Illuminated & Calligraphic Manuscripts : An Exhibition Held at the Fogg Art Museum & Houghton Library, February 14-April 1 1955

[Harvard College Library], Cambridge, first edition, 1955. Printed wrappers, 4to, 28 cm,. 45 pp, 80 pp of plates. 145 entries. From the preface - "The present exhibition includes something less than half of the illuminated and calligraphic manuscripts now on Harvard's shelves and, of course, none of those text manuscripts which are not of artistic interest. It should be admitted that the manuscripts shown are for the most part the best that Harvard possesses of their several kinds, but in some categories, such as humanist manuscripts and calligraphic manuals, many more of similar quality might have been included had space been available." From the introduction by Hanns Swarzenski: "The present catalogue gives an idea of the far-reaching and elastic scope of the collection which in its choice often trespasses boundaries of definition, and which is not handicapped by one-sided aesthetic prejudice and fashion. It is a collection which contains not only a noble example of the Ottoman Renaissance (no. 5) and Byzantine art (no. 6) and superb specimens of French and Flemish Gothic style — for instance, in works by the Rohan Master (no. 64) and the almost Bosch-like visions in manuscripts of Guy de Thurno and the Chevalier Tondal (nos. 88, 89) — but also distinguished works of the Italian and Spanish Renaissance. Then, too, there are examples, assembled with no less loving care and knowledge, which are highly interesting for the history of calligraphy as well as for geographical, astronomical, and military sciences and for other subjects popular in the Northern Renaissance, or in the Baroque and Rococo periods. For instance, a book with four hundred and one drawings of Strada's Emblems made in Prague in 1599 (no. 163); a book with perspective and geometrical studies in water-color done by Pfinzing von Henfenfeld of Nürnberg, in the later sixteenth century, which foreshadow the magic realism and the haunting perspectives of Delauney and Schlemmer (no. 162); two volumes with drawings of artillery weapons, invented by Hoyer (no. 156); architectural sketchbooks by du Cerceau and Oppenord (nos. 132, 154); an especially charming album with water-colors of the Salzburg salt mines (no. 158); a manuscript for the edition of Ripa translated by Johann Georg Hertel of Augsburg (no. 164), with particularly fine drawings by Gottfried Eichler (1758-60); a Portuguese manuscript with allegorical drawings commemorating the Battle of Montes Claros, 1665, which in spirit remind us of the fantasies of Callot and Goya (no. 149). The student will also find books written in places and by scribes hitherto unknown or rarely recorded, just as he will find specimens from major centers, such as Ghent, Pontigny, Cologne, Paris, and Venice. A considerable number of miniatures throw new light on the history of art..". Wrappers slightly marked, otherwise Good.