CATALOGUE OF A SELECTED PORTION OF THE FAMOUS LIBRARY PRINCIPALLY OF FINE BINDINGS, RARE ENGRAVINGS, ILLUSTRATED BOOKS, AND FRENCH LITERATURE FORMED BY THE LATE MORTIMER SCHIFF, ESQ. OF NEW YORK CITY.
3 volumes
- London: Sotheby & Co., 1938.
- 8vo.
- stiff green paper wrappers.
- 554, (12) pages.
- ISBN: none
Price: $175.00 other currencies
Order Nr. 106129
Auction catalogues of the library of fine bindings and illustrated books from the library of Mortimer Schiff (1877-1931), Sotheby, London, March, July, and December 1938 (Blogie III, 23-25; VII, 5-7; XII, 6-9), 2476 lots. Nothing comparable with these bindings had "been seen in London since the Holdford Sale more than ten years earlier." The real strength of the library is in the 18th century. Probably never since the Hamilton Palace Sale have so many examples of the inlaid binding of the period been offered for sale in London, culminating in Louis Douceur's emblematically tooled binding on Daphnis and Chloe and the amazing chinoiserie signed Monnier, the most elaborate binding of the period known to us. The auction proved to be disastrous for the heirs. The only beneficiaries were collectors like Lessing J. Rosenwald, who through Rosenbach, found it possible to obtain rare bindings and illustrated folios for bargain prices (Dickinson, p.282). Each volume illustrated throughout in black and white and color (121 plates). Front inside hinge broken of volume one and covers and spine loose from binding; tear in title page with a piece detached. Ink stamp of B.F. Stevens & Brown Ltd. on front covers of volume two and three.