Bonaventure, Index alphabeticus, Paris, 1522, Italian brown morocco, fake Apollo and Pegasus binding
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December 10, 04:10 PM GMT
Estimate
2,000 - 3,000 GBP
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Description
BONAVENTURA. Index alphabeticus sive repertorium domini Johannis Beckenhaub moguntini in scripta divi Bonaventure super quattuor libris sententiarum. Repertorium (Seraphici produndissimique doctoris ordinis fratrum minorum divi Bonaventure Cardinalis: et sanctorum cathalogo ascripti. Prima pars). Paris: François Regnault, [1522]
A fake Apollo and Pegasus binding, with the medallion and imitation gilt tooling added in the late nineteenth century, most likely by Vittorio Villa, a known forger active in Bologna and Milan. The gilt fleurons immediately above and below the medallion have been stamped over earlier blind-tooled decoration, closely resembling bindings made for Grimaldi by Marcantonio Guillery. The use of a brown morocco binding would reflect Grimaldi’s original use of dark colours for older texts, except his humanist library did not contain theological works, and this book was most likely selected because of the binding’s potential for the addition of relevant tooling.
For a genuine Apollo and Pegasus binding made by Guillery for Grimaldi, see lot 1039.
This volume contains just the first and fifth parts of Bonaventure’s commentary on the Sentences of Peter Lombard. Villa also had the third and fourth parts similarly bound (Michel Wittock, "À propos des reliures, vraies ou frelatées, au médaillon d'Apollon et Pégase. Une enquête à travers les sources bibliographiques" in Bulletin du Bibliophile (1998), pp.330-365, with a census of 45 volumes).
2 parts in one volume, 8vo (150 x 101 mm). Gothic type, 56 lines plus headline. collation: (1) A-S8 T4: 148 leaves (quire K misbound). (2): a-z & [con] [us] A-M8: 304 leaves (last leaf blank; small ink stain on g2 and H7). Titles printed in red and black with woodcut printer’s device, woodcut initials, (Occasional light soiling, last few quires stained at foot, wormholes in last few leaves.)
binding: Contemporary Italian brown morocco gilt (162 x 111 mm), originally tooled in blind with later gilt decoration, several frames of gilt and blind fillets with gilt leafy stamp in outer frame, repeated blind leafy stamp forming an inner frame, in centre of covers the Apollo and Pegasus horizontal medallion stamp with Greek motto ΟΡΘΩΣ ΚΑΙ ΜΗ ΛΟΧΙΩΣ, spine with blind fillet decoration, gilt edges, vellum manuscript pastedowns (Italian, fourteenth century, from book 17 of Priscian’s Ars grammatica), stubs from four pairs of ties. In a green buckram drop-backed box. (Binding somewhat wormed and rubbed, corners bumped, spine creased with a few small holes.)
provenance: Frater Ludovicus Rodulfus Sandrianus, of St Andreas, inscription on both title-pages — Arturo Dazza (died 2010) — Bloomsbury Auctions, Rome, sale, 6 December 2006, lot 1. acquisition: Purchased in 2014 from Meda Riquier Rare Books, London. references: BP16 104441; USTC 768447 (all five parts of Bonaventura’s commentary on Peter Lombard, the present volume contains parts 5 and 1 only)
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