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<b>Bonhams:</b> MANDELSHTAM, OSIP. 1891-1938. Autograph Manuscript, 2 pp, [Petersburg,] January 1913, entitled

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An Extraordinary Catalogue from Phillip J. Pirages A spectacular new catalogue from Phillip J. Pirages. By Michael Stillman While small catalogues are occasionally special, one thing we have found in years of reviewing them is that those over half an inch thick are usually spectacular. This month we have one of those magnificent thick catalogues, simply Catalogue 55 from Phillip J. Pirages Fine Books and Manuscripts. This is a compilation of 642 highly collectible items, filled with pages and pages of pictures of what is offered. The presentation is as brilliant as the works themselves. Descriptions are extraordinarily detailed, both concerning the content and context of the works, and the condition of the individual copies. The type of material varies widely, but Pirages has broken it down into a few groupings. There are complete (or nearly so) illuminated manuscripts, illuminated leaves, manuscript leaves, printed leaves and leaf books, books printed before 1800, and books printed in the 19th and 20th centuries. With 642 titles from which to choose, we can mention only a few, but here are some samples of what you will find. For more details, or to obtain a copy of this fine catalogue, you should contact the bookseller. We will start at the top. Item 1 is a manuscript bible from southern France, complete except for one leaf, created around the year 1240. Pirages notes that while the script is in French style, the decoration is Italianate. The bible was evidently the work of two scribes, who did not always coordinate their work perfectly. At least one made a few mistakes, most glaringly, leaving out the "r" in In Principio at the beginning of Genesis. This order needed a better proofreader. The manuscript contains numerous annotations which provide insight into 13th century theological issues. However, the annotations have been scraped from several pages, which leads to the question, why? Pirages theorizes it may have had to do with the "Cathar heresy." This was a popular movement in southern France at the time. Catharism believed in a dualistic world, with the material one being inherently evil. This led to numerous serious theological disputes with ecclesiastical authority. While the Church first attempted gentle persuasion, by the 13th century, it had resorted to crusades, brutal suppression, and the killing of thousands of followers. Catharism was on the run at the time of this manuscript, but still present. Whether this explains the expunging of annotations is not clear, but evidently some of the annotations displeased later readers. Other annotations indicate the manuscript was held by the Capuchin convent in Montpellier in the 17th century, and eventually in the collection of the presiding judge at the Nuremburg trials in the 20th. Priced at $69,000. Item 9 is an illuminated manuscript leaf from the Book of Esther. The text begins with an image for its initial letter which shows Mordecai, Queen Esther, and King Ahasuerus on three floors. According to the Book of Esther, the King's evil prime minister, Haman, intended to hang Esther's adoptive father Mordecai for failing to bow down to him. For good measure, Haman also planned to kill all of the Jews in Persia, this being Mordecai's tribe. He did not understand Queen Esther was also one of the Jews (nor was the King aware of this). Ahaseurus was set to go along with the plot, as displayed in this image. On the bottom floor is Mordecai, noose around his neck, on the top floor Ahaseurus, holding the rope and ready to pull. In between is Esther, maintaining sufficient slack in the rope to prevent Mordecai from hanging. By the end of the book, Esther informs the King of her and Mordecai's ethnicity, along with reminding him of how Mordecai had once saved his life, and Ahaseurus instead uses the gallows to hang the evil Haman. $6,500.
An Extraordinary Catalogue from Phillip J. Pirages A circa 1240 manuscript bible created in southern France. Item 261 is a copy of the earliest obtainable printing of the Koran in the original Arabic. Though circulated widely in the Islamic world in manuscript form, it was not printed until 1538 in Venice. However, Pope Paul III decreed that all copies were to be confiscated and destroyed. Only one copy of this edition is known to survive. This second printing, edited by Abraham Hinckelmann, provided a preface that enabled it to circumvent the edict. The preface explains that it is presented to help Christians understand the contents of the Koran, the better to convert the infidels. Published in 1694. $15,000. The battle against loose morals goes on, but it is hardly new. Item 173 is a 1678 edition of a work first published in French three years earlier: A Just and Seasonable Reprehension of Naked Breasts and Shoulders. Perhaps author Jacques Boileau had spent too much time hanging around those beaches in the south of France. He warns women that wearing these gowns of "deep neck" will only turn them into fornicators, or hooked up with some rogue of questionable morals. A preface to this English edition cites similar issues in post-Puritan England, and notes that even "deluded" Quaker women know enough to cover themselves. $1,750. Item 266 is an antiquarian book on the relationship between food and good health that still offers some good advice, though this is a 1745 printing of a book first published in 1702. It is A Treatise of All Sorts of Foods, Both Animal and Vegetable: Also of Drinkables, by Louis Lemery. He advises moderation and a balanced diet, favors drinking tea and water, and also recommends wine, chocolate, and coffee in moderate quantities. He also cautions against an overindulgence in eating frogs, not a problem for most of us. $1,250. Item 430 offers a report on the "King of the Wild Frontier," Davey Crockett. The book is An Account of Col. Crockett's Tour to the North and Down East, frequently attributed to his friend Augustin Clayton. Published in 1835, it recalls a trip Crockett made to the Northeast in 1834, where his unexpected sympathy for the Indians made him a popular figure. However, association with that part of the country was sufficient then, as now, to get one branded as something of an elitist, and he lost his seat in Congress in the next election. Crockett took off for Texas, where he achieved immortality, though much too soon. $5,500. Phillip J. Pirages Fine Books and Manuscripts may be reached at 503-472-0476 or pirages@onlinemac.com. Their website is www.pirages.com.

