Rare books from Butler Rare Books

1250. No Binding. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. Boethius commentary on Aristotle, Categoriae, and the same authors translation of Perihermenias, two bifolia, in Latin translation, decorated manuscript on parchment [France (probably Paris), thirteenth century (probably first half)]four leaves (two bifolia), each with single column of 41 lines in a tiny university script, paragraph marks in red, rubrics and simple initials in red, numerous tiny contemporary or near-contemporary marginal notes and addition, reused on binding in France in eighteenth century and with later inscriptions of that period, some leaves with large areas of scuffing, some holes and folds, somewhat battered condition, each leaf 225 by 162mm.While the thirteenth century saw the highpoint in translation and study of Aristotle in the West, and benefited from the incoming cultural influences from the East and southern Europe, Boethius had already begun such work in the early sixth century. His works were the main carriage of such… Read More

1550. Soft cover. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. Paper covers. 32pp, bound. Second half of C16th. A small calligraphic hand in brown ink with marginal notes written on paper. Some vestigial show through 282mm x 196mm. This appears to be a copy of a printed text of Fortunatianus

1180. No Binding. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. Large cutting, with a historiated initial 'S' (opening 'Senior delecte domine' the opening of 2 John from the N.T.) formed of blue and light brown acanthus leaves with scalloping white penwork, the upper compartment with a green-headed bear creature with an orange body biting the initial at his feet, the lower compartment with a white griffon-like creature with sprouts of simple acanthus leaves emerging form its mouth and the apex of its head, all on burnished gold grounds and within a thick blue frame heightened by blue penwork, simple initials in red or blue, rubrics in red, partly marked up for reading in red ink, 19 lines of an early gothic bookhand with red touching to capitals and fishtailing to ascenders, but with only occasional ligatures and biting curves and with a tall capital 'E' with a tongue found in other manuscripts of the period (cf. Clermond-Ferrand, Bibl. Mun. ms. 1: W. Cahn, Romanesque Manuscripts, 1982, no. 44, fig. 44, central… Read More

Henricus Stephanus [Henri Estienne] Geneva, 1566. Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. 1st Edition. 36cm x 23cm. Two large folio volumes. Two volumes. [1] Homer's 'Iliad' (1-410pp); Homer's 'Odyssey' (411-781pp); [2] Hesiod and others (1-489pp) Bound in full best calf over raised bands in period style with blind tooled panels to each of the boards. 4 labels with hand lettering. The text is clean and tidy with good margins, few marks and crisp throughout. This edition, one of Stephanus' most impressive productions, is set in the 'Grecs du roi' typeface of Garamond and comprises Homer's two magnus works, Hesiod's 'Works and Days', the 'Argonautica', the 'Orphic Hymns' and other works. All of our books will be carefully packaged and are shipped courier, insured by us.

The Death of Ptolemy, a miniature on a cutting from Laurent de Premierfait, Du cas des nobles hommes et femmes (his translation into French of Boccaccio's Latin De casibus vivorum illustrium) [France, probably Troyes, c.1470]
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND MATERIALITY
Parchment, a cutting, c.105×80mm, with a miniature on one side and 17 lines of text on the other, ruled in pale red ink, written in a very fine lettre bâtarde script, capitals stroked in yellow, a gold paraph with blue penwork, with some minor flaking of pigments in the sky at the upper edge and in the ground near Boccaccio's feet.
Unlike most of the items in this catalogue, which have survived down through the centuries only through luck and good fortune (while the rest of the volumes from which they come have long-since been destroyed or discarded), the preset cutting represents a completely different kind of survival. In this case the text leaves of the parent manuscript have perhaps suffered the same fate as binders' waste, but the… Read More

Parchment, a cutting with a miniature and side borders, c.215×155mm, pasted to a wood panel (so the text is not identifiable), the back of which has an 18th(?)-century collection number [N]o475 , in a carved giltwood frame, with a hanging loop at the top, with some overall rubbing and loss of pigment particularly, it seems, in the faces of the five seated men, which are far less finely painted and modelled than the youth standing to the right of the scene and the elder in the left border, alternatively it may be that two artists of very different ability collaborated on this miniature. As with no. 27 below, this miniature deliberately excised from its parent volume for the express purpose of preserving it is entirely different from the majority of fragments in this catalogue which their 16th- and 17th-century owners did not consider worthy of preservation. The way in which it has been cropped (including the loss of borders, an illuminated initial, and the feet of the marginal figure) and glued-down… Read More

