Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375) - photo 1
Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375) - photo 2
Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375) - photo 3
Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375) - photo 4

Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375)

Lot 125
09.12.2020 00:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Starting price
£ 6 000
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
Buyer Premiumsee on Website%
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 470177
Lot 125 | Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375)
Estimate value
£ 6 000 – 8 000
Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375)

The Falls of Princes. 1554

BOCCACCIO, Giovanni (1313-1375). A Treatise excellent and compendious, shewing and declaring, in maner of Tragedye, the falls of sondry most notable Princes and Princesses. Translated by John Lydgate. -John LYDGATE (c.1370-c.1451). The daunce of Machabree. London: Richard Tottel, 10 September 1554.



The first edition in English of the Dance of Death, illustrated here with woodcuts commissioned for this edition which ‘deserve to be ranked as among the best of English sixteenth century wood-engravings’ (Pforzheimer). The Dance Macabre is appended to the third edition of Lydgate’s Fall of Princes, adapted from Boccaccio, and is often missing. The present edition of Lydate’s Boccaccio is considered ‘”by far the best of the printed editions” being …actually collated from several good manuscripts’ (Pforzheim); it is illustrated by a series of striking woodcuts which first appeared in the 1527 edition and which in turn are free copies of the 1476 Bruges edition. Lydgate based his translation of the Dance on a mural from the Cimetière des Saints-Innocents in Paris—the earliest known example of the danse macabre tradition, now lost. It is a perfect coda to the Fall of Princes, which recounts the vagaries of fortune in the lives of famous characters. An incomplete version of Lydgate’s Dance of Death was included with a printed book of hours for Sarum use in 1521, surviving in a single copy. Pforzheimer 74; STC 3177; Luborsky & Ingram, English Illustrated Books, 3177; see Sophie Oosterwijk and Stefanie Knöll, Mixed Metaphors: The Danse Macabre in Medieval and Early Modern Europe.



Folio (280 x 190mm). Title with woodcut border, woodcut illustrations (wormholes and -tracks, heaviest in first and final 3-4 quires affecting some words and letters, marginal tear and holes in first first 3 leaves, some soiling, repair at upper inner side of title into border, neat tear into text on A4). Modern half calf over older marbled boards. Provenance: Theo[dore] Coke (early ownership inscription on title page) – Sion College Library (stamp on flyleaf and verso of title) – Blackwells (note, sold in 1977 to:) – William and Allison Kingsmill (grocery magnates and philanthropists).

Genre:Religious genre
Place of origin:Northern Europe
Auction house category:Books
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
09.12.2020 – 09.12.2020
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.
?>