Rare Book Monthly

Articles - July - 2018 Issue

July 10 & 11 at Forum Auctions: The Rothamsted Collection: Rarities from the Lawes Agricultural Library

Editor's note: Rupert Powell, the International Head of Books at Forum Auctions, has been part of the book world since 1985 (longer than I've been alive). After a long career at Bloomsbury, he has been with Forum since its founding in 2016. He provides below a far more in-depth and expert preview of an upcoming sale than I ever could.

Tom McKinney

 

Since it was announced in late April, there has been a growing buzz around the book world regarding the now-imminent auction of one of the world’s finest institutional holdings of agricultural books, The Rothamsted Collection. Over 3400 volumes have been divided into 815 lots and the sale takes place in three sessions over 2 days (July 10 and 11). The door-stop catalogue is arranged chronologically with a handy index to assist with cross-referencing the numerous works on offer by the same author. 

The printed books from the library, which date from 1471-1840, are therefore preceded by 3 fine medieval manuscripts – a near-complete copy of Walter of Henley’s Hosbondrye written in Anglo-Norman and dating to the early 14thcentury (lot 1, est. £10,000-15,000) and two early 15th century manuscripts of Palladius – along with Cato, Varro and Columella, one of the four great Roman writers on agriculture – one in Latin (lot 2, est. £10,000-15,000) and the other in Italian vernacular (lot 3, est. £8,000-12,000). 

The first printed book on agriculture, the 1471 edition of Crescentiis’ Ruralia commoda, is offered as lot 4, here in a splendid copy previously owned by the Marquis d’Adda, a great Italian collector, and subsequently by Charles Fairfax Murray, whose magnificent library was sold at auction in 1917. This copy was acquired for Rothamsted by director Sir John Russell, the driving force behind the creation of the Lawes Library, in 1923 and now carries an estimate of £60,000-80,000.

There are some 20 other editions of Crescentiis’ work on offer, six of which are incunables, including the first edition printed in Italy (lot 6, est. £8,000-12,000) and the first illustrated edition, printed by Peter Drach in Speyer c.1490-95, with over 300 woodcuts and some of these coloured by a contemporary hand (lot 13, est. £20,000-30,000).

The provenance of many of the Rothamsted books is often of great significance – several books were previously owned by Richard Schwerdt, the great collector and bibliographer of works relating to Hunting and other rural pursuits; and others by André Simon, the equally revered collector and bibliographer of books on food and drink.

As well as the incunables and other early printed continental books, the collection is particularly rich in English 16th and 17th century works. A few of these are unique examples (i.e. the Rothamsted copy being the only one known); many are known in a handful of institutional copies only; and many more appear only very infrequently on the open market.  By way of example, lot 38 is a copy of the first book on farming printed in England, John Fitzherbert’s The Boke of Husbandry, c.1534. But not only is this seemingly the only copy known, it also bears the ownership signature of William Lambarde, the author of the first work of British topography (Perambulation of Kent, 1576) and, significantly, an early translator into English of Walter of Henley. The copy is estimated to fetch £4,000-6,000. 

Other notable early English works include Mascall’s A Booke of the Art and Maner, how to Graffe all sortes of Trees, first edition, 1569 (lot 100, est. £4,000-6,000); Thomas Tusser’s Five Hundreth Points of Good Husbandry, 1573 (lot 111, est. £2,000-3,000); Reginald Scot’s A Perfite Platforme of a Hoppe Garden, 1576 (lot 118, est. £4,000-6,000); Heresbach’s Foure Bookes of Husbandry, 1577 (lot 126, est. £1,500-2,000); and Thomas Hill’s The Gardeners Labyrinth, 1586 (lot 144, est. £4,000-6,000).

