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an open book with a picture of a ship on itan open book with a picture of a bird on itan open book with a picture of a man on itan open book with a drawing of a man on a boatan open book with a picture of a man in a bedan open book with a drawing of a man on a horsean open book with a picture of a bird on itan open book on a table with a drawing on ita book open with a drawing of a man on itan open book with a drawing of a man sitting in a chairan old brown book sitting on top of a table next to a white wallan old book with a red cover sitting on top of a white tablean old book with a brown cover sitting on top of a white surfacean old brown book sitting on top of a white table
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Premium Maîtres Martial Bournier & Guillaume Poivre

334 - [Illustrated incunabulum]. [The Ship of Fools.
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Estimate €10,000 - €20,000
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Description
[Illustrated incunabulum]. [The Ship of Fools. Latin. 1497]. BRANT (Sebastian). Stultifera navis... translated into Latin by Iacobum Locher... Basel, Johann Bergman of Olpe, 1 March 1497. In-4, CXXXXV folios, [3] folios (table of contents), illustrations, mottled havana sheepskin, decorated spine, title label, triple gilt fillet on the covers, inner lace, gilt edges [Riviere] (defects including detached upper cover; minor wormholes, some repairs, rare soiling). An important and valuable first Latin edition of the famous *Ship of Fools* by Sebastian Brant (Strasbourg, 1458–1521), a remarkable satire on the human condition in which the many facets of human folly are described. The translation is the work of Jakob Locher (1471–1528), a German humanist writer and philologist, who owed his fame to this work. The book’s splendid illustrations helped to establish its reputation from the very first German edition, published in 1494. It comprises 117 large woodcut illustrations, at least 74 of which were based on compositions by the painter Albrecht Dürer. The binding was carried out in London by Robert Rivière between 1840 and c. 1860, as indicated by the stamp on a flyleaf reading ‘Bound by Riviere’. It has undergone previous restoration work (corners, caps, etc.) and its upper cover is detached. Minor wormholes at the start of the volume, becoming less frequent: from fol. 25, a single wormhole on the illustration and two in the margin; from fol. 41, just one bite mark on the illustration, continuing in this way up to fol. 76, and no bite marks from there until the end of the volume. Restoration in the bottom margin of the title page; in a corner of fol. XXVII, a small tear has been repaired on fol. CXL. There are a few discreet historical interventions on the illustrations: f. XCIX, the jester is slightly coloured; f. LIIII, two leashes added for the dogs; on f. XIIII, the private parts of the little archer have been obscured, whilst, conversely, a discreet phallus has been added to the figure of the jester emerging from the ground, f. XV. Provenance: Cecil Dunn-Gardner (1827–c. 1880), an English bibliophile whose collection was largely sold at Sotheby’s in London in June 1880 (autograph inscription initialled at the end of the volume); collation note ‘Perfect’ from Bernard Quaritch’s bookshop in February 1912. (ISTC ib01086000; GW 5054; Pellechet 2820; Hain-Copinger 3746; Schreiber 3567; Brunet I, 1203–1204: ‘[…] well-preserved copies are hard to come by’).
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About the sale Standard sale in Charleville-Mézières
Auction location
Auction time 11/01/2026 at 9:30 AM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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