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R I C H A R D C. R A M E R
Special List 500
Sixteenth-Century Books
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R I C H A R D C . R A M E R
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January 29, 2024
Special List 500
Sixteenth-Century Books
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Special List 500
Sixteenth-Century Books
Extremely Rare and Important Royal Letter
From King Manuel I of Portugal to Pope Leo X
Announcing Victories of Afonso de Albuquerque in India and Malacca
1. MANUEL I, King of Portugal. Epistola Potentissimi ac inuictissimi
Emanuelis Regis portugaliæ & Algarbiorum, &c. De Victoriis habitis in India
& Malacha …. [Colophon] Rome: Impressa per Iacobum Mazochium, 9
August 1513. 4°, mid-twentieth-century blue morocco by Zaehnsdorf,
spine gilt with raised bands in three compartments, lettered in gilt
in the much larger central compartment, covers with gilt arms of D.
Manuel I within triple gilt ruled borders, triple ruled gilt at inner cov-
ers, with binder’s name stamped in tiny gilt letters in lower margin of
front inner cover, edges of covers gilt, rear inner cover with a pocket,
perhaps intended for a document, but now empty. Large woodcut arms
of D. Manuel I on first leaf recto. Small rectangular reinforcement to
verso of initial leaf. Overall in very good condition. (6) ll. A6.
$125,000.00
Very rare FIRST EDITION of this important letter from D. Manuel I to Pope Leo
X, proudly announcing the recent successes of Afonso de Albuquerque (1453-1515) in
India and the East Indies, with special mention of the conquest of Malacca in 1511, which
gave Portugal control over the trade routes to Southeast Asia, access to the wealth of the
Spice Islands and the sea route to China. This was a most influential account of travel and
expansion, which helped usher an era of prosperity for the Portuguese expansion, a show
of European vision of globalization, at a tipping point in the Age of exploration. There
were at least 9 early editions in Latin, 3 in German, and 3 in Italian, all of which are rare.
After the capture of Malacca by the Portuguese under Albuquerque in 1511, King
Manuel dispatched letters to Rome informing the Papacy of Portugal’s progress. This
mattered greatly to Manuel as there was a perceived need to settle the question of
demarcation between Spain and Portugal in this area which was important for control
of the Spice Islands.
Pope Leo X, newly elected that Spring, was the son of Lorenzo the Magnificent and
effectively the leading Medici and ruler of Florence Florentine merchants were tradition-
ally favorable to Portugal. In addition, Portugal had a good record in defeating Muslims
and thus advancing Christianity. It was no surprise therefore that public celebrations of
thanksgiving were held in Rome shortly after news of Albuquerque’s victory in Malacca
was announced.
❊ Brunet II, 969 (appears not to have known the present edition); Supplement, I, 441
describes the present edition: “C’est la première édition de cette pièce rare et intéressante
….” Leite de Feria, Estudos bibliográficos sobre Damião de Góis e a sua época 243. Streit IV,
380-382. Bibliotheca Grenvilliana, I, 225; III, 180. HSA, p. 333. Huth 2642. JFB (1994) M127.
Rodrigues 921. See also Lach, Asia in the Making of Europe, I, 166-167.
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Rules of a Portuguese Order of Chivalry:
An Exceptionally Fine Copy of an Early & Important Portuguese Text
2. [ORDER OF AVIS]. Regra & statutos da hordem adujs. [Colophon] Almei-
rim: Herman de Campos, 1516. Folio (26.5 x 19 cm.), late-nineteenth- or
early twentieth-century blue morocco, covers with triple-fillet gilt edge
and panel and elaborate filigree ornament, spine richly gilt, pastedowns
burgundy morocco with gilt panels and filigree ornament, facing
flyleaves blue moiré, all edges gilt. In a recent navy morocco slipcase
with dark blue moiré sides. Full-page woodcut of St. Benedict within
woodcut border (putti and twining vines), xylographic title, 2 woodcut
emblems of the Order of Aviz, woodcut initials (2 historiated). Gothic
letter (Campos 1:105G and 4:122G), 2 columns. Washed and expertly
re-sized; nevertheless, in exceptionally fine condition. (5), LIII [i.e.,
LXIII], (5) ll. Appears to lack preliminary blank, presumably canceled,
as in all recorded copies.
$200,000.00
FIRST EDITION of the Rule for the crusading Order of Aviz (the equivalent of the
Order of Calatrava in Spain), and one of the earliest and most important books in the
Portuguese language. This is the first book printed in Almeirim, probably produced at
a time when the Court was in residence there. Only two sixteenth-century books were
printed in Almeirim.
The Order of Aviz was the first of the military orders founded by the kings of Por-
tugal, possibly established as early as 1162. It played a vital part in the foundation of the
Portuguese nation and in the struggle against the Moors. While the Orders of Christ and
S. Thiago also fought for the independence of Portugal at the end of the fourteenth and
beginning of the fifteenth centuries, the Order of Aviz took the lead. It was Dom João I,
Master of Aviz, who vanquished the Castilians at Aljubarrota and founded the dynasty
that reigned in Portugal under the name of Aviz for nearly two centuries.
Herman de Campos is recorded as a printer in Portugal between 1509 and 1518.