There are two important early works relating to food which catch the eye – lot 133 is Monardes’ Joyfull Newes out of the Newfound World, 1580, a rare work of American significance with mention of Christopher Columbus in the opening sentence and descriptions of the cultivation of rhubarb and ginger (as well as tobacco, quinine and cassava), estimated at £10,000-15,000; and the following lot entitled Here beginneth the Booke, named the Assise of Breade, c.1580, the only recorded copy, which bears an estimate of £6,000-8,000.

One of the most curious works is Leonard Digges’ A Prognostication everlasting of Righte Good Effecte…to Judge the Weather by the Sunne, Moone, Starres…, 1576. This legendary rarity is highly important because it contains the first translation into a vernacular language of the ground-breaking cosmological section of Copernicus’ De revolutionibus orbium coelestium. Only three copies are recorded in institutional libraries and although the Rothamsted copy lacks the folding plate, it is still estimated to make £15,000-20,000.

There are several other books in the sale which can lay claim to be the “first” in a particular field or genre: Pena and l’Obel’s Stirpium adversaria nova, 1571 (lot 104, est. £800-1,200) contains the first published illustration of the tobacco plant (and another illustration of a man’s head smoking a long pipe); lot 313 comprises four separate works bound together in one volume and includes Forster’s England’s Happiness Increased…, the first book devoted exclusively to potatoes (est. £3,000-4,000); also featured are the first agricultural bibliography (lot 127); the first bibliography of hunting (lot 510); the first known illustration of a specially adapted case for transporting cut flowers (lot 315); the first gardening book for Scottish gardeners, sometimes also regarded as the first Scottish cookery book as the second part includes recommendations of seasonal dishes and drinks (lot 368); and lot 464, which includes the first detailed description in English of wine-making in the Champagne region of France.