St. Paul in a historiated initial on a leaf from an illuminated choirbook, on vellum [northern Italy (perhaps Milan), c.1500]single leaf, 559mm. by 340mm., with a large historiated initial 'S' (probably opening "Scio cui credidi ..." the Psalm for the Night Office on the Feast of St. Peter, 29 June), 75mm. high, in pink with blue background heightened with scrolling white penwork, and green, blue and red acanthus-leaf sprays and bezant, all on burnished gold ground, 5 lines of text with music on a 4-line red stave, ink eating through individual letters in places, slight cockling, else good, nineteenth- or early twentieth-century frame. This is a detailed and well executed miniature. The skill in the portrayal of the saint's beard, his calm and benign facial features, and engaging gaze straight out of the picture towards his viewer, find close parallels in the work of Lombardic artists of the early sixteenth century, such as the so-called Master B.F (see D'Ancona, Wildenstein Collection, 1970,… Read More

Leaf from Augustine, Enarrationes in Psalmos, for Psalm 41:6-8, in Latin, from large manuscript on parchment[England, mid-twelfth century] Complete single leaf, with double column of 39 lines in a formal and angular proto-gothic bookhand, with pronounced wedges to ascenders and a residual ct-ligature, pale red rubrics, English pencil notes on text in lower margin of recto, recovered from a binding and so darkened on verso, and small scuffs, folds and holes, overall good and presentable condition with wide and clean margins, and on heavy parchment, 390 by 260mm.; in cloth-covered binding Provenance: 1. Alan G. Thomas (1911-1992), London bookseller.2. Leeds' Public Library; de-accessioned and sold by auction at Phillips, 28 February 1990, lot 54. 3. Schøyen Collection, London and Oslo, their MS 659, acquired from Sam Fogg, London, in June 1990. Text and script: The Enarrationes in Psalmos is the longest of Augustine's major works; measuring twice the length of his more well-known De Civitate Dei. It… Read More

Leaf from a commentary on Matthew 2:11-18, in Latin, from a large decorated manuscript on parchment[England, c. 1200] Single leaf, with double column of 45 lines in a handsome English gothic bookhand (textualis libraria), capitals touched in red and sometimes with leafy vine-stem terminals, one small red initial, marginalia including diagrams for the words "fuga" and "Moratus", recovered from a binding and with staining to margins on recto, some tears to edges of leaves and small holes, overall in fair and presentable condition, 345 by 245mm.; in cloth-covered binding and with report by Prof. Marvin Colker Provenance: 1. The presence of punctus flexus punctuation indicates an origin in a Cistercian community, somewhere in England at the end of the twelfth century and the opening of the thirteenth.2. Sotheby's, 12 November 1987, lot 12. 3. Bernard Rosenthal (1920-2017), San Francisco, California, I/266 (1987). 4. Quaritch cat. 1088, Bookhands of the Middle Ages III, 1988, no. 65. 5. Schøyen… Read More

Chancery folio (270 x 195mm.), 123 leaves (of 124, without final blank), a10 b8 c-s6 t10, 35 lines, roman type, initial spaces, some early annotations, last 2 leaves with repaired wormholes, otherwise a
fine copy with wide margins and internally fresh.The binding in crushed burgundy morocco by Brugalla dated 1947, gilt edges, marbled slipcase. The endpapers are vibrant marbled paper with broad inner dentelle gilt decorated edges. There is a private
leather library label to the front pastedown. The slipcase is equally delightful, matching the marble effect and matching leather edging to the entrance of the case and a white felt lining. Hand and glove.
 EDITIO PRINCEPS of this collection of model speeches attributed to Quintilian. The editor, Jacopo Grasolari, was a student of Giorgio Merula who checked over Grasolari's text before publication.
(Grasolari later became a Venetian notary.) ISTC iq00019000PROVENANCE: Gianni de Marco, morocco book label. Bookseller's ticket adhered to the outer case… Read More

A superb example of early English embroidery on a 1628 Bible with two figures 'Faith' and 'Hope'.
[Embroidered Bible] English Bible.
London, By Bonham Norton, and Iohn Bill, 1628
[Additional photos and description available on request]
Magnificent contemporary English binding finely worked on a hazelnut silk background and embroidered with silver and gold wires and wires coloured in red and various shades of green. The binding features decorated ornaments, in the middle of each covers there is a beautiful embroidered panel that contains a detailed image of a blessing figure holding an anchor in one hand – probably representing 'Hope' – and on the other cover a figure with a cross in one hand and in the other hand a page – probably representing 'Faith'; on the spine, ornamental drawings and hourglasses.
Few specimens of Embroidered Bibles with figures as this example, have survived the wear and tear of time. The most richly decorated copies were often made for Kings and their families; see, for… Read More

