(AUCTION CATALOGUE: BOZE, Claude Gros de).

Catalogue des Livres du Cabinet de M. De Boze.

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1 p.l., x, 552 pp. 8vo, cont. calf (head of spine a tiny bit chipped), spine gilt “á la grotesque,” contrasting morocco lettering piece on spine, a.e.g. Paris: G. Martin, H.L. Guérin, & L.F. Delatour, 1753. A highly interesting copy of the auction catalogue of the famous collection formed by Claude Gros de Boze (1680-1753), the renowned academician and savant. It was an excellent library, notable for its block books and incunabula; this catalogue provides the best idea of its contents. The 1753 auction never took place. After publication of the catalogue, two collectors — Boutin and Cotte — purchased the whole library, retaining the books which they desired for their own collections and selling certain precious incunabula to Gaignat. They then turned over the remainder to Gabriel Martin to sell by auction the following year. Our copy of the 1753 catalogue, which Archer Taylor considered to be one of Gabriel Martin’s best efforts, contains pre-sale valuations in a contemporary hand alongside each lot. This is a remarkable fact and important for the history of book collecting in France. Additionally, there are four very interesting pages of manuscript bound in at end. Two of the pages contain, in a contemporary hand, the totals of the pre-sale estimates done by David (105,630 livres) and by Gabriel Martin (116,481 livres). Each of the totals are broken down by the traditional subject arrangement. The third page, in, I believe, the same hand, gives a history of the events leading up to the sale in 1754. We learn that many items bound in morocco or printed on large paper which appeared in the 1753 catalogue were replaced in the 1754 catalogue with copies bound in calf or printed on regular paper. The fourth page, in a different contemporary hand, provides further details of the aftermath of the sale. Tipped-in is yet another pre-sale estimate done by H.L. Guérin, one of the experts for the sale (115,730 livres). Fine copies. ❧ Brunet, I, 1642. Grolier Club, Printed Catalogues of French Book Auctions...1643-1830, 104 & 112. Peignot, pp. 83-84. Taylor, Book Catalogues, p. 233.

• USD 3,000.00 > другие валюты
• номер заказа: HillBibl-2084

• продавец: Jonathan A. Hill, Bookseller, Inc. (USA)