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Leaf on vellum from an antiphonary.
A more than 600 years old antiphonary leaf, written in Besançon, in 1370. Musical notation on 4 bars, the staves are in red and the notes in black: numerous pen-flourish...
Date: Besançon, 1370
Leaf on vellum from a Missal.
A very fine Missal leaf, written in Latin. RECTO: A wonderful initial O decorated with pen work in red, purple and blue. The initial is 6x6cm. VERSO: one initial "I&...
Date: France, c. 1410
Leaf on vellum from an Italian manuscript Book of Hours.
A leaf from an Italian Book of Hours, written on vellum in the neighborhood of Ferrara, around 1480.The decorations of this leaf are extraordinary : the bouquet of flower...
Date: Italy, Ferrara, ca.1480
Use of Liége.
Contents of the Book of Hours : 1. ff. 2-7 : Calendar. In red and brown ink. Justification 115 x 75 mm. 2. ff. 8-11 : 4 passages des Evangiles : - Saint Jean 1, 1-...
Date: c.1480
Selling price: $45000
Sold in 2023
Quaestiones quodlibetales. Edited by Thomas Penketh. [bound with] Quaestiones in quattuor libros Sententiarum Petri Lombardi.
The second edition of the first work and third edition of the second, both printed in the same year by Koberger and frequently bound together. On extraordinarily Strong a...
Date: Nuremberg: Anton Koberger, 1481
Secunda etas mundi. Folium XIII.
Schedel's world map was based on the cartographic system of Claudius Ptolemy, the great second-century AD geographer whose scholarship formed the foundation for map produ...
Date: Nuremberg, 12 July 1493
Venecie. [Venice] Foliu XLIIII
A very fine of Venice (192x525mm.) Verso a view of Padua. Schedel's view of Venice is one of the earliest obtainable views of the city. The view is based on the view of ...
Date: Nuremberg, 12 July 1493
Prima Etas Mundi. VI
A very fine presentation of Eve, being created by God from Adam’s side.Page from the richest illustrated Incunabel, the famous: Liber chronicarum or Nuremberg Chronicle...
Date: Nuremberg, 12 July 1493
Prima Etas Mundi. IX (with Eve nursing Kain and Abel)
A very fine presentation of Eve nursing Kain and Abel. Adam is working (255x220 cm). VERSO a genealogy of Adam.Page from the richest illustrated Incunabel, the famous: Li...
Date: Nuremberg, 12 July 1493
(EUROPE).
A woodcut colored map of northern and central Europe. The first modern map of the area. Second printed map of the North, after the woodcut map published in the 'Ulm' Ptol...
Date: Nuremberg, 1493
Quinta Asie Tabvla.
Woodblock map of Persia from Martin Waldseemüller's 1513 edition of Ptolemy, a landmark work that contributed to major advances in both Renaissance geography and map p...
Date: Strasbourg, J. Schott, 1513
.Tabula III Asiae. [Caucass and Armenia.]
Ptolemaic map of the region south of the Caucasus Mountains and between the Caspian Sea as far south as the headwaters of the Tigris River in the south and the Black Sea,...
Date: Lyons, M. Servetus, 1535
.Taprobana Ins. Tabula XII Asiae. [Sri Lanka.]
Ptolemy's mythical island of Taprobana originally became associated with Sri Lanka although it was sometimes confused with Sumatra. Taprobana, as it was called on most ea...
Date: Lyons, M. Servetus, 1535
[Map of Palestine ]
Map of Palestine from "La Mer des Hystoires" published by Dupré, Paris, 1536 "La Mer des Hystoires" is a translation into French of the famous "...
Date: Dupre, Paris, 1536
Tabula Superioris Indiae & Tartariae maioris. (Modern Map of China, Japan, etc.)
Important map extending from Tartary in the north, to "Prov. Bocat" (Cambodia) in the south. "Tebet" is shown prominently, as is "Zinpangri"...
Date: Vienne, 1541
Tabula nova utriusque Indiae.
This is the fourth and last edition of this map based on Waldseemüller's first "modern" map of Asia. It follows that cartography without change but adds an int...
Date: Vienne, 1541
Il Cuscho citta principale della provincia del Peru.
