Antiquariats Banzhaf and Kuhn at the New York Book Fair

Item 8 is a work of astronomical incunabula, Theorica planetarium. This is an early edition, published in 1472. The work is attributed to Gerard of Cremona or Gerard of Sabbioneta. Apparently, the two Gerards were the same. He was a 12^th century Italian translator, who specialized in translating Arabic, Jewish, and ancient texts. He was one of a group of translators who began to enlighten a darkened Europe with the knowledge that more advanced cultures of that day, or earlier days, possessed. This astronomical book was translated from an Arabic text. When Christian forces overran Toledo in the 11^th century, the Islamic rulers were forced to leave their library behind. Rather than destroying it, the new leaders retained that library and made its books available to translators. €9,000 (US $11,825).

Here is a most interesting work, Allgemeine und besondere Naturgeschichte der Weichwurmer (Mollusques) als Fortsetzung der Buffonschen Naturgeschichte (General and specific natural history of soft worms (mollusks) as a continuation of Buffon's natural history). This is a first German edition (1803-1808) of a work by French naturalist Pierre Denys de Montfort. De Montfort is best known today for his search for the giant squid. The giant squid was long thought to be just a myth, but de Montfort was convinced of a story that a 25-foot long tentacle had been found in the mouth of a whale. He believed the two to be mortal combatants, and imagined the squid capable of great destructive power (see the image on this page). He theorized that they had taken down several missing British ships, only to be embarassed when the British revealed their true fate. Ultimately, de Montfort was proven right, at least to the existence of a giant squid, though they do not take down ships, and they are prey for whales, not equal combatants. Item 4. €1,600 (US $2,100).

Antiquariat Banzhaf may be reached at 0049-(0)7071-552314 or Antiquariat-Banzhaf@t-online.de