Early manuscripts, incunabula and post-incunabula lead Swann Galleries’ sale of Early Printed, Medical, Scientific & Travel Books on March 7. Illuminated manuscripts make an impression with a Prayer Book in Latin and French on vellum, France, 1530s-40s, featuring 20 large and 15 smaller miniature illustrations in color and gold. The prayer book was possibly executed for a Benedictine abbess shown in one of the miniatures, and leads the sale with an estimate of $20,000 to $30,000. Additional decorated works include a mid-fifteenth-century Book of Hours in Latin on vellum, France, with full floral borders surrounding each of 12 miniatures, and a mid-fifteenth-century Book of Hours in Dutch on vellum, Northern Netherlands, (Estimate: $15,000-20,000 and $8,00-12,000, respectively). Science and medical publications include first editions of George Agricola’s most important writings on geology, mineralogy and mining, and
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