HYGINUS, Caius Julius (fl. 2nd century). Poeticon astronomicon . Edited by Jacobus Sentinus and Johannes Lucilius Santritter. Venice: Erhard Ratdolt 22nd January 1485. Chancery 4 o (192 x 145 mm). Collation : a-g 8 (a1r blank, a1v woodcut diagram of sphere, a2r text, g7v Sentinus' verses to the reader, g8r colophon, g8v blank). 56 leaves. 32 lines. Roman type 8:91 (text), Gothic types 3:91 (inscriptions on two cuts), 10:65 (inscription on diagram), Greek type 91 (a few words). Woodcut diagram of the sphere, 47 astrological woodcuts, white-on-black floriated 11-line and smaller woodcut initials. Manuscript correction to caption of diagram on a1v, as in other copies, and possibly made in the printing house. (Closed tear on a8 crossing two lines of text and woodcut initial, a few leaves discreetly reinforced at gutter margin extreme, some marginalia cropped.) Early 20th-century russet morocco gilt, front cover with arms of C.H. St. John Hornby at center, gilt-lettered on spine, by Douglas Cockerell for W.H. Smith stamped "WHS" on rear turn-in; quarter morocco folding case. Provenance : some marginalia in an early hand -- Charles Harry St. John Hornby (1867-1946), Director of W.H. Smith and founder of the Ashendene Press (binding; note on front flyleaf; two bookplates) -- [Bernard Quaritch, Ltd. (collation note by J.O.T. Howard on rear pastedown)] -- W.R. Jeudwine (bookplate) sold Bloomsbury, London, 18 September 1984, lot 15. Third edition, the second illustrated, set from Ratdolt's 1482 edition. The series of woodcuts constitutes the earliest printed representation of the constellations; this edition adds the diagram of the sphere. The woodcuts, attributed to Santritter, derive from medieval manuscript sources and depict figures in medieval European costume. The text is attributed to Hyginus the mythographer and based on Greek sources, particularly Aratos' Phaenomena . Blending myth and science, the work explains the basics of astronomy, the 42 constellations and the zodiac. The text was first published in an unillustrated edition in Ferrara in 1475. C. H. St. John Hornby purchased the book in 1907 and had it rebound at a cost of one guinea. Hornby's early work as a printer at the Ashendene Press shows the influence of numerous early sources, Ratdolt among them; the Ashendene printing of Milton's Lycidas copies a Ratdolt border and initial (see Colin Franklin The Private Presses , p.62). Sydney Cockerell's work as a binder is hidden often behind the trade name of W.H. Smith It is accepted that Ashendene books bound by W.H. Smith and those which Hornby commissioned for his own library, are in fact the work of Cockerell. HC 9063*; BMC V, 289 (IA. 20540); BSB-Ink H-460; CIBN H-335; Essling 286; Pr 4398; Redgrave 48; Sander 3473; Goff H-561.
HYGINUS, Caius Julius (fl. 2nd century). Poeticon astronomicon . Edited by Jacobus Sentinus and Johannes Lucilius Santritter. Venice: Erhard Ratdolt 22nd January 1485. Chancery 4 o (192 x 145 mm). Collation : a-g 8 (a1r blank, a1v woodcut diagram of sphere, a2r text, g7v Sentinus' verses to the reader, g8r colophon, g8v blank). 56 leaves. 32 lines. Roman type 8:91 (text), Gothic types 3:91 (inscriptions on two cuts), 10:65 (inscription on diagram), Greek type 91 (a few words). Woodcut diagram of the sphere, 47 astrological woodcuts, white-on-black floriated 11-line and smaller woodcut initials. Manuscript correction to caption of diagram on a1v, as in other copies, and possibly made in the printing house. (Closed tear on a8 crossing two lines of text and woodcut initial, a few leaves discreetly reinforced at gutter margin extreme, some marginalia cropped.) Early 20th-century russet morocco gilt, front cover with arms of C.H. St. John Hornby at center, gilt-lettered on spine, by Douglas Cockerell for W.H. Smith stamped "WHS" on rear turn-in; quarter morocco folding case. Provenance : some marginalia in an early hand -- Charles Harry St. John Hornby (1867-1946), Director of W.H. Smith and founder of the Ashendene Press (binding; note on front flyleaf; two bookplates) -- [Bernard Quaritch, Ltd. (collation note by J.O.T. Howard on rear pastedown)] -- W.R. Jeudwine (bookplate) sold Bloomsbury, London, 18 September 1984, lot 15. Third edition, the second illustrated, set from Ratdolt's 1482 edition. The series of woodcuts constitutes the earliest printed representation of the constellations; this edition adds the diagram of the sphere. The woodcuts, attributed to Santritter, derive from medieval manuscript sources and depict figures in medieval European costume. The text is attributed to Hyginus the mythographer and based on Greek sources, particularly Aratos' Phaenomena . Blending myth and science, the work explains the basics of astronomy, the 42 constellations and the zodiac. The text was first published in an unillustrated edition in Ferrara in 1475. C. H. St. John Hornby purchased the book in 1907 and had it rebound at a cost of one guinea. Hornby's early work as a printer at the Ashendene Press shows the influence of numerous early sources, Ratdolt among them; the Ashendene printing of Milton's Lycidas copies a Ratdolt border and initial (see Colin Franklin The Private Presses , p.62). Sydney Cockerell's work as a binder is hidden often behind the trade name of W.H. Smith It is accepted that Ashendene books bound by W.H. Smith and those which Hornby commissioned for his own library, are in fact the work of Cockerell. HC 9063*; BMC V, 289 (IA. 20540); BSB-Ink H-460; CIBN H-335; Essling 286; Pr 4398; Redgrave 48; Sander 3473; Goff H-561.
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
Try LotSearch and its premium features for 7 days - without any costs!
Be notified automatically about new items in upcoming auctions.
Create an alert
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
