Photo of Waldo Library, Kalamazoo Campus
Waldo Library, #3016
Phone: 269-387-5221
Fax: 269-387-5077
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Christie's Guttenberg Bible
This picture was taken from a special color advertisement for the complete copy of a Gutenberg Bible that went on auction at Christie's of New York on April 7, 1978. At that time, there were 21 known complete Bibles and 27 incomplete Bibles printed by Johannes Gutenberg. Also worth of note is the mention in the preview catalog that this was the first complete edition of the Gutenberg Bible to appear at auction in over fifty years.
Sotheby's The Gospels of Henry the Lion
"The Gospel Book of Henry the Lion is traditionally said to be the finest illuminated manuscript remaining in private hands..." (Sotheby & Co. The Gospels of Henry the Lion December 6, 1983, p.5) This special catalog is a color preview for the auction of The Gospels of Henry the Lion, a fully illuminated manuscript of the Gospels, with Henry and his wife Matilda added in to witness the stories.
The auction was held on Tuesday, December 6, 1983 at Sotheby's, London. The story pictured is the Good Samaritan, with Henry and Matilda looking on from the top corners of the page.
This collection was purchased as the Jeremy Griffiths Collection. Jeremy Griffiths was the editor of English Manuscript Studies . The collection contains auction catalogs concerning medieval manuscripts and celebrated collections sold chiefly at Sotheby's (1920-1997) and Christie's (1959-1997). The collection also includes some miscellaneous catalogues (1815-1932) before Sotheby's and Christie's became as prominent as they are today.
The catalogs contain excellent descriptions of European, Middle Eastern, and Oriental manuscripts sold at auction in the last century. Included in the catalogues are photographs of illuminations and engravings of some of the more spectacular manuscripts for sale. Some of the more famous collections featured are: the Phillips Manuscript Collection, Estelle Doheny Collection, J.R. Abbey Collection, the Honeyman Collection, the Chester Beatty Collection, the Lothian Collection, the Dawson Turner Collection, the Harry Yates Thompson Collection, the Manuscripts from Stowe and the sale of the Gutenberg Bible , which had its own separate catalogue.
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