Notable Sales

The original manuscript written by the "father superior of Chinese Astronomy" (Needham).

Autograph manuscript of the 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.

Devotional images originated in women's convents in the first half of the 14th century from the need to own such images personally, for example as a decorative insert in a prayer book. They were also distributed outside the monastery by itinerant preachers to support their sermons. Demand was soon so great that a lively trade developed. The images were initially painted by hand in small formats on parchment, paper or fabric. Typical motifs included the infant Jesus, the Passion of Christ, the Virgin Mary and Saints. They became widespread by the 15th century as simple rubbing prints or bread dough prints. Although produced in relatively large numbers, early devotional images are usually exceedingly rare today, as they were often very worn out and used up.

The exceptionally rare first edition of the first sailing guide to North America, one of the earliest books on North American exploration, and a remarkable relation of the voyages undertaken by Alfonce across the World in the Century of Discoveries.

It’s nigh on impossible to over-estimate the importance of this work on America: it is second only to the Brief recit & succinte narration of Cartier´s second voyage to French Canada. It is “the earliest known announcement of the St. Lawrence basin” (Ganong, p. 276), and contains “important descriptions of the coast of Brazil, the Amazon delta, Newport Harbor, New York Harbor, and the Hudson River (over a half century before Hudson's voyage)” (Nebenzahl).