Isabella, or the Pot of Basil. A Story from Boccaccio by John Keats - photo 1
Isabella, or the Pot of Basil. A Story from Boccaccio by John Keats - photo 2
Isabella, or the Pot of Basil. A Story from Boccaccio by John Keats - photo 3
Isabella, or the Pot of Basil. A Story from Boccaccio by John Keats - photo 4
Isabella, or the Pot of Basil. A Story from Boccaccio by John Keats - photo 5

Isabella, or the Pot of Basil. A Story from Boccaccio by John Keats

Lot 58
06.10.2022 12:00UTC -05:00
Classic
Sold
$ 81 900
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUSA, New York
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 813736
Lot 58 | Isabella, or the Pot of Basil. A Story from Boccaccio by John Keats
Estimate value
$ 40 000 – 60 000
Isabella, or the Pot of Basil. A Story from Boccaccio by John Keats

Sangorski & Sutcliffe, 1910

SANGORSKI, Francis (1875-1912) and SUTCLIFFE, George (1878-1943), calligraphers, illuminators, and binders. KEATS, John (1795-1821). "Isabella or the Pot of Basil. A Story from Boccaccio." [London, 1910.]



Exquisite jeweled binding from the Phoebe Boyle then Cornelius Hauck collections, with an outstanding 176 semi-precious jewels in the covers. The calligraphed certification leaf at end reads: "This copy of Isabella by John Keats has been written out, illuminated, & bound by F. Sangorski and G. Sutcliffe of London, for Gannon and Cassidy of New York. Registered design No. 579106." The illuminated manuscript is equally exquisite to the binding—an extraordinary marriage.



Quarto (266 x 191 mm). Illuminated manuscript on vellum, 25 leaves, plus 4 blank vellum leaves. Gilt calligraphed quotation from Endymion as epigraph; title in colors and gilt with a portrait of Keats, signed with Sangorski’s monogram and dated 1910, in a rich border of acanthus leaves incorporating two cupids; full-page frontispiece depicting Isabella and her pot of basil after the painting of William Holman Hunt; the text on pp [5]-[44] incorporating 21 additional miniatures as border illuminations and narrative initials for a TOTAL OF 24 MINIATURES including a full-page tailpiece portrait of Isabella after the theft of the basil; every page with initials in colors and/or gold with tracery, many large multi-color initials with acanthus leaf and fruit borders, one incorporating small pictures of hares and deer (p. 30 rubbed with tiny losses to illumination).



Full crushed teal-blue morocco jeweled binding by Sangorski & Sutcliffe, ivory morocco doublures and pink morocco endleaves, all edges gilt. The upper cover with a richly gilt-tooled pointillé background with a large recessed arabesque titling panel with “Isabella” written in 64 turquoises in a metal frame, surrounded by a red morocco bow, two opals in metal frames (one heart-shaped, the other oval) with red morocco dot borders and 14 rosettes of 8 turquoises and one garnet each and a strapwork border with three colors of morocco onlay and dots surrounding 18 additional garnets; this panel flanked by two smaller recessed arabesque panels with one turquoise and garnet rosette each; the outer frame with an elaborate design of curling stylized leaves, flowers and dots in inlaid green, brown, purple and red morocco; a black inlaid border with gilt dots and rules. The back cover with central heart-shaped recessed panel densely gilt-tooled with vines and inset with an oval opal and 11 garnets; in a rectangular frame of dense gilt pointillé and onlay vines and dots in several colors; this in a strapwork frame of black, brown, mauve and green morocco gilt; gilt and onlaid morocco cornerpieces. Spine gilt in six compartments with raised and gilt bands, gilt-lettered in two, the others with a richly gilt-ground and red morocco flower and love-heart design with black morocco onlaid borders; board edges with gilt rule; broad turn-ins with a double-frame of inlaid black morocco strapwork enclosing a decorative gilt border design incorporating small red circles of inlaid morocco. Doublures of cream morocco ornamented with a diaper pattern with an outer floral border and interlaced strapwork forming a heart at each corner, flyleaves of pink morocco, matching the turn-in decoration with inlaid bands and morocco dots. Stamp-signed by Sangorski & Sutcliffe on the front turn-in. (Slight rubbing to spine bands and at head of lower joint.) Later full morocco box, padded with silk, metal clasps.

Provenance: Phoebe A.D. Boyle, Brooklyn, New York (her sale, Anderson, 19 November 1923. Lot 151) – M. & J. Moore (bookplate) – Fred W. Allsopp (his sale, Parke-Bernet, part I, 4 December 1945, lot 162, Emil Offenbacher agent for Cornelius J. Hauck) – Cornelius J. Hauck, 1893-1967 (Cincinnati Museum Center sale, Christie’s New York, 27-28 June 2006, lot 669).

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