An Extraordinary Catalogue from Phillip J. Pirages

A spectacular new catalogue from Phillip J. Pirages.

By Michael Stillman

While small catalogues are occasionally special, one thing we have found in years of reviewing them is that those over half an inch thick are usually spectacular. This month we have one of those magnificent thick catalogues, simply Catalogue 55 from Phillip J. Pirages Fine Books and Manuscripts. This is a compilation of 642 highly collectible items, filled with pages and pages of pictures of what is offered. The presentation is as brilliant as the works themselves. Descriptions are extraordinarily detailed, both concerning the content and context of the works, and the condition of the individual copies.

The type of material varies widely, but Pirages has broken it down into a few groupings. There are complete (or nearly so) illuminated manuscripts, illuminated leaves, manuscript leaves, printed leaves and leaf books, books printed before 1800, and books printed in the 19th and 20th centuries. With 642 titles from which to choose, we can mention only a few, but here are some samples of what you will find. For more details, or to obtain a copy of this fine catalogue, you should contact the bookseller.

We will start at the top. Item 1 is a manuscript bible from southern France, complete except for one leaf, created around the year 1240. Pirages notes that while the script is in French style, the decoration is Italianate. The bible was evidently the work of two scribes, who did not always coordinate their work perfectly. At least one made a few mistakes, most glaringly, leaving out the "r" in In Principio at the beginning of Genesis. This order needed a better proofreader. The manuscript contains numerous annotations which provide insight into 13th century theological issues. However, the annotations have been scraped from several pages, which leads to the question, why? Pirages theorizes it may have had to do with the "Cathar heresy." This was a popular movement in southern France at the time. Catharism believed in a dualistic world, with the material one being inherently evil. This led to numerous serious theological disputes with ecclesiastical authority. While the Church first attempted gentle persuasion, by the 13th century, it had resorted to crusades, brutal suppression, and the killing of thousands of followers. Catharism was on the run at the time of this manuscript, but still present. Whether this explains the expunging of annotations is not clear, but evidently some of the annotations displeased later readers. Other annotations indicate the manuscript was held by the Capuchin convent in Montpellier in the 17th century, and eventually in the collection of the presiding judge at the Nuremburg trials in the 20th. Priced at $69,000.

Item 9 is an illuminated manuscript leaf from the Book of Esther. The text begins with an image for its initial letter which shows Mordecai, Queen Esther, and King Ahasuerus on three floors. According to the Book of Esther, the King's evil prime minister, Haman, intended to hang Esther's adoptive father Mordecai for failing to bow down to him. For good measure, Haman also planned to kill all of the Jews in Persia, this being Mordecai's tribe. He did not understand Queen Esther was also one of the Jews (nor was the King aware of this). Ahaseurus was set to go along with the plot, as displayed in this image. On the bottom floor is Mordecai, noose around his neck, on the top floor Ahaseurus, holding the rope and ready to pull. In between is Esther, maintaining sufficient slack in the rope to prevent Mordecai from hanging. By the end of the book, Esther informs the King of her and Mordecai's ethnicity, along with reminding him of how Mordecai had once saved his life, and Ahaseurus instead uses the gallows to hang the evil Haman. $6,500.

An Extraordinary Catalogue from Phillip J. Pirages

A circa 1240 manuscript bible created in southern France.

Item 261 is a copy of the earliest obtainable printing of the Koran in the original Arabic. Though circulated widely in the Islamic world in manuscript form, it was not printed until 1538 in Venice. However, Pope Paul III decreed that all copies were to be confiscated and destroyed. Only one copy of this edition is known to survive. This second printing, edited by Abraham Hinckelmann, provided a preface that enabled it to circumvent the edict. The preface explains that it is presented to help Christians understand the contents of the Koran, the better to convert the infidels. Published in 1694. $15,000.

The battle against loose morals goes on, but it is hardly new. Item 173 is a 1678 edition of a work first published in French three years earlier: A Just and Seasonable Reprehension of Naked Breasts and Shoulders. Perhaps author Jacques Boileau had spent too much time hanging around those beaches in the south of France. He warns women that wearing these gowns of "deep neck" will only turn them into fornicators, or hooked up with some rogue of questionable morals. A preface to this English edition cites similar issues in post-Puritan England, and notes that even "deluded" Quaker women know enough to cover themselves. $1,750.

Item 266 is an antiquarian book on the relationship between food and good health that still offers some good advice, though this is a 1745 printing of a book first published in 1702. It is A Treatise of All Sorts of Foods, Both Animal and Vegetable: Also of Drinkables, by Louis Lemery. He advises moderation and a balanced diet, favors drinking tea and water, and also recommends wine, chocolate, and coffee in moderate quantities. He also cautions against an overindulgence in eating frogs, not a problem for most of us. $1,250.

Item 430 offers a report on the "King of the Wild Frontier," Davey Crockett. The book is An Account of Col. Crockett's Tour to the North and Down East, frequently attributed to his friend Augustin Clayton. Published in 1835, it recalls a trip Crockett made to the Northeast in 1834, where his unexpected sympathy for the Indians made him a popular figure. However, association with that part of the country was sufficient then, as now, to get one branded as something of an elitist, and he lost his seat in Congress in the next election. Crockett took off for Texas, where he achieved immortality, though much too soon. $5,500.

Phillip J. Pirages Fine Books and Manuscripts may be reached at 503-472-0476 or pirages@onlinemac.com. Their website is www.pirages.com.