The Histoire Ancienne is a chronicle lavishly decorated with 76 miniatures and two dazzling frontispieces, and was very likely created for King Charles V. Now in two volumes, the Histoire ancienne jusqu’à César recounts the history of the world from Genesis to the birth of Julius Cesar, while the Faits des Romains describes famous battels of Antiquity. It is densely illuminated with battle scenes and decisive moments of ancient history. Despite depicting Roman armies, the figures are rendered in beautiful courtly medieval dress and armour. The illuminators, the Master of the Coronation of Charles VI and a collaborator, are known to have worked almost exclusively for the French King. Chronicles like this were popular among the highest echelons of society, and often read aloud to royalty and nobles during meals or other quiet moments to edify and entertain them and their courtiers. On offer for $6,234,000.
Finally, with 130 full-page illuminations, the Liechtenstein Tacuinum Sanitatis is one of the most extensively illuminated medical manuscripts ever produced. It is one of four beautifully decorated copies of this text, this manuscript the most elaborate of all surviving exemplars. The Tacuinum Sanitatis offers an all-encompassing guide to well-being, reflected in modern medicine with its holistic understanding of body, mind, and soul.
The manuscript consists of 130 fascinating depictions of men and women from different spheres of society, showing them eating and drinking, preparing food, visiting stores, harvesting, talking by the fire, making music and having sex. These glimpses into everyday life are enriched by images of identifiable plants, depictions of the seasons, beloved pets, and animals being led to slaughter. These images illustrate how to lead a healthy life by regulating eating and drinking, rest and exercise, as well as mental affections. On offer for $7,140,000.
Peter Harrington Rare Books will also be participating in TEFAF Maastricht. Highlights from the items they are bringing include:
* Das Werk by Gustav Klimt (1914) - the only editioned set of Klimt prints produced during the artist’s lifetime and a project planned in conjunction with the Kunstschau 1908 exhibition, overseen by Klimt and the Galerie Miethke. The project included the publication of collotype prints under the name Das Werk (the Work of Gustav Klimt) which contained 50 prints on heavy wove paper with deckled edges, issued unbound. Intended as a means of advertising his work to a wider audience, the monograph was issued in a limited edition of 300. Each was printed at the bottom with a different gold signet that Klimt specially designed to accompany each image.
* Isidorus Hispalensis's Etymologiae which contains the first printed world map, a circular ‘T-O’ mappa mundi depicting the three continents - Asia, Europe and Africa - encircled by the ocean and divided by a T-shaped inland sea.
* the original, highly finished artwork for the complete suite of pochoirs for Maurice Verneuils’ Kaléidoscope, a visually spectacular document of what is widely recognized as one of the most brilliant of the art deco pattern books. Peter Harrington has been unable to find records for any comparable archives on the market so this is perhaps a unique opportunity to own the original artwork for one of the masterpieces of the art deco era.
