The Ponte Auction House has always kept its attention to the collection of Manuscripts and Rare Books, so much so that in 2017 it inaugurated a dedicated department which, in the space of a few years, has intercepted an increasingly cultured and curious niche of enthusiasts.
Also for this sector, the auction house has chosen to maintain a broad vision of the market, with composite contributions in which one can find Manuscripts, Incunabula, First Editions, Autographs, Atlases and Maps, but also twentieth-century Livres d’Artistes, Antique Classic Books and Historical Curiosities. The strategy of preferring quality and rarity of the items offered at auction was successful, to attract the interest of important private collectors and the international public.
In 2024, the Books and Manuscripts Department recorded significant results, with total sales exceeding € 1.6 million, 90% of lots sold, and an average increase of 120% over estimates. The positive trend was further confirmed in the February 2025 auction, which totalled € 850,000.
A recent milestone was the sale of the prestigious Codex Santini, a masterpiece of the Urbino Renaissance, to the Ministry of Culture for the Ducal Palace of Urbino. This event strengthened the auction house’s standing, garnered widespread media attention, and promoted collaborations with renowned scholars and institutions.
Outstanding recent results include a 1477 edition of Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy (€ 93,750), the 1472 Imitatio Christi by Thomas à Kempis (achieving the best international performance at € 93,750), Salvador Dalí’s Biblia Sacra (€ 87,000), and the first edition of Jean de La Fontaine’s Fables Choisies (€ 47,880).
Among scientific texts, excellent results were achieved for the richly illustrated 17th-century atlas by Blaeu and Janssonius (€ 56,250) and Ulisse Aldrovandi’s Opera Omnia (€ 47,880). Collectors also showed strong interest in Venetian views by Canaletto and Carlevaris (€ 18,750 each), and 20th-century artists' books such as Fortunato Depero’s Bullonato (€ 18,125) and Tullio d’Albisola’s LITO-LATTA (€ 32,760)
