LEOPOLD OF AUSTRIA (13th century)

Lot 108
13.07.2022 10:30UTC +00:00
Classic
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£ 7 560
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
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ID 794566
Lot 108 | LEOPOLD OF AUSTRIA (13th century)
Estimate value
£ 6 000 – 9 000
LEOPOLD OF AUSTRIA (13th century)

Compilatio de astrorum scientia. Augsburg: Erhard Ratdolt, 9 January 1489.

First and only incunable edition of an important and influential astronomy, beautifully illustrated with a fine set of woodcuts. Primarily a work of astrology based on the writings of Albumasar, the sixth book concerns meteorology both from a theoretical and a practical point of view, and includes folkloric methods of weather prediction and general descriptions of winds, thunder etc. The Compilatio is divided into ten treatises: the first and second on the spheres and their motion. There is a dissertation on the comets at the end of the fifth book. Ratdolt also printed the astronomical works of Albumasar and Hyginus. His woodcuts for those works are among the earliest known printed figures of constellations, and the same blocks were employed for this work in his Augsburg workshop. H 10042; BMC II 382; Goff L-185; Klebs 601.1; BSB-Ink L-130; Bod-inc L-098; Caillet 6636: ‘incunable de toute rarité’; Brunet III 1033: ‘édition rare’; Honeyman V 1989; Cantamessa II 4422: ‘Imponente e importante trattato in 10 libri’; Houzeau-Lancaster 4702: ‘fort rare’; ISTC il00185000



Chancery quarto (185 x 139mm). 109 leaves (of 110, without final blank). Entirely rubricated, including the white-on-black woodcut initials and some woodcuts, numerous woodcuts, two printed in red and black, illustrating full page ‘spheara mundi’, signs of the zodiac, classical deities, celestial spheres, astrological charts (title-page mounted, worm-tracks restored in margins of first 3 leaves, just touching a few letters, minor waterstain in lower blank margin). 19th-century calf, covers bordered with a double blind rule, (rebacked, spine partially remounted, corners restored) Provenance: Partial table of contents written in a contemporary hand on title (deleted) and title corrected on N1v.





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