The sales season debut of 2024 at Il Ponte Casa d’Aste ended with the auction of antiques Books and Livres d’artistes generating over € 425,000 in revenue, 88% lots sold, with a remarkable 185% increase on the reserve prices. The catalogue, with a strong international appeal, reached over 45,000 views.
One of the sections gaining increasing acclaim among collectors is dedicated to artist books. Examples include an illustrated work by Czech artist and abstract art pioneer Frank Kupka from 1926 (lot 99 - € 27,720) and Salvador Dalì's "Biblia Sacra vulgatae editionis", Milan edition: Rizzoli, 1967 (lot 98 - € 8,190).
Lot 99
KUPKA, Frantisek (1871-1957)
Quatre histoires de blanc et noir. Paris: Marcel Baque, 1926.
Copy number 205 of 300, complete with 26 full-page woodcuts and in excellent condition.
Sold € 27,720
Lot 98
DALI, Salvador (1904-1989)
Biblia Sacra vulgatae editionis. Milan: Rizzoli, 1967.
Copy LIII of 199 of the MAGNI LUXUS edition, consisting of 5 folio volumes richly illustrated with 105 color lithographs and printed on handmade paper.
Sold € 8,190
The chapter on travel and costumes from around the world continues to captivate, as evidenced by the excellent results for Attilio Zuccagni-Orlandini's 1844 geographical atlas of Italian states (lot 91 - € 13,860) and Giulio Ferrario's volume on costumes and traditions of ancient and modern peoples, compiled in 1815 (lot 16 - € 8,190).
Travel souvenirs also include the brilliant perspective views of Venice in the splendid copy dedicated to the city by Johann Georg Graevius, 1722 (lot 21 - € 6,930), and the views of ancient and modern Rome by Giuseppe Agostino Vasi, 1786 (lot 97 - € 6,300).
Lot 91
ZUCCAGNI-ORLANDINI, Attilio (1784-1872)
Geographical atlas of the Italian states outlined on the best and most modern maps
to accompany the Physical Historical and Statistical Chorography of Italy.
Florence: [Publishing Society], 1844.
Sold € 13,860
Lot 16
FERRARIO, Giulio (1767-1847)
Il costume antico e moderno o storia del governo, della milizia, della religione, delle arti,
scienze ed usanze di tutti i popoli antichi e moderni provata coi monumenti dell'antichità e rappresentata cogli analoghi disegni.
Milan: Publisher's Typography, 1815.
Sold € 8,190
Lot 21
GRAEVIUS, Johann Georg (1632-1703)
Thesaurus antiquitatum et historiarum Italiae quo continentur optimi quique scriptores qui regionum et vrbium juris Veneti
[part V of the larger work Thesaurus antiquitatum et historiarum Italiae].
Lugdunum Batavorum: Pieter Van der Aa, 1722.
Sold € 6,930
The undisputed highlight of recent months and a spectacular conclusion to the first auction session is the prestigious Santini Codex, an authentic gem of the Urbino Renaissance. This work marked new milestones for the Auction House, serving as a significant opportunity for collaboration with renowned international scholars and prominent institutions, garnering considerable media interest accordingly.
It has been an honor for the Auction House to handle this rare and precious document, a symbol of artistic excellence deserving prompt exhibition in a national museum. It stands as a source of pride for the imaginative, creative, and scientific spirit of Italian culture.