The full catalogue is available online at www.forumauctions.co.uk, where you will also find images (often multiple) of every lot, plus information regarding extended viewing times in their Battersea offices as well as The Westbury Hotel in Mayfair (where the sale itself takes place), registration, bidding etc.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Freeman’s | HindmanWestern Manuscripts and MiniaturesJuly 8, 2025 Freeman’s | HindmanWestern Manuscripts and MiniaturesJuly 8, 2025
    Freeman’s | Hindman
    Western Manuscripts and Miniatures
    July 8, 2025
    Freeman’s | Hindman
    Western Manuscripts and Miniatures
    July 8, 2025
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. FRANCESCO PETRARCH (b. Arezzo, 20 July 1304; d. Arqua Petrarca, 19 July 1374). $20,000-30,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. CIRCLE OF THE MASTER OF THE VITAE IMPERATORUM (active Milan, 1431-1459). $15,000-20,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. CIRCLE OF ATTAVANTE DEGLI ATTAVANTI (GABRIELLO DI VANTE) (active Florence, c. 1452-c. 1520/25). $15,000-20,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. FOLLOWER OF HERMAN SCHEERE (active London, c. 1405-1425). $15,000-20,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. An exceptionally rare, illuminated music leaf from a Mozarabic Antiphonal with sister leaves mostly in museum collections. $11,500-14,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. Exceptional leaf from a prestigious Antiphonary by a leading illuminator of the late Duecento. $11,500-14,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. CIRCLE OF THE MASTER OF MS REID 33 and SELWERD ABBEY SCRIPTORIUM (AGNES MARTINI?) (active The Netherlands, Groningen, c. 1468-1510). $10,000-15,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. Previously unknown illumination from one of the most renowned Gothic Choir Book sets of the Middle Ages. $6,000-8,000.
  • Forum AuctionsFine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper  17th July 2025 Forum AuctionsFine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper  17th July 2025
    Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    17th July 2025
    Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    17th July 2025
    Forum, July 17: Lucianus Samosatensis. Dialogoi, editio princeps, second issue, Florence, Laurentius Francisci de Alopa, 1496. £10,000 to £15,000.
    Forum, July 17: Boccaccio (Giovanni). Il Decamerone, Florence, Philippo di Giunta, 1516. £10,000 to £15,000.
    Forum, July 17: Henry VII (King) & Philip the Fair (Duke of Burgundy). [Intercursus Magnus], [Commercial and Political Treaty between Henry VII and Philip Duke of Burgundy], manuscript copy in Latin, original vellum, 1499. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Forum, July 17: Bible, English. The Holy Bible, Conteyning the Old Testament, and the New, Robert Barker, 1613. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum, July 17: Bond (Michael). A Bear Called Paddington, first edition, signed presentation inscription from the author, 1958. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    17th July 2025
    Forum, July 17: Yeats (William Butler). The Secret Rose, first edition, with extensive autograph corrections, additions and amendments by the author for a new edition, 1897. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum, July 17: Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord). Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, bound in dark green morocco elaborately tooled in gilt and with 3 watercolours to fore-edge, by Fazakerley of Liverpool, 1841. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum, July 17: Miró (Juan), Wassily Kandinsky, John Buckland-Wright, Stanley William Hayter and others.- Spender (Stephen). Fraternity, one of 101 copies, with signed engravings by 9 artists. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum, July 17: Sowerby (George Brettingham). Album comprising 22 leaves of original watercolour drawings of fossil remains of Cheltenham and Vicinity, [c.1840]. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum, July 17: Mathematics.- Blue paper copy.- Euclid. De gli Elementi, Urbino, Appresso Domenico Frisolino, 1575. £12,000 to £18,000.
  • Sotheby’sBooks, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to ModernNow through July 10, 2025 Sotheby’sBooks, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to ModernNow through July 10, 2025
    Sotheby’s
    Books, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to Modern
    Now through July 10, 2025
    Sotheby’s
    Books, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to Modern
    Now through July 10, 2025
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Book of Hours by the Masters of Otto van Moerdrecht, Use of Sarum, in Latin, Southern Netherlands (Bruges), c.1450. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Albert Einstein. Autograph letter signed, to Attilio Palatino, on his research into General Relativity, 12 May 1929. £12,000 to £18,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: John Gould. The Birds of Europe, [1832-] 1837, 5 volumes, contemporary half morocco, subscriber’s copy. £40,000 to £60,000.
    Sotheby’s
    Books, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to Modern
    Now through July 10, 2025
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Ian Fleming. A collection of James Bond first editions, 8 volumes in all. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 1997, first edition, hardback issue. £50,000 to £70,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: J.R.R. Tolkien. Autograph letter signed, to Amy Ronald, on Pauline Baynes's map of Middle Earth, 1970. £7,000 to £10,000.
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    Rare Book Hub is now mobile-friendly!
  • DOYLERare Books, Autographs & MapsJuly 23, 2025 DOYLERare Books, Autographs & MapsJuly 23, 2025
    DOYLE
    Rare Books, Autographs & Maps
    July 23, 2025
    DOYLE
    Rare Books, Autographs & Maps
    July 23, 2025
    DOYLE, July 23: WALL, BERNHARDT. Greenwich Village. Types, Tenements & Temples. Estimate $300-500
    DOYLE, July 23: STOKES, I. N. PHELPS. The Iconography of Manhattan Island, 1498-1909. New York: Robert H. Dodd, 1915-28. Estimate: $3,000-5,000
    DOYLE, July 23: [AUTOGRAPH - US PRESIDENT]FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT. A signed photograph of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Estimate $500-800
    DOYLE, July 23: [ARION PRESS]. ABBOTT, EDWIN A. Flatland. A Romance of Many Dimensions. San Francisco, 1980. Estimate $2,000-3,000.
    DOYLE, July 23: TOLSTOY, LYOF N. and NATHAN HASKELL DOLE, translator. Anna Karénina ... in eight parts. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., [1886]. Estimate: $400-600
    DOYLE, July 23: ROWLING, J.K. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. London: Bloomsbury, 2000. Estimate $1,200-1,800

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