Rare Books and Manuscripts: A Department of Excellence
Since 2017, Il Ponte Auction House has established a department specialized in the appraisal and sale of antiquarian books, manuscripts, and works on paper, attracting the attention of collectors, bibliophiles, and cultural institutions. The selection stands out for its quality, rarity, and exceptional provenances, offering incunabula, first editions, atlases, ancient maps, autographs, and scientific texts, as well as the rarest artist’s books of the 20th century.
In 2024, the department achieved outstanding results, with a total turnover exceeding €1,600,000, 90% of lots sold, and an average increase of 120% over estimates. The positive trend continued in 2025, with the February auction totaling €850,000.
Outstanding results enrich the department’s most recent track record: Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy (1477) sold for €93,750, Thomas A Kempis’s Imitatio Christi (1472) achieved the best international performance at €93,750, Salvador Dalí’s Biblia Sacra vulgatae editionis fetched €87,000, and the celebrated Campi Phlegraei by Sir William Hamilton reached €81,900.
Among scientific works, remarkable results were recorded for the seventeenth-century atlas richly illustrated by Blaeu and Janssonius (€56,250), the Opera omnia by Ulisse Aldrovandi (€47,880), and the first edition of the renowned astronomical treatise by Hevelius (€44,880). Collectors also showed great appreciation for the views of Venice by Canaletto and Carlevariis (€18,750 each), and for artist’s books such as the famous “Bullonato” by Fortunato Depero (€18,125) and the “LITO-LATTA” by Tullio d’Albisola (€32,760).
The sale of the Codex Santini, a masterpiece of the Urbino Renaissance, acquired by the Ministry of Culture for the Ducal Palace of Urbino, marked a moment of particular prestige for the department, further strengthening its reputation on both an institutional and international level.
