[INCUNABULA REFERENCE]. Handlist of a Collection of Incunabula Illustrating the Progress and Development of the Art of Printing Prior to the Year 1500 by Specimens from over Three Hundred Different Presses
by Copinger, Walter Arthur (owner and compiler)
- Used
- fair
- first
- Condition
- Fair
- Seller
-
Lockhart, Texas, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
London: Privately Printed and Not For Circulation, 1898. First Edition. Softcover. Fair. 4to. (28 x 20 cm). viii, 64 pp. Softcover, original paper wrappers (chipped and worn, spine defective), detached from textblock. Rare, privately printed catalogue of a collection of 499 Continental incunables formed by Walter A. Copinger. The catalogue is effectively a vehicle of sale. The collection is now at the Free Library of Philadelphia (Copinger-Widener Collection).
It is hardly surprising that our copy is the only one on the market. Since 2005, when we purchased it at the famed Bibliotheca Bibliographica Breslaueriana sale (Third Portion, 28 June 2005, lot 1300), exactly zero copies have appeared at auction. Prior to this date, the only copy on the market was sold at Parke-Bernet in 1957 (this copy?)
A passage from Copinger's Introductory Notice is informative:
"The Collection of which a handlist is here presented is the result of many years' labour, every part of the Continent having been laid under contribution. The Collection has been made with the object of illustrating the early progress and development of the Art of Printing, by bringing together as many specimens of the various presses at work and the types employed during the first fifty years after its introduction. At the same time the Collection has been brought together with a Bibliographical as well as a Typographical aspect, and those volumes which are not mentioned by Hain in his Repertorium Bibliographicum, or which have not been seen or described by him, have been specially sought after and, when possible, secured. When a press is represented by a single production or but few, special effort has been exercised to obtain a copy, and several of the volumes in the present Collection will be found to be the sole specimens of the particular press. Thus will be found specimens from such presses as:- R. Loeffs de Driel, Louvain. Perinus Lathomi de Lotharingia, Lyons. Bartholomaeus Vercellensis, Brescia. Vincentius Bertochus, Mantua. Conrad Stahel and Benedictus Mayr, Passau. The Printer of the Dictys. The Printer of the Vita S. Albani. The Printer of the Aug. de Fide, 1478. Nicolaus Gotz of Sletzstat. Works from the press of the Peculiar R. printer, Baptista Cavalus of Geneva, and many others who have issued but a book or two. No attempt has been made to have represented in the Collection, the fifteenth century presses of England. [...] The present collection is confined to France, Germany, Italy and Belgium.
It is hardly surprising that our copy is the only one on the market. Since 2005, when we purchased it at the famed Bibliotheca Bibliographica Breslaueriana sale (Third Portion, 28 June 2005, lot 1300), exactly zero copies have appeared at auction. Prior to this date, the only copy on the market was sold at Parke-Bernet in 1957 (this copy?)
A passage from Copinger's Introductory Notice is informative:
"The Collection of which a handlist is here presented is the result of many years' labour, every part of the Continent having been laid under contribution. The Collection has been made with the object of illustrating the early progress and development of the Art of Printing, by bringing together as many specimens of the various presses at work and the types employed during the first fifty years after its introduction. At the same time the Collection has been brought together with a Bibliographical as well as a Typographical aspect, and those volumes which are not mentioned by Hain in his Repertorium Bibliographicum, or which have not been seen or described by him, have been specially sought after and, when possible, secured. When a press is represented by a single production or but few, special effort has been exercised to obtain a copy, and several of the volumes in the present Collection will be found to be the sole specimens of the particular press. Thus will be found specimens from such presses as:- R. Loeffs de Driel, Louvain. Perinus Lathomi de Lotharingia, Lyons. Bartholomaeus Vercellensis, Brescia. Vincentius Bertochus, Mantua. Conrad Stahel and Benedictus Mayr, Passau. The Printer of the Dictys. The Printer of the Vita S. Albani. The Printer of the Aug. de Fide, 1478. Nicolaus Gotz of Sletzstat. Works from the press of the Peculiar R. printer, Baptista Cavalus of Geneva, and many others who have issued but a book or two. No attempt has been made to have represented in the Collection, the fifteenth century presses of England. [...] The present collection is confined to France, Germany, Italy and Belgium.
Details
- Bookseller
- Michael Laird Rare Books LLC (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 2209
- Title
- [INCUNABULA REFERENCE]. Handlist of a Collection of Incunabula Illustrating the Progress and Development of the Art of Printing Prior to the Year 1500 by Specimens from over Three Hundred Different Presses
- Author
- Copinger, Walter Arthur (owner and compiler)
- Format/Binding
- Softcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Fair
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First Edition
- Publisher
- Privately Printed and Not For Circulation
- Place of Publication
- London
- Date Published
- 1898
Terms of Sale
Michael Laird Rare Books LLC
14 day return guarantee, with full refund including original shipping costs for up to 14 days after delivery if an item arrives mis-described or damaged.
About the Seller
Michael Laird Rare Books LLC
Biblio member since 2007
Lockhart, Texas
About Michael Laird Rare Books LLC
Welcome to Michael Laird Rare Books, LLC. We specialize in fine and rare books, manuscripts, documents, ephemera, fine and historic bookbindings, and illustrated books of every description. Michael Laird is a member of the ABAA (Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America), ILAB (International League of Antiquarian Booksellers), and the Appraisers Association of America (USPAP compliant, and AAA certified in the appraisal of Rare and Antiquarian Printed Books). Michael Laird earned his masters degree in Library and Information Science from the University of Texas at Austin (1989) and has more thirty years experience in the antiquarian book trade. He is the principal Rare Book and Document appraiser at Winston Art Group (New York) and Gurr Johns (New York). From 2002 until 2013 he taught advanced graduate level courses in Rare Books and Special Collections (Palmer School of Library and Information Science at Long Island University, and the School of Information at The University of Texas at Austin School of Information).
We invite you to browse through a selection of our inventory: we strive to present the greatest historic detail and bibliographic accuracy, even for lesser priced - but no less interesting - items. We are happy to provide further images of any item: please inquire.
Order with confidence: we select every item with great care and discernment; moreover, we examine every page of every book. We are always interested in purchasing fine and rare books, manuscripts, and ephemera; please inquire. We very much appreciate your interest in our work, and your patronage. Thank you!
We invite you to browse through a selection of our inventory: we strive to present the greatest historic detail and bibliographic accuracy, even for lesser priced - but no less interesting - items. We are happy to provide further images of any item: please inquire.
Order with confidence: we select every item with great care and discernment; moreover, we examine every page of every book. We are always interested in purchasing fine and rare books, manuscripts, and ephemera; please inquire. We very much appreciate your interest in our work, and your patronage. Thank you!
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Wrappers
- The paper covering on the outside of a paperback. Also see the entry for pictorial wraps, color illustrated coverings for...
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- Fair
- is a worn book that has complete text pages (including those with maps or plates) but may lack endpapers, half-title, etc....