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C12th - C13th manuscripts
Augustine of Hippo. Leaf from a Large Manuscript of Sermones. Manuscript on vellum C13th
C12th - C13th manuscripts
SAINT JEROME. Commentary on the Prophets Two manuscript fragments on vellum England, c. 1240
Stephen’s Highlight
A gorgeous example of a Venetian binding for Hurtado de Mendoza by Andrea di Lorenzo in olive green. Venice, 1530
Only recently has the identity of the principal binder for Hurtado de Mendoza been posited as Andrea di Lorenzo, bookbinder of the parish of San Fantin at Venice (Hobson, Renaissance, p.119). Considered ‘the finest and most inventive Venetian binder of the mid-16th century, a craftsman of great prestige whose ornaments and designs were imitated in France and Germany’ (Hobson/Culot, p.15), Lorenzo bound not only for Mendoza, but also for J.J. Fugger, Granvelle, et al.
Author
Navagero was librarian of the Marciana, official historian of the Venetian Republic, and close associate and editor for the Aldine Press, who was serving as Venetian ambassador to France when he died, aged 45. His friends published this work as a memorial to him and a Paris edition was published the following year. Among the original owners of this semi-private publication were other Renaissance illuminati such as Grolier and Grimaldi.
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We help collectors and institutions uncover and acquire rare books, manuscripts, and culturally significant works that offer real insight into the past. Led by specialist Stephen Butler, our team curate and place items of rarity and beauty — medieval and Renaissance manuscripts, illuminations and miniatures, early printed books, and exceptional bindings — so you can own something that truly endures.
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Journal News & Updates
The beauty of Books of Hours; arriving soon.
We are pleased to announce the recent arrival of a number of Books of Hours, exquisite manuscripts that served as both devotional tools and extraordinary works of art in the Middle Ages and Renaissance. These books [...]
Features Journal
The Pioneering Impact of Sweynheym and Pannartz
Sweynheym and Pannartz were groundbreaking figures in the history of printing, credited with establishing one of the first printing presses in Italy. Active in the 1460s, these two German printers, Johann Sweynheym and Wolfgang Pannartz, [...]
Features Journal
A recent discovery: Czech recipe for kidney stones from C15th
A recipe from the C15th was recently discovered in an incunable edition of Simon de Cassia. The recipe, written in early Czech references a fascinating recipe for treating kidney stones that includes ingredients like burnet-saxifrage, rose [...]
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