Antiquariatsmesse Stuttgart 2021 - Katalog

Unique: deluxe copy from the collection
of the wealthiest man in the Habsburg monarchy
Spalowsky, Joachim Johann Nepomuk
Anton. Beytrag zur Naturgeschichte der
Vögel. Vols. 1, 4, 5, and 6 (of 6). Vienna,
self-published, 1790–1795. 4to. 4 vols. (10),
20 pp. (10), 40 pp. (14), 33 pp. (12), 19 pp.
With 2 watercoloured and 4 coloured engraved
coats of arms, 1 coloured engraved dedication
plate, 183 (instead of 186) plates of birds, 15 of
which in watercolour and 168 on splendidly
illuminated engraved plates, partly heightened
in gold, silver and copper, with lavish watercolour
borders. Contemporary glazed red morocco
binding with double gilt engraved spine
labels, splendid floral spine and cover gilding.
Vols. 4–6 with coloured armorial supralibros
to upper covers. Calico endpapers, all edges
gilt. € 250 000,–
Unique copy of one of the rarest works of zoological
book illustration, from the library of
the banker, art collector, and patron Moritz von
Fries (1777–1826), for whom the set was in all
likelihood specially produced. Around 1800, Fries
was considered without doubt the richest man in
the Habsburg monarchy. The splendid engraved
plates were elaborately illuminated, each with rich
botanical and architectural decoration extending
even beyond the engraved matter. In addition, the
copy at hand was enhanced by 15 original watercolours
(all in vols. 5 and 6), whereas the regular
copies include merely prints. The only verifiable
complete copies, in the Austrian National Library
(ÖNB) and the Bavarian State Library (BSB),
show less splendid decoration, with only three watercolours
each in the respective volumes and no
watercolour borders whatsoever. The Fideicommissum
collection in the ÖNB holds 5 illuminated
volumes of Spalowsky’s work, with volume 5 containing
the highest traceable number of watercolours
among all copies available for comparison. As
the final volume is lacking in the Fideicommissum
collection, the eight watercolours and splendid
framings of vol. 6 of Fries’s copy are probably
unique. – Since 1932, the only copies traceable at
auction were those at Ketterer, 2017 (vols. 1–4)
and Christie’s, 2012 (vols. 1–3). The volumes sold
in 2017, along with the ones at the ÖNB and BSB,
belong to the normal edition without the water-
Inlibris, Gilhofer Nfg. GmbH Tafel 11-12