Ketterer Kunst to auction an absolute rarity

Hugo Grotius' masterpiece “De iure belli ac pacis libri tres“ is of the outmost rareness, as only one other copy of the first print from the first edition of this fundamental writing on the modern law of nations is known worldwide. The book will be called up with an estimate of € 50.000 ($71,000) in the auction of Rare Books at Ketterer Kunst in Hamburg, Germany, on 22/23 November.

The first print of “De iure belli...“ was executed simultaneously on several presses in a hurry for the oncoming Frankfurt Book Fair Easter 1625. However, printing had not been completed by late March, so that the work was sent to the fair without the index and with partly uncorrected pages. But this did not derogate the masterpiece, as its content was exceedingly revolutionary. It was the first attempt to create an inconvertible law aside from the church and the Holy Scripture, “which neither god nor a
mathematical axiom could change“ (Carter/Muir).

Another rarity is the “Buch der Chroniken und Geschichten“ by Hartmann Schedel, released in a strong Koberger coloring in Nuremberg in 1493, it is one of the most richly illustrated incunables at all. The complete and well-preserved copy of the German edition will be called up with an estimate of € 50.000.
History is also the topic of yet another work estimated with € 50.000, which is the “Historia naturalis“ by Pliny the Elder.

The influential work in the first Italian edition from 1476 was made by the renowned Venetian printer Nicolas Jenson and is endowed with 37 gilt-heightened interlace initials. The “natural history“ is actually much more than just a book, it is rather an encyclopedia covering the complete knowledge of the ancient world, comprising anthropology and astronomy, mathematics, medicine, mineralogy and zoology.

The field of zoology is also home to the “Neue systematische Conchylien-Cabinet“ by Heinrich Friedrich
Wilhelm Martini and Johann Hieronymus Chemnitz. The first edition in this completeness, particularly with volume XII, released 34 years later, is unusually rare. The renowned fundamental work on conchology with colored illustrations and exemplary descriptions carries an estimate of € 24.000.

The field of botany is also quite well situated, exemplarily thereof is the flower-, herbs-, fruit- and garden book by Wolfgang Knorr, which is estimated with € 35.000. The plate volume titled “Regnum florae“ is particularly renowned for its aesthetically consummate illustrations and its splendid coppers of flowers, cacti and fruits.

The section of geography is led by a “Manuskriptatlas“ by August-Louis Bertin de Blagnys, which
describes the historical and topographic development of the older French administrative districts, the so-called Bailliages. The atlas with 141 double sheet manuscript maps with watercolors will be called up with an estimate of € 25.000.

As far as old prints are concerned, particularly the only edition of Johannes Bretke‘s ”Postilla tatai ...“ will make for excitement in the auction room. This comprehensive collection of Lithuanian sermons is one of the main works by the author and founder of the Lithuanian literary language. The estimate for this book from the print-shop of the Königsberg court book binder Wolf Arzt is at € 18.000.

The range of offers will be rounded off by a rich selection of modern illustrated books, among them
considerable portfolios, silk-screens in colors and contemporary works. Particularly worthwhile mentioning is a copy of the very rare de-luxe edition of Jean Dubuffet‘s “La botte à nique“, of which a mere ten copies were made. Endowed with a signed original drawing and an original silkscreen in colors by the artist the estimate is at € 15.000.

Besides rare books, manuscripts, autographs and decorative prints, this auction will also comprise works of Maritime and Northern German Art . The section is headed by the work “Garten auf Korsika“, made by the Hamburg artist Friedrich Ahlers-Hestermann in 1911. The oil painting in a size of 60 x 73 cm (23.6 x 28.7 in) will enter the race carrying an estimate of € 7.000. Other big names in this section are, among others, Georg Burmester, Otto Illies, Fritz Overbeck, Christoffer Suhr and Thomas Herbst.

The section of Maritime Art will feature interesting works by Knud Andreassen Baade, Jules Brun, Franz Karl Herpel, Johannes Holst and William Gay York.

Preview 10 - 12 November from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
in Hamburg, Meßberg 1 15 - 19 November from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
21 November by appointment
Auction Maritime and Northern German Art: 22 November as of 9:30 a.m.
in Hamburg, Meßberg 1 Rare Books Main auction: 22/23 November as of 10 a.m.
Evening auction: 22 November as of 5 p.m.
Silent auction: 23 November