Only 12 works are known from his press: one at Setúbal, ten at Lisbon, and this lone
production at Almeirim. The only sources of information on him are his colophons, from
which it appears that he came from Germany, possibly Kempen, in the Rhineland: his
earliest work is signed “Herman de Kempis alemão.” He may also have been the first
officially appointed Portuguese royal printer. (See Norton pp. 499-500.)
Of the seven other copies known of this work (several incomplete or otherwise in
poor states of preservation), only one is in North America: the Palha copy, at the Houghton
Library, Harvard University. Other locations are: British Library, Biblioteca Nacional-
Rio de Janeiro; Biblioteca Pública e Arquivo Distrital de Ponta Delgada; Palace Library,
Vila Viçosa (King Manuel’s copy); Municipal Library-Évora; and Biblioteca Nacional de
Portugal. This last, missing a leaf and in poor condition, was apparently the only copy to
appear at auction in Portugal in the twentieth century: it was in the Azevedo-Samodães
sale (lot 2658), purchased by Vítor Ávila Perez (lot 6269 in his sale).
❊ King Manuel 17. Norton, Descriptive Catalogue P1. Jüsten, Incunábulos e post-
incunábulos portugueses 54. Anselmo 439. Innocêncio VII, 60-1. Pinto de Matos (1970) pp.
527-8. Figanière 1525. Martins de Carvalho, Diccionario bibliographico militar portuguez
(1891), p. 227. BM Pre-1601 Spanish/Portuguese STC (1966) p. 128. Gusmão, Livros impressos
no século XVI existentes na Biblioteca Pública e Arquivo Distrital de Évora, I, Tipografia portu-
guesa 884. Palha 2589. Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal, Catálogo dos impressos de tipografia
portuguesa do século XVI 536. Livros impressos no século XVI existentes na Biblioteca Pública e
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Arquivo Distrital de Ponta Delgada 142. Maggs, Seventy-Five Spanish Books (Catalogue 589,
1933) 15: listed at £275. Not in Adams. Not in Sousa Viterbo, O movimento tipográfico em
Portugal no século XVI. Not in Livros quinhentistas portugueses da Biblioteca da Academia das
Ciências de Lisboa or Coimbra, Reservados. Not in Catálogo colectivo. NUC: MH. Not located
in OCLC. Not located in KVK worldwide (51 databases searched; however, there is an
incomplete copy in the Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal).
Lyell: “One of the Most Sumptuously Printed of Early Spanish Books”
3. [CRÓNICA del Rey Don Juan el Segundo]. Comiença la Cronica del
Serenissimo Rey Don Juan el Segundo deste nombre, impressa en la muy
noble y leal ciudad de Logroño: por mandado del catholico rey don Carlos su
visnieto …. Logroño: Arnão Guillen de Brocar, 1517. Folio (36 x 24.5 cm.),
contemporary blind-tooled calf, boards nicely refurbished (but with
some recent damage to corners and rubbing to spine); very skillfully
rebacked, and with new clasps. Large woodcut on title-page, 2 full-page
woodcuts, printer’s device below colophon. Gothic letter (Norton types
8:117G, 10:99G, 18:68G), printed in red and black throughout. Minor
soiling and stains (including some marginal dampstaining on first few
leaves), 4 tiny wormholes touching a few letters per page through quire
q. Crisp. In very good to fine condition. Early manuscript record of
sale at foot of title, in ink. (2 blank), (26), 254 [i.e., 255], (2 blank) leaves,
signed ✠10, A-B8, a9, b-z8, aa-hh8, ii6.
$200,000.00
FIRST EDITION. This magnificent classic was produced, according to the colo-
phon, at the command of Charles V by his printer Arnão Guillen de Brocar; this is the
first intimation we have that Brocar had been appointed royal printer. Later editions
appeared in Seville, 1542 (colophon: 1543); Pamplona, 1591; Valencia, 1779; and finally
in 1877. (See Simón Díaz.)
The large woodcuts, initials and printer’s device are striking examples of the art of
contemporary Spanish book illustration. The title-page woodcut shows the king enthroned,
with two figures kneeling before him; one, presumably the author, is reading from a book.
Lyell notes that the borders are especially fine (Early Book Illustration in Spain, p. 286, with
illustration of title-page as fig. 224). The full-page woodcut of the Crucifixion on the verso
of ✠10 is signed by “I.D.”, whom Lyell calls “one of the master Spanish woodcutters, and
one of the few whose work can be identified” (p. 286 and fig. 225). Facing the first page
of text (f. B8v) is a full equestrian portrait of D. Juan II, surrounded by smaller woodcut
portraits of the other dramatis personae (five women, three men).
The printer’s device that appears at the end of the Crónica is the first appearance
of what Norton calls Brocar’s “E” device. In the upper compartment is a portrait of the
printer kneeling before the emblems of the Passion, and in the lower are 2 archangels
supporting a coat of arms with the monogram “AG” and the figure of a boar.
D. Juan II, King of Castile from 1406 to 1454, was a weak ruler but a notable patron
of literature and the chivalric arts. The son of Henry III and Catherine of Lancaster, he
ascended the throne at the age of two. His 48-year reign—the longest in the history of the
Trastámara dynasty—was a period of continuous disorder and rivalry among the nobil-
ity. Amiable but of weak character and will, D. Juan had little interest in government. At
an early age he fell under the influence of Álvaro de Luna, who as the king’s constable
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