A very desirable and scarce item of this decorative and early bid's-eye town-plan of the Inca city of Cuzco. Several figures shown inside the city walls and on the hillsi...
Date: Lyons, 1564
I Europa / Das dritteil der Welt.
Very early wood cut printed map of Europe with South to the top. In the lower-left corner we see Poland, Livonia and parts of England and Ireland in the lower right corne...
Date: Zurich, Christoffel Froschover, 1548,1552-1566
( II Germania) / Tütschland.
Very early wood cut printed map of Germany, Poland, The Low Countries, Alsace and part Europe with of Switzerland, Croatia. Originally engraved in 1548. Included in "...
Date: Zurich, Christoffel Froschover, 1548,1552-1566
(Northern celestial planisphere with a pasted volvelle.)
Probably by the Vienna astronomer Melchior Klayber who used the Copernican precession theory, which is closely connected with the chart (Ptolemy - 6° 40' and Ptolemy - 5...
Date: Vienna, ca. 1569
Americae Sive Novi Orbis, Nova Descriptio.
This is the second copperplate of Ortelius' map showing the western hemisphere, showing the prominent bulge in the South American coastline. An important map because of i...
Date: Antwerp, 1579
Temperance (Temperantia) from The Virtues.
Very decorative engraving by Philip Galle (Haarlem 1537–1612 Antwerp) after Pieter Bruegel the Elder (Breda (?) ca. 1525–1569 Brussels). The print was published by Hi...
Date: Antwerp, Hieronymus Cock, 1580
Cosmographie, ou description des quatre parties du Monde...
Fourth French edition (first French collective edition), considerably enlarged with the double-page truncated cordiform world map "Charte cosmographique", in us...
Date: Antwerp, Jean Bellere, a l'Aigle d'Or, 1581
Tafel der Lender darin der Apostel Paulus geprediget hat.
Rare wood block map depicting the Mediterranean, with an over-sized Cyprus from the final Dutch edition of Heinrich Bünting's famous Itinerarium Sacrae Scripturae, a boo...
Date: Magdeburg, 1581
Chinae, olim Sinarum Regionis, nova descriptio. Auctore Ludovico Georgio.
The first map of China ever to appear in a Western atlas, west to the top. The first state without "las Philiooinas" somewhere in 1587 added to the plate. When ...
Date: Antwerp, 1584
Universe Europae Maritime Eiusque Navigationis Descriptio. Generale Pascaerte van Europa . . .
This general chart of north-western Europe and the surrounding coastal waters is from the rare pilot-guide De Spiegel der Zeevaerdt , printed by Christopher Plantin in Le...
Date: Leyden, 1584
Belchrijuinghe vande zee custen van Engelandt. . .
A rare Dutch text edition of this detailed early chart of the northern coast of England. West to the top. The mileage cartouche has no Latin captures. Decorated by a colo...
Date: Leiden, Plantijn, 1585
Die zee custe van Noorweghen tusschen der Noess en Mardou. . .
A rare Dutch text edition of this early and detailed chart of the coast of Norway. Decorated by a colorful title cartouche and scale cartouche, one compass rose, several ...
Date: Leiden, Plantijn, 1585
Zee caerte vande Sondt tvermaerste van Danemarcke . . .
A detailed chart of the coast of Denmark and its islands, Copenhagen in the center of the chart. West to the top. It is decorated by a title, scale and descriptive cartou...
Date: Leiden, Plantijn, 1585
Anverpia, nobile in Barbantia oppidum, parrim maritimum . . . [Antwerp]
The bird's-eye plan provides an excellent view of the citadel, city, docks and fortifications. The city was defended by a line of fortification and a moat constructed und...
Date: Cologne, 1585
Mercurius.
Mercury holding a caduceus and riding in a chariot drawn by two birds on the clouds in the sky, an extensive landscape with a harbor with goods being loaded and unloaded ...
Date: Antwerp, 1585
Imposita saxo Jacob cervice quiescens Aligeros scalas vidit imre choros. Gene[sis] 28
A superb example of this illustration showing a blind Isaac blessing Jacob. Copper engraving published in " Thesaurus sacrarum historiarum veteris testamenti, elegan...