4to [314] leaves (first and last blank). Gothic type; 60 lines & headline: with white on black woodcut printer's device at end. Rubricated with guide letters and capitals beautifully supplied in red with decoration often extended into the margins. A contemporary owner has written "Flores Sapienne" on the recto of the first blank leaf. Few tiny round worm holes in first few and last few leaves with small worm hole in bottom blank margins of some leaves; few contemporary annotations and pointing hands in the margins; some faint spotting. Contemporary blind tooled calf over wooden boards with two clasps (front hinge expertly repaired, few tiny worm holes and light rubbing) with contemporary vellum MS spine label and two brass clasps (bottom clasp a newer substitute). Fourth edition of this book of Lenten sermons by the Servite theologian and preacher Ambrosius de Spiera (ca. 1413-1454/55). First pubished in 1476 by Vindelinus de Spira in Venice, this popular collection would go through seven editions by… Read More

A cutting, c.160×160mm, of an illuminated initial 'N', doubtless the introit for the Mass on the feast-day of Sts Peter and Paul (29 June), probably 'Nunc scio vere quia misit dominus angelum suum …': the reverse preserving its continuation: "[… de omni exspectation]e plebis [judaeorum] V(ersus). Et [...]", with music in square notation on four-line red staves, the versicle with an enlarged red initial 'E' filled with, and surrounded by, ornament in blue; both saints shown half-length, Paul holding a sword (the instrument of his martyrdom) and Peter holding keys (to heaven) and a book in a red blind-tooled binding with two clasps. Condition: Some decoration is cropped at the extremities; a little gold has flaked from the field surrounding the initial and some rubbing of the initial letter to the right; silver (notably Paul's sword) has darkened due to oxidation; the main scene is generally in fine condition. In a giltwood frame, c.30×30cm.The palette, whose dominant colours are an emerald green,… Read More

Royal Folio; leaves measure 415 mm x 285 mm, with vast margins, apparently untrimmed. Bound in 15th-century blind-stamped South-German pigskin over wooden boards. Covers richly decorated in blind using both rolls and individual stamps, including flowerpots, dragon, double-headed eagle, 'lamb of God', text banners, etc; rear cover of somewhat different design with more geometric patterns. The quality of tooling - both in workmanship and in the detailing of the stamps - is superb. Most likely a formerly chained binding with evidence of several formerly present metal bosses, corner-pieces and clasps (all now gone). Old manuscript title to top spine compartment. 246 leaves (forming total of 492 pages); foliated in roman numerals: [7], ccxxxviii, [1] ff. Collation: [16 2-1310.8 14-1510 16-2510.8 26-278 286].
COMPLETE, including all three integral blanks [11, 21, 286]
Printed in double column; 51 lines per page and headline. Text in fine large gothic letter: Type: 3:110aG (text), 4:160G (headings and… Read More

Parchment, c.175×140mm, i (paper) + 107 + i (paper) leaves; foliated in modern pencil i, 1 108; COMPLETE; collation: 16 (fols.1-6) | 28 (fols.7 14), 3 78 (fols.15 54), 84 (fols.55 58) | 9-138 (fols.59 98), 144-1 (last leaf cancelled with no apparent loss of text or decoration; fols.99 101), 158-2 (6th and 8th leaves cancelled without loss of text or decoration; fols.102 107); one catchword survives (fol.38v); prickings occasionally survive at the fore-edge; ruled in pink ink for 17 lines of text per page (33 lines in the calendar); written in a professional gothic bookhand in dark brown ink (occasionally with very calligraphic flourishes e.g. fols.16v, 17v), rubrics (often in French) and major feasts in the calendar in red, capitals stroked in yellow wash; the ruled space c.115×73 78mm; illuminated with TWELVE LARGE ARCH-TOPPED MINIATURES FRAMED IN GOLD, typically above 5 lines of text (above 4 lines on fols. 45r, 48v, above 6 lines on fol.75r) and a 4-line initial (5-line initials on fols.7r, 24v,… Read More