Austrian chained binding - photo 1
Austrian chained binding - photo 2
Austrian chained binding - photo 3
Austrian chained binding - photo 4
Austrian chained binding - photo 5

Austrian chained binding

Sold
$ 25 000
Auction dateClassic
16.10.2020 10:00UTC +01:00
Auctioneer
CHRISTIE'S
Event location
United Kingdom, London
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 411492
Lot 84 | Austrian chained binding
NICOLAUS DE GRETZ (fl. 1421-39, rector of Vienna University 1437),Tractatus de duodecim partibus fidei, in Latin, written by Petrus Bawtz of Olmütz, Moravia, 17 February 1440. – [Anon.] Sermones dominicales et hebdomadales super epistolas et evangelia. [Austria, probably Vienna, mid-15th century.]

A signed Latin treatise in an exceptional fifteenth-century chained Austrian binding. Gretz's treatise appears to be unpublished; and the sermons, which only cover the first half of the liturgical year, may be unrecorded. The two works probably existed together when they were rebound and chained a half century later, almost certainly in Vienna. It was no doubt the Piarist Fathers who acquired, restored and rechained the binding after they founded a Viennese school and library in the 17th century. Intact codices from medieval chained libraries are extremely rare at auction.

205 x 143mm, 408 leaves, collation: 1-812, 21-2 812, 9-2612, complete, two codices bound in one volume, the first with catchwords at the end of each gathering, the second with catchword at the end of the first gathering and signatures at the end of subsequent gatherings, Bawtz’s bookhand in the first work a gothic cursive, similar script by a different hand in the second work, large initials in blue with red penwork decoration in the first work; smaller initials in red in the second work, rubricated throughout with headings, paragraph marks, capital strokes and underlining (some toning especially to first leaf, wormholes, and a corner repair to first leaf, catchwords and signatures cropped, red ink spilled on several pages in the second work; occasional dustsoiling). Two leaves of 19th-century notes tipped into the front.

Binding: late-15th-century Austrian chained binding, with blind-stamped calf over oak boards, intersecting triple fillets forming rectangular border compartments containing a fleur-de-lis in an oval and another floral tool (neither reproduced in Kyriss or Schwenke-Sammlung), the field diapered and containing foliate ornament in relief from the impressions of Kopfstempel, iron chain attached to the top of the back cover, consisting of a staple, eleven hourglass links and a ring; title on later paper spine label (rebacked and corners replaced at an early date, inner hinges strengthened, clasps and bosses gone, a hole through the upper back cover indicating that the binding had been chained once before).

Content: Tractatus, beginning: "Dilectissimi quicumque homo habens usum rationis vult venire in regnum celeste," f.1-96v, (scribe’s colophon on f.96v); Sermones, beginning: "Hora est iam nos de sompno surgere Rom. xiii Beatus Gregorius dicit quod civi libet [sic] solempnitati quam colimus debemus bonis operibus conformari," ff.97-406v, blanks ff.407-8 (last blank as pastedown).

Provenance: Piarists of Vienna (early inscription) – Johann Ernst von Jamaigne (1648-1719, Protonotary Apostolic in Waidhofen an der Thaya; engraved armorial bookplate) – Sotheby’s, 15 December 1953, lot 106 (bought through Offenbacher) – Cornelius J. Hauck (his sale, Christie’s New York, 27 July 2006, lot 106).
Art style:Renaissance
Category:Manuscript
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
01.10.2020 – 16.10.2020
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
Buyer Premium see on Website
Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase

Related terms

Frequently asked questions

First of all, you should register to be able to purchase at auction. After confirming your email address, enter your personal information in your user profile, such as your first name, last name, and mail address. Choose a lot from the upcoming auction and the maximum amount you want to place on it. After confirmation of your choice, we will send your application by e-mail to the appropriate auction house. If the auction house accepts a request, it will participate in the auction. You can view the current status of a bid at any time in your personal account in the "Bids" section.
Auctions are performed by auction houses and each of the auction houses describes their terms of auction. You can see the texts in the section "Auction information".
The results of the auction are published within a few days after the end of the auction. In the top menu of the site, find the tab "Auctions". Click on it and you will be on the auction catalog page, where you can easily find the category "Results". After opening it, select the desired auction from the list, enter and view the current status of the interested lot.
The information about the auction winners is confidential. The auction winner will receive a direct notification from the auction house responsible with instructions for further action: an invoice for payment and the manner in which the goods will be received.
Each of the auction houses has its own payment policy for the won lots. All auction houses accept bank transfers, most of them accept credit card payments. In the near future you will find detailed information for each case in the section "Auction information" on the page of the auction catalog and the lot.
Shipment of the won lot depends on its size. Small items can be delivered by post. Larger lots are sent by courier. Employees of the auction houses will offer you a wide range to choose from.
No. The archive serves as a reference for the study of auction prices, photographs and descriptions of works of art.