Date: Antwerp, 1585
Lapis polaris magnes.
This is a plate from a series of twenty prints illustrating new inventions and discoveries (Nova Reperta) after Jan van der Straet. On image, bottom right: 'Ion. Stradanu...
Date: Antwerp, Philips Galle, c. 1590
Habiti delle Donne Venetiane . . .
Title page of the book Habiti delle Donne Venetiane" (Dress of Venetian Women) which consists of twenty numbered plates of ornately dressed women. This very decorati...
Date: Venice, ca. 1591
La Florida/ Peruviae Auriferae regionis Typus/ Guastecan.
The Chaves map of Florida is a prime example of an explorer's map since it records the recent discoveries of Cabeza de Vaca, De Soto, and Moscoso. The map revealed little...
Date: Antwerp, 1592
Americae Pars Magis Cognita. Chorographia nobilis & opulentae Peruanae Provinciae, atque Brasiliae, . . . MDXCII
First state. Although a map of South America it does include much of what is now the southern United States. There are two elaborate, strap-work cartouches with the one a...
Date: Frankfurt, 1592
[Spain and Portugal]
A rare map of Spain and Portugal engraved by Jan and Lucas van Deutecom and published by Gerard de Jode, Antwerp 1593. Latin text on verso.The map appeared in the second ...
Date: Antwerp, 1593
Occidentalis Americae partis.
The most beautifully engraved early map of the Caribbean, including Florida and the Southeast. The map includes representations of Columbus' ships and various notes regar...
Date: Frankfurt, 1594
Lutetia Furens. Das ist : Die wütende Statt PARIS.
Rarissime placard dirigé contre la Ligue et le duc de Mayenne. La gravure est signée I.S. (marque inconnue). Ce placard en latin et en allemand est une reprise de l’e...
Date: France ca.. 1594
Nova et recens emendata totius Regni Ungariae una cum adiacentibus et finitimis regionisbus delineatio.
Engraved map by Jan van Deutecum, here the very rare first edition published by Cornelis Nicola in Asterdam in 1596. In very attractive original coloring.A re-issued was ...
Date: Amsterdam, Cornelius Nicol, 1596
Virulus marinus. Cete (Whale and whaling scene)
Whale and whaling scene, set against a mountainous landscape in the manner of Pieter Brueghel the Elder. Plate number 1. The engraving is copied after Adrian Collaert pla...
Date: Antwerp, after 1598
Faber piscis, Asellus minor, Conger, Alburinus. (Piscium Vivæ Icones - Fish)
Depiction of Faber piscis, Asellus minor, Conger, Alburinus. Fish set against a mountainous landscape in the manner of Pieter Brueghel the Elder. Plate number 14. The eng...
Date: Antwerp, after 1598
Maris Pacifici.
From the rare Dutch text edition of the Theatrum of which according to van den Broecke only 100 copies are printed.This was the first printed map to be devoted solely to ...
Date: Antwerp, 1598
Candia [Map of the island Crete]
Very rare map of the island Crete published in the first edition of "Viaggio da Venetia, a Costantinopoli. Per Mare, e per Terra, & infieme quello di Terra Santa...
Date: Venice, Giacomo Franco, 1598
Jerusalem.
Very rare view of Jerusalem published in the first edition of "Viaggio da Venetia, a Costantinopoli. Per Mare, e per Terra, & infieme quello di Terra Santa. Da G...
Date: Venice, Giacomo Franco, 1598
Christophorus Columus Ligur Indiarum Prim invet A°1492
Very decorative portrait of Christopher Columbus (c. 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506), engraved by Theodor de Bry (1528-1593) and published in Jean Jacques Boissard, &quo...
Date: Frankfurt a.M. 1597 - 1599
Abrahami Patriarchae Peregrinatio et Vita.
The Holy Land map itself occupies the center and is surrounded by vignettes of the life of the Patriarch Abraham. Extremely decorative map made by Ortelius, based on Ptol...
Date: Antwerp, 1601-1603
Germania.
Second state of this rare "carte à figures"- map of Germany, The Netherlands, Poland and central Europe. Bordered on three sides with portraits and views. In t...
