Brooker’s determination to build a spectacular collection was sparked in 1959, while studying at the Sorbonne in Paris. He graduated from Yale with a bachelor’s degree in French literature, and in 1962, was awarded Senior Prize of the Adrian Van Sinderen Book Collecting Prizes at Yale. Brooker’s theses for both his Harvard Business School MBA (“Rare Books as a Hedge against Devaluation and Inflation”), and his University of Chicago MA in Art History (“The Diffusion of Binding Styles in the Sixteenth Century between Italy and France”), explored the history of the book. Brooker went on to achieve a terminal degree in Art History, titling his doctoral dissertation “Upright Works: The Emergence of the Vertical Library in the Sixteenth Century.” Brooker established the T. Kimball Brooker Prize sponsored by the University of Chicago, to foster a love of the book and to encourage book collecting among undergraduate students. This lifelong dedication naturally culminated in the creation of an extraordinary private library, the Bibliotheca Brookeriana: the T. Kimball Brooker Library of Renaissance Books and Bindings. In October 2023, Sotheby’s New York kicked off an unprecedented series of seven auctions to celebrate his collection. A carefully curated, extraordinary library of more than 1,300 sixteenth-century French and Italian books in their original bindings, passionate collector and scholar T. Kimball Brooker diligently assembled the library across more than six decades. Estimated to achieve in excess of $25 million, the collection was first presented in a live evening auction in New York last October - marking the first dedicated Books &amp; Manuscripts evening auction in New York in a decade. The only library with the theme and concentration of Brooker’s ever assembled outside of Europe, Brooker collected both widely and in depth, acquiring numerous volumes of books including titles in multiple editions and variants. What distinguishes Bibliotheca Brookeriana is the unwavering scholarly passion of T. Kimball Brooker, who endeavored to diligently seek out the finest and most impeccably preserved book bindings, works featuring emblems and inscriptions from early owners, as well as works with impeccable provenance that add layers of historical significance. Encompassing books throughout the ages, Bibliotheca Brookeriana is a truly exceptional collection showcasing the convergence of art, architecture, and knowledge in the Renaissance era.

T. Kimball Brooker

"The Fugger family, established from 1367 in the imperial city of Augsburg, one of the most dynamic textile cities in southern Germany, became a powerful dynasty of merchants and bankers. Thanks to their cloth factories, their control of the silver and copper mining in Central Europe (Hungary and Tyrol), and the building of a network in major European cities, they became bankers and major creditors to the Habsburg emperors Maximilian I and Charles V, and reached the absolute pinnacle of the world of trade and finance. Following the old rule that the first generation creates a business, the second develops it, and the third brings it to ruin, the Fugger heirs depleted their incredible fortune in the best possible way: collecting books.” (Isabelle de Conihout)

Fugger Bindings

“The magnificent Renaissance bindings with the gilt ex-libris ‘Thomae Maioli et amicorum,’ associated in various combinations with a complex monogram or a simple one (TDM), and with two rather pessimistic mottoes, have long been sought after by bibliophiles. These bindings were made for collector Thomas Mahieu, first ‘secretaire des finances’ to Queen Catherine de’ Medici from 1549 to 1560. Mahieu also served as ‘Tresorier de France et general de ses finances en la généralité de Languedoïl,’ residing in Orleans… Not a whole lot is known about the impressive collector, all traces we have left of him are his books—three of which are offered here. The Mahieu bindings offered in Bibliotheca Brookeriana are led by his copy of Paolo Giovio’s Pauli Iovii Novocomensis Vitae duodecim vicecomitum Mediolani principum." (Isabelle de Conihout).

Mahieu Bindings

The Italian printer Aldo Manuzio (1449-1515) is cherished for his craftsmanship and innovative printing practice. Having published a variety of Greek and Latin classics, he is also credited with helping to revive interest in these cultures on a mass scale and play a critical role in how the concept of the Renaissance would be known for centuries. T. Kimball Brooker’s collection features approximately 1,000 Aldine volumes published from the 1490s to the 1590s. Bibliotheca Brookeriana marks the largest collection of Aldines to come to market in a century, and the only private library of its kind ever collected outside of Europe. The Aldine volumes are not merely of historical curiosity - they have left a lasting impact on the world of publishing and the appearance of the modern book. The printer’s device of the dolphin and anchor remains an enduring symbol of quality, still acknowledged by publishers and bibliophiles today. Aldo Manuzio also introduced an innovative practice of printing in a smaller format, creating new handbooks that would establish an easier and more popular way of reading and transporting books. In many respects, Aldines may be considered precursors to modern paperbacks.

Books published by renowned printer Aldo Manuzio, referred to as Aldines, are highly prized not only for their detail and craftsmanship but also because they were central to disseminating the ideals of Renaissance Humanism.

All About Aldines

Many of the books in this Bibliotheca Brookeriana sale reveal practices of shelving that were common in Renaissance Europe but differ from our modern libraries. The Renaissance witnessed a shift from chained libraries, where books were attached to lecterns, shelves, or desks by chains, to the wall-system, where flat shelves against walls became more common. Despite this, older practices of shelving, and therefore bookbinding, remained. Because chains had been attached to the fore-edge, books often had their titles or author names lettered here, as this, not the spine, would face outward on the shelf. Despite the development of the wall-system, where chains were no longer in use, this tradition remained. In the library at El Escorial in Madrid, believed to be the first grand library designed specifically with this wall-system, books continued to be shelved with their fore-edges facing outwards, despite the absence of chains. This tradition was especially popular in Spain: a few volumes from the Dávila y Toledo libraries in this sale feature elaborate fore-edge decoration. Nevertheless, this was not confined to Spain, as the volumes from the Pillone library in Belluno also demonstrate. Their intricate, colourful fore-edge paintings, the work of the renowned Italian painter and engraver, Cesare Vecellio (1530–1601), a cousin and pupil of Titian, also indicate that the volumes were intended to be shelved in this manner.

Designer Labels: Shelving the Renaissance Library 

The emblem book genre flourished in Italy and France in the 16th century following the success of Andrea Alciati’s Emblematum Liber&nbsp;of 1531, before the Low Countries began dominate emblem production in the 17th century. Important works of the genre in the Bibliotheca Brookeriana include first editions of Alciati, Junius and Sambucus, the emblematic canon oft referred to by subsequent emblematists. The selection offered here, in reflection of the genre, is largely characterised by the production of emblems in the tripartite structure of inscriptio, pictura, and subscriptio. Many works are united by shared sources, borrowing of material and use of the same printers.

Emblem Books

Paris

Head of Department | Europe

Dr. David Goldthorpe

Director | Specialist

Benoit Puttemans

Patricia de Fougerolle

Sale Coordinator | Books

Fanny Gras

Meet our Specialists

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The first seven sales that have taken place since 2023 have realised a total of close to $35m over 1,866 lots. Inevitably in a sale series of this magnitude, some items will not find a new home at the first time of asking. We are delighted to present, therefore, an eighth and final sale of the Bibliotheca Brookeriana, comprising re-offers of all the items which have not yet been sold, at amended estimates. This last sale will take place in Paris. The order of the current sale is strictly alphabetical, with Mr Brooker’s remaining Aldines combined with his other fine renaissance books, and the lot numbers re-start from one.

Bibliotheca Brookeriana VIII