SNEAK PREVIEW: Books, Autographs and Manuscr [..]
Lot 143 Le avventure di Topolino. N.1
Lot 202 Le Surrealisme en 1947
Lot 440 Osteographia, or The anatomy of the bones
Lot 513 Tabulae Rudolphinae
Lot 514 ISTORIYA I PAMYATNIKI VIZANTIISKOI EMALI
Lot 616 De humani corporis fabrica libri septem
An antidote to the heat raging at the moment could be the anticipation of Gonnelli Casa d’Aste’s autumn auction of Books, Autographs and Manuscripts, which will be held from 6 to 8 October 2026 at its Florence premises and will feature 628 lots, divided into five auction sessions.
Among Autographs, Photographs and Ephemera, Manuscripts and Music, we highlight:
In the Orientalia section, which boasts a fine selection of Judaica, including various manuscripts containing sections of the Torah and two Esther Scrolls, the top lot is a remarkable 16th-century handwritten Siddur. We also highlight a distinctive Persian Shiite manuscript, a small and exquisite Ottoman manuscript devoted to the Prophet Muhammad, two interesting Ethiopian manuscripts with hagiographic and Marian themes, and two intriguing Theravada Buddhist school codices.
The sections devoted to the 20th century brings together over 120 lots: from Futurism, with the extremely rare first edition of La veglia dei lestofanti. Commedia Jazz by Anton Giulio Bragaglia, to illustrated and travel books, up to the precious volumes from the Golden Age of English Illustration, with works by Aubrey Beardsley, Edmund Dulac, Harry Clarke, Arthur Rackham and others. The 20th-century editions range from literature to theatre, from travel books to illustrated volumes, featuring rarities such as Les arbres nains japonais, the first Western monograph devoted to the art of bonsai. The selection is completed by a group of fifty Artists’ Books, led by Le Surréalisme en 1947 by Marcel Duchamp.
Among the Rare and antiquarian books, three sections stand out in particular:
Among the Incunabula and Post-Incunabula, highlights include an extraordinary De re militari by Roberto Valturio (1483), formerly belonging to Tammaro De Marinis, and Ketham’s Fasciculus medicine (1500). The extensive section of Printed Books from the 16th to the 19th Century includes:
Among Autographs, Photographs and Ephemera, Manuscripts and Music, we highlight:
- an album of extremely rare albumen photographs of Mecca and Medina from the 1880s, with images by ‘Abd al-Ghaffār;
- a letter from Alessandro Volta to Napoleon and other important documents by Italian and foreign figures;
- the Libro de giustitiati nella città di Ferrara, a precious testimony to the Venerabile Confraternita della Morte, together with other fascinating manuscripts dating from the 15th to the 19th century;
- autographs by Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini, Maria Callas, Aram Khachaturian, Ella Fitzgerald, and a handwritten collection of 18th-century Sonatas for violin and continuo.
In the Orientalia section, which boasts a fine selection of Judaica, including various manuscripts containing sections of the Torah and two Esther Scrolls, the top lot is a remarkable 16th-century handwritten Siddur. We also highlight a distinctive Persian Shiite manuscript, a small and exquisite Ottoman manuscript devoted to the Prophet Muhammad, two interesting Ethiopian manuscripts with hagiographic and Marian themes, and two intriguing Theravada Buddhist school codices.
The sections devoted to the 20th century brings together over 120 lots: from Futurism, with the extremely rare first edition of La veglia dei lestofanti. Commedia Jazz by Anton Giulio Bragaglia, to illustrated and travel books, up to the precious volumes from the Golden Age of English Illustration, with works by Aubrey Beardsley, Edmund Dulac, Harry Clarke, Arthur Rackham and others. The 20th-century editions range from literature to theatre, from travel books to illustrated volumes, featuring rarities such as Les arbres nains japonais, the first Western monograph devoted to the art of bonsai. The selection is completed by a group of fifty Artists’ Books, led by Le Surréalisme en 1947 by Marcel Duchamp.
Among the Rare and antiquarian books, three sections stand out in particular:
- Falconry, Hunting and Fishing, with over fifty lots, including a splendid copy of Venationis, piscationis, et aucupii typi by Jan Bol (1582);
- Playing Cards, Tarot and Divination, with Andrea Ghisi’s Laberinto (1616) and the extremely rare first edition of Francesco Marcolini’s Giardino di Pensieri (1540);
- Rare and Early Printed Books in Oriental Scripts, including the Alphabetum tibetanum (1759), the first Western printed work devoted to the Tibetan language.
Among the Incunabula and Post-Incunabula, highlights include an extraordinary De re militari by Roberto Valturio (1483), formerly belonging to Tammaro De Marinis, and Ketham’s Fasciculus medicine (1500). The extensive section of Printed Books from the 16th to the 19th Century includes:
- numerous books on medicine and anatomy, including a second copy of Ketham’s Fasciculus, dated 1522, the remarkable De vocis auditusque organis historia anatomica by Casseri (already provided with free circulation), and a first edition of Vesalius (1543);
- various works on astronomy and astrology, including two important works by Kepler: Harmonices mundi libri V of 1619 and Tabulae Rudolphinae of 1627;
- the masterpiece of Russian typography, ISTORIYA I PAMYATNIKI VIZANTIISKOI EMALI of 1892;
- Jacopo Strada’s Imperatorum Romanorum of 1559, a monumental and magnificently illustrated work;
- a small and delightful section of extremely rare letters by Jesuits from India, China, Japan...
... and much, much more!