Date: Amsterdam, 1607
Cusco urbs nobilissima & opule[n]tissima Peruani regni in occide[n]tali parte. . .
Famous town plan of Cuzco, from the first German edition of part VI of de Bry's " Grands Voyages". In this work the conquest of Peu by Pizarro was discribed. Th...
Date: Frankfurt, 1607
(Sea-chart of Catalunia, Languedoc, Provence, Cote d'Azur, Riviera, Corsica with Marseille, Cannes, Nice, Monaco.)
This very rare chart is important as the first printed sea chart of France's Mediterranean coast, also depicting Catalunya's northern coast, the Italian Cote d'Azur till ...
Date: Amsterdam, 1607
Insulae Indiae Orientalis.
One of the most decorative maps of the Indonesian Archipelago, centered on the Philippines, Malaya and further India. Ships in the sea and a beautiful title cartouche add...
Date: Amsterdam, 1607-1608
Orbis Terrae Compendiosa Descriptio.
Gerard Mercator's great world map of 1569 was condensed into double hemispherical form by his son Rumold. It first appeared in 1587 in Casaubon's edition of Strabo's Geog...
Date: Amsterdam, 1595-1609
Hydrograhica descriptio
This very rare chart is important as the first printed sea chart of the Mediterranean coast of Spain, Gibraltar, also depicting the northern coast of Marocco.Willem Bar...
Date: Amsterdam, W.Blaeu, 1612
Poloniae, Lituaniaeq descriptio.
Fine general map of Poland. Rare; the second plate appearing in the post-1595 edition of the Theatrum. Only used until 1612.Based on the now-lost map of Waclaw Grodecki. ...
Date: Antwerp, 1612
Frisia occidentalis.
A rare separately published carte-a-figures of Friesland by Geelkercken in its first state. The title and the coats of arms of the eleven Frisian towns appear in the cent...
Date: [Leeuwarden], Dierick Albertsen, 1618
Deliciae Batavicae.
It is a charming book illustrated with portraits of Willem of Orange and Prince Maurits and eight engraved armorial plates. Followed by thirthy engraved views or scene...
Date: Amsterdam, Johannes Janssonius, 1618
Angliae, Scotiae, et Hiberniae, sive Britannicar : Insularum descriptio.
A rare and ornate map with inset portraits of James First, Henry Prince of Wales Princess Anne of Denmark.Janssonius acquired the copperplate of van den Keere's 1604 Brit...
Date: Amsterdam, 1621
Typus Frisiae Orientalis à Dullarto
One of the most decorative maps of East Frisia and its important shipping center of Emden and the Watten Islands, from the cartography of Ubbo Emmius, a local cartographe...
Date: Amsterdam, ca. 1624
Summa philosophiae quadripartita, de rebus dialecticis, moralibus et metaphysicis . . [ With unrecorded world map ]
On page 107 a finely copper engraved world map (88x84mm.) Paradigma Terrae Plagas 4.ac 12. Ventorum situm indicans., centered on Europe and Africa, with parts of America,...
Date: Leiden, Peter Rigaud, 1626
Carte de la Coste de La Rochelle a Brouaige et de l'Isle d'Oleron Observee par le S.r de Chattillon ingenieur du Roy.
Map of the island of Oléron, with an inset in lower left corner showing the route of an English fleet to La Rochelle. At the time of mapping the area was a stronghold of...
Date: Paris, 1627
A newe mape of Tartary.
Early edition of one of the most decorative "carte à figures"- map of Tartary, known for its figured borders with costume figures, while above are vignettes of...
Date: London, 1627
The Kingdome of China.
A most sought-after map of China. Decorative border vignettes including views of the cities of Quinzay and Macao along the top border with the wheeled wind machines and p...
Date: London, G. Humble, 1627
Portugalliae que olim Lusitania..
The best-known map of Portugal, after Alvares Secco (1560), orientated west to the top of the sheet. Secco's map was copied by many mapmakers and publishers for upwards o...
Date: Amsterdam, 1628
Europa, ad magnae Europae Gerardi Mercatoris. . .
