLe Guide culinaire. Aide-mémoire de cuisine pratique.Paris, 1921.
€ 4,500.00A great classic of cookery from the personal library of the French-Polish scientist and food writer Édouard de Pomiane (1875-1964), inscribed by the author Auguste Escoffier (1846-1935), the chef who put the Savoy on the map, co-founder of the Ritz and the Carleton, and codifier of the five "mother sauces" of French cuisine. Still in print and a …
-
32Picasso's wartime Buffon: a very fine copy, embellished with two original drawings for his friend, the painter André Marchand2 full-page pen and brush drawings in Indian ink. In: Eaux-fortes originales …Paris, 1942.
€ 450,000.00Two unique and wholly original brush drawings, adorning a signed and inscribed first edition of this famous suite by Picasso, in perfect condition.
Limited edition of 226 copies: this is number 155, one of 135 on Vidalon vélin. This copy was presented by Picasso to his friend, the painter André Marchand (1907-98), with an autograph inscription …
-
33"Es gibt keine absolute Bewegung""Wesen der Relativitätstheorie". Autograph manuscript.No place, 1947-1948.
€ 350,000.00German-language draft for "The Essence of the Theory of Relativity", an article published in English within volume XVI of "The American Peoples Encyclopedia" (1948). After a general introduction, the "special theory of relativity" and the "general theory of relativity" are discussed, with a few equations and a small graph sketch.
"Die Mathematik …
-
34Maurice Chevalier at the Cotton Club"C'est fort la Musique". Autograph manuscript signed.No place or date.
€ 4,500.00Manuscript of a lecture on the powerful influence music wields over people, recounting a conversation with the chansonnier Félix Mayol (1872-1941), whom he describes as wearing a blond toupee, having a charming face, being a little chubby, and talking with a Toulouse accent, as well as a concert of the violinist Nathan Milstein (1904-92), whose …
-
35The Beatles' first LP, inscribed by the Fab FourPlease Please Me. (Mono PMC 1202). Autographed album signed.London, Summer 1963.
€ 55,000.00The band's debut studio album, inscribed on the back cover by George: "To Moira Love and Best wishes from the BEATLES", signed "George Harrison", "Paul McCartney XXX", "Ringo Starr", and (in red ballpoint) "John Lennon XXX".
Any album signed by all four members is highly desirable; roughly 75 signed copies of this title are known to exist.
-
36Original drawings of the Peanuts Gang[The Peanuts Gang]. Complete set of 13 drawings, with colour cels of six …Santa Rosa, California, 1971.
€ 150,000.00The complete set of Charles M. Schulz's original pen-and-ink "Peanuts" drawings gifted by the artist in 1971 to decorate the newly erected overhead footbridge at the intersection of Wilbur Avenue and Collins Street in Los Angeles's suburban Tarzana neighborhood of San Fernando Valley.
The 90-foot pedestrian overpass was planned in 1969 to …
-
37Self-portrait by John LennonAutograph drawing signed.No place, 1977?.
€ 12,500.00A characteristic cartoon self-portrait by John Lennon with the sun shining behind a pyramid, signed and inscribed to Hilary Gerrard: "To Hillary with love as per! John".
Hilary Gerrard (1933-2023) served as business manager to Ringo Starr from the 1970s onwards. This drawing may well have been executed during, or been inspired by, John and …
-
38Signed by the sitters"Reise zum Planeten Ars". 199 portrait photographs of artists, 185 of which …Various places, 1979-1992.
€ 45,000.001 of 25 numbered sets, signed by the sitters almost throughout and annotated by the photographer. An important collection of nearly 200 artists' portraits, including Joseph Beuys, Fernando Botero, Arno Breker, Paul Flora, Ernst Fuchs, Karl Otto Götz, Keith Haring, Jörg Immendorff, Loriot, Heinz Mack, Georg Muche, Meret Oppenheim, Gerhard Richter, …
-
39La BD franco-belge, 1990-1994Album of original drawings.Blois, Paris, Saint-Malo and no place, 1990-1994.
€ 45,000.00A splendid album of original artwork by some of the foremost artists of the Franco-Belgian comics scene active during the early 1990s. The contributions, some of which are located and dated, would seem to have been collected at various comics fairs or events. Virtually all are inscribed to "Jean-Michel", also variously spelt "Yann Mikael" or similarly, …
-
40Over 100 autographs from four decades of American popular musicDick Clark's American Bandstand. Extensively signed.New York, 1997.
€ 8,500.00Ray Smith's personal copy of Dick Clark's American Bandstand, autographed and inscribed by over one hundred musicians, dancers, and radio personae, including Aretha Franklin, Jon Bon Jovi, Billy Joel, Cher, Carlos Santana, Elton John, Sting, and Dick Clark himself.
American Bandstand ran on American television from 1952 to 1989, and featured …