Lot 110
  • 110

Taverner, John

Estimate
8,000 - 12,000 USD
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Description

  • 'Certaine Experiments Concerning Fish and Fruite'. London: William Ponsonby, 1600
  • Paper, ink, leather
Small 4to (7 3/16 x 5 1/8 in.; 183 x 130mm). Printer's woodcut device on title, woodcut initials, printed mostly in blackletter, A1 and F4 both blank and present; upper corner of B3 renewed, minor and expert repair to wormhole in upper corners of C4 - E4, some foxing, heaviest to the last four leaves. Full scarlet morocco, bound by Riviere, covers with multiple gilt rules and filigree corner pieces, spine with raised bands in three compartments, rules, text, and filigree ornaments all gilt, inner dentelles gilt, marbled endpapers, edges gilt. In red quarter morocco and cloth slipcase and folding chemise.   

Provenance

Henry Cunliffe (bookplate to front pastedown) — Arthur Howard Thompson (bookplate to front pastedown) — Sotheby's New York, 14 October 1968, lot 162 — Sotheby's London, 15 May 1946, lot 458

Literature

Litchfield 1; Gee 102; Heckscher 1895; STC 23708; Westwood & Satchell 205

Condition

Small 4to (7 3/16 x 5 1/8 in.; 183 x 130mm). Printer's woodcut device on title, woodcut initials, printed mostly in blackletter, A1 and F4 both blank and present; upper corner of B3 renewed, minor and expert repair to wormhole in upper corners of C4 - E4, some foxing, heaviest to the last four leaves. Full scarlet morocco, bound by Riviere, covers with multiple gilt rules and filigree corner pieces, spine with raised bands in three compartments, rules, text, and filigree ornaments all gilt, inner dentelles gilt, marbled endpapers, edges gilt. In red quarter morocco and cloth slipcase and folding chemise.
The lot is sold in the condition it is in at the time of sale. The condition report is provided to assist you with assessing the condition of the lot and is for guidance only. Any reference to condition in the condition report for the lot does not amount to a full description of condition. The images of the lot form part of the condition report for the lot provided by Sotheby's. Certain images of the lot provided online may not accurately reflect the actual condition of the lot. In particular, the online images may represent colours and shades which are different to the lot's actual colour and shades. The condition report for the lot may make reference to particular imperfections of the lot but you should note that the lot may have other faults not expressly referred to in the condition report for the lot or shown in the online images of the lot. The condition report may not refer to all faults, restoration, alteration or adaptation because Sotheby's is not a professional conservator or restorer but rather the condition report is a statement of opinion genuinely held by Sotheby's. For that reason, Sotheby's condition report is not an alternative to taking your own professional advice regarding the condition of the lot.

Catalogue Note

The rare first edition, the Cunliffe copy. Taverner's only publication, based on his experiments in stocking a fish pond. "Good Reader," Taverner begins, "in seeking to shun that monster idleness, and having a desire by all honest means possible, to benefit this my native countrie of England, and finding my abilitie otherwise insufficient to performe the same, I have thought good to set down some experiments that my selfe have had concerning fish and fruite."