151. MAP OF RUSSIA AND MOSCOW BY BLAEU, Tabula Russiae, ca 1640.

Books, Maps & Manuscripts Autumn 2023

Stockholms Auktionsverk has a long tradition of presenting well-sorted and high-quality book auctions. And as they now roll out the catalog for the season's Books, Maps & Manuscripts, we can conclude that they are not disappointing anyone. The bookshelves are filled with over 300 lots and offer some excellent highlights among the older maps and travelogues, as well as a lot of bound secrets of culinary art. A very rare Russian atlas that once belonged to Gustaf Nobel's library is something quite extraordinary. The same can, of course, be said about the detailed woodcut from 16th-century Prague that is being offered. And the play of the theater king, once premiered on an autumn evening in 1783, here in the first edition from the following year, is a cultural concentrate like no other. From Inga-Lill Skog's library, 86 lots in the subjects of food and housekeeping have been selected. Here, both the classics and the more obsolete writings are abundant, with a recipe collection over 300 years old as the main item. But there's more. A notepad with handwritten notes by Cornelis Vreeswijk, for example. Or Christian Zervos's weighty work on Pablo Picasso in 23 (!) volumes, and especially Ricordi's graphic course in turn-of-the-century advertising. Flip through it if you get the chance; the images are truly like sweet music for those drawn to Art Nouveau aesthetics and the colors and fonts of that time. Welcome!