Gesta Romanorum: THE ARCHDUKE FRANZ FERDINAND'S COPY

Gesta Rhomano(rum): Cu(m) Applicationibus Moralisatis ac Misticis. Strasbourg: Johann Grüninger, 18 February 1488

The Gesta Romanorum is an anonymous collection of moral tales and anecdotes compiled in the late thirteenth century. It was immensely popular in its own time and later served as a source for Chaucer, Boccaccio, and for the story of the three caskets in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice.

Folio. Gothic letters in two columns with hand rubrication of Lombard initials, many with fleunonée in red, blue, and green throughout. 100 leaves, complete: [1] XCII [6]. Title mounted on the first folio leaf, 93 leaves ("Folium Primum" to "Folium XCIII"), 6 leaves ("Tabula Generalis" [2] and "Tabula Alphabetica " [4]). Modern marbled paper binding. Custom clamshell case with leather label.

Library stamp on n3r: "Privatbesitz Franz Ferdinand von Österreich-Este" ["The private property of Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Este"]

The Archduke Franz Ferdinand, whose assignation famously triggered the First World War, was a determined collector who renovated two of his main residences, Schloss Konopiste and Schloss Artstetten, to accommodate his passions. His collections were confiscated by the Nazis, who used Konopiste as an SS headquarters, but many of the stolen items were recovered after the war.

We have identified two other incunabula from the Archduke's collection in recent auctions, Postilla super epistolas, Guilielmus Parisiensis (Augsburg, 1495) and Satyrae, Flaccus (Brescia, 1486), as well as a 1571 copy of Paracelsus's Astonomia Magna. Franz Ferdinand acquired the Postilla from Melk Abbey, famed for its scriptorium and its library, including a remarkable manuscript collection. Melk is located quite near one of the Archduke's residences, Schloss Artstetten, near the Wachau valley in Lower Austria. The Satyrae and the Paracelsus were previously owned by Vienna-based Jewish banker Leopold Langer (1852-1938), whose collection of prints was purchased by the Archduke.

Rubricated copies of this incunabulum are indeed very rare. The ISTC lists only 5 described in the corresponding catalogues as complete and rubricated throughout (Glasgow UL, BnF, BLB Karlsruhe, Stuttgart WLB and Czech NL).

Only one copy of the 1488 edition has appeared at auction according to the Jahrbuch der Bücherpreise (1906-38), Jahrbuch der Auktionspreise (1950ff.) and Auktionspreise online (ca. 1988ff.). This copy was sold by Josef Baer & Co. (Frankfurt/Main) in October 1930 and was not rubricated. ABPC cites an additional auction result since 1972, a copy with only 1 Lombard initial in red.

Early inscriptions or little drawings with ink on leaves a3r, a4r, a7r, e1r, h5r, i4v, k1v, k5r, k8r, k8v (6 lines of a German language poem), l4v, n1v, n2r, n7r. Fore margin of leaf o2 with fault (no text loss), lower right margins of leaves a2, a3, a4 and l2, as well as o6v torn and repaired, wormholes starting from leaves a2-h8 (at a2-b4 and e4-f3 stronger, with decreasing occurrence, otherwise very little, with repair of leaf a2), fore margins of a4-a6, a8-b8, m2-o6 with water stains of different intensity, a number of leaves slightly finger-stained, foxed and with traces of dirt or color.

Full title: Ex gestis Romanoru[m] cum plurib[us] applicatis historijs de virtutib[us] et vicijs mystice ad intellectu[m] tra[n]ssu[m]ptis recollectorij finis. Anno n[ost]re salut[is] Mcccclxxxviij. Kalendas vero Februarij. xviij.

ISTC ig00291000; USTC 740818, listing the publication date as 15 January 1488