What can you say about a catalogue that is 90 pages in length but contains only 10 items? For starters, the bookseller obviously regards these as important works. That is a lot of time and space per lot. No wonder Leo Cadogan Rare Books calls this catalogue Treasures. One other thing we can say about these “treasures” is they have stood the test of time. If you added the ages of these ten books together, there would be enough years lapsed to take us back to when our ancestors were living in caves, at least some of them. They wouldn't have had books, but spears would have been more useful in those days. Now, here's a look back in time, one book at a time.
1. The third edition of Guido de Baysio's commentary on Gratian's Decretum, edited by Italian jurist Petrus Albinianus Trecius. The Decretum goes back to the 12th century, and this commentary around 1300. This edition is not quite that old but close, published on December 12, 1480. Priced at £18,000 (British pounds or about $23,500 in U.S. dollars).
2. Incipit libellus de regimine rusticorum by Werner Rosewinck. This is a book of advice for farmers, primarily the moral kind. For a good life, they must fear God, live in simplicity and good will; respect the agricultural profession; obey superiors; love the clergy; pay dues; observe church rights; give to the poor; keep peace with neighbors; govern their families well; watch against evil; keep people's respect; confess sins; meditate on God's laws; reflect on death and the brevity of life and pray to God for direction towards eternal joy. Unmentioned is they probably should do such things as tilling the soil and watering their plants too. This was published not before 1481, but not much after either. £15,000 (US $19,575).
3. Tractatus de martyrio sanctorum. This is a guide for Christians to proselytize to Muslims. This has never been a very successful undertaking for Christians but that didn't stop them from trying. The martyrio refers to martyrdom, which could be the outcome of this activity. Not after 1492. £6,000 (US $7,825).
4. Tractatus reprobationist sententiae Pilati. This is a study by Ludivico Montalto of Jesus' trial before Pontius Pilate. It critiques Pilate's performance while adding its share of antisemitism. It was published on March 4, 1493. £7,000 (US $9,135).
5. Lombardica historia que a plerisque aurea legenda sanctorum appellatur. These are stories about the saints compiled by Jacobus de Voragine in the 12th century. This edition was printed in Strasbourg by Georg Husner in 1502. The rear pastedown is comprised of recycled pages of the gospels printed by Friedrich Creussner in 1478. It was owned in the 16th century by Christopher Puhler, a pupil of Peter Apian. £7,500 (US $9,785).
6. Duplex commentatio ex integro reposita atque recognita in Boetium... Published in 1506, this is a teaching aid consisting of a compendium of information. Among them is Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy. It makes use of such things as musical symbols to make it easier to remember what has been learned. £7,500 (US $9,785).
7. This is a bound collection, consisting of Vita omnium philosophorum and six other works, published in Paris 1506-c.1520. They include instructions for priests and other practical guidance useful to clerics. It is a small book easy to be carried, only 5 ½ inches tall. £16,000 ($20,880).
8. This is another bound edition but obviously consisting of pieces put together by the owner. Cadogan describes it as an artful “frankenbook.” It consists of Flores legum sive congeries auctoritatum Juris civilis... and six other items. The dates are c1503-1510. The focus of the collection is legal tracts. Whoever put this together at times combined pages from different editions, but the result was complete tracts. The fact that some parts are more worn than others indicated it was put together from pieces at least some of which had already been used. £3,750 (US $4,900).
9. A silver (color) medal celebrating the marriage of British King Charles I to Princess Henriette Marie de Bourbon of France. It was an arranged marriage. Charles was unable to attend his own wedding in France but did arrange to have his cousin represent him. Henriette was all of 15, which in a way was mature in those days considering the ages at which children were married off to form political alliances. The two had little personal use for each other, and it was a rocky marriage at first, and yet in time it developed into a close and loving relationship. Unfortunately, circumstances were not in their favor. Henriette was Catholic, and devotedly so, making her highly unpopular in Britain. As such, she was not allowed to attend her own coronation. Charles himself would become highly unpopular. The English Civil War developed and Parliament's side, and troops, gained the upper hand. In 1645, she fled back to France for her safety. She never saw Charles again, though they wrote constantly. Charles was executed in 1849. She did return to England in 1860 after the Restoration as their son became King Charles II. She planned to stay permanently but returned to France in 1865, because the damp English weather did not help her declining health. She died there (of natural causes) in 1869. Their blood, through Charles II and other children, has run through both British and French royalty ever since. The medal depicts the busts of the King and Queen. The obverse shows Cupid holding roses with a loving Latin motto, which did not apply to them at the time but did later on. It appears that this was a medal that was flung to the crowd outside the wedding. Charles gave his wife the name of Queen Mary (using her middle name and one familiar in Britain), and the Catholic American settlement, now state of Maryland, was named for her. £500 (US $650).
10. This illuminated manuscript when unfurled runs to almost 3 meters in length. It tells the tale of an exiled English King and contains much genealogical material. It represents an attempt by one Julien Campain to establish his noble heritage. It has also been signed by James Terry, who fled England as part of the followers of exiled King James II. He has marked it as being in the 15th year of James' reign. James was the son of the similarly unfortunate Charles I and Henriette. His older brother, Charles II, became King during the Restoration, but along the way, James made the strategically bad decision to convert to Catholicism. That placed two strikes against him when he ascended to the throne after his brother's death in 1885. He favored toleration of Catholics and Protestant dissenters, which was not welcome by anti-Catholic Anglicans. He fled to France in the fourth year of his reign after his Protestant daughter, Mary, and her husband, William, invaded England and became King and Queen. Watch your children. James II never agreed to an abdication nor did his heirs, known as the “Pretenders.” The comment about the 15th year of James' reign represents some obvious wishful thinking since he was out in year four. £12,000 (US $15,580).
Leo Cadogan Rare Books may be reached at +44 (0)20 7607 3190 or leo@leocadogan.com. The website is found at www.leocadogan.com.