General map of Europe, as well as Americae Pars, Greenland, Iceland, a Polar landmass, along with the mythical islands of Frisland, Drogeo, and Bradain. A large strapwork...
Date: Amsterdam, 1628
Europa, ad magnae Europae Gerardi Mercatoris. . .
General map of Europe with in the left hand corner, south east of Iceland the mythical island of Frisland, which was purportedly discovered by the Zeno brothers in a 14th...
Date: Amsterdam, 1628
Turcici Imperii Imago.
The map shows the Ottoman Empire with Turkey, Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Arabia and North Eastern Africa. The map is decorated with a title cartouche and a portrait of...
Date: Amsterdam, 1629
Coloniensis Archiepisscopatus.
Extremely rare first edition of this beautiful map of Cologne and Dusseldorff.Jodocus Hondius Jr. planned to produce a new modern atlas less dependent on the Mercator pla...
Date: Amsterdam, 1629
Valletta citta nova dimalta.
Early copper engraved map of the towns of Valletta, Borgo, Sanglea di Sto. Michele, and the church of St. Salvator -known as the Three Cities., engraved by Henry Raignaul...
Date: Paris, Michael Soly, 1629
Daniae Regni Typum..
A first state. Very decorative "carte à figures"- map of Denmark with the signature of the engraver Abraham Goos. Printed on heavy paper, in spite of its repai...
Date: Amsterdam, 1629
Hanc Tabulam continens Laetam Pharnambuci.. . [Brazil].
An extremely rare and decorative map of coast-line of Pernambuco. With one inset: In the upper left corner a map of Brazil, with title in five lines Dutch and five lines ...
Date: Amsterdam, 1630
Nova Helvetiae Tabula.
A most decorative "carte à figures" map with panoramic views of Lucern, S.Gal, Bern, Solothurn, Schafhausen in upper border and Basel and Zurich in lower left ...
Date: Amsterdam, 1630
Tabula nova Poloniae et Silesiae.
Second state, dated 1630 underneath the title. A finely engraved carte á figures with cartouche representing in the four corners of the map : Kings ( on the left side Si...
Date: Amsterdam, 1630
Tabula electoratus Brandenburgici, Meckelenburgi, et maximae partis Pomeraniae, ex variis, famosissimisq[ue] auctoribus summo studio concinnata. . .
Uncommon "carte à figures"- map engraved by the master engraver Abraham Goos and published by Claes Jansz. Visscher (1587-1652). Showing the part of western Po...
Date: Amsterdam, 1630
Palatinatus Rheni Nova et Accurata Descriptio.
Early state (1630) of Visscher's "carte à figures"- map of the German Rhine River Valley. Inset views of Frankfurt am Main, Mainz, Speyer, Worms and Heidelberg...
Date: Amsterdam, 1630
Daniae regni typum . . .
Second Edition, now for the first time with a date (1630), this rare map which - like that of Janssonius-Kaerius - is based on John Speed's map of 1626. The side borders ...
Date: Amsterdam, 1630
Belgii sive Germaniae Inferioris accuratissima tabula.
Very rare and very decorative map with in the right and left borders costumed figures and town plans alternately. In top and bottom border town plans and views.Separate p...
Date: Amsterdam, 1631
Nova et accurata Tabula Hispaniae. . .
Second state. The map shows the geographical image introduced by Hessel Gerritsz's 1612 wall map of Spain, based on information provided by the Coimbra University profess...
Date: Amsterdam, 1633
Nova Totius Terrarum Orbis Geographica..
The first of four states of the map. French text on verso. One of the most beautiful world maps ever engraved and one of the most influential in promulgating the Californ...
Date: Amsterdam, 1630-1633
Composite atlas of the Low Countries.
A composite atlas comprising 18 double-page engraved maps by or after Hessel Gerritsz, Theodoor Galle, Jacob van Deventer, Gerard Mercator, Peter Verbiest, Jean Surhon, C...
Date: [Antwerp, c. 1633
Tractus Danubii, Fluminis in Europa Maximi, A Fontibus, Per Germaniam. . .
This is Blaeu’s first map of the Danube and surrounding regions. The Danube River runs through the map from the top left with its headwaters in the German Black Forest ...
Date: Amsterdam, 1634