Arranged by subject rather than alphabetically, it was first published in the 1470s* but among many later versions was the edition of 1509 whose later annotated but still striking title page is shown above.
Printed in the Rhineland town of Spira (now Speyer) near Heidelberg, it made £1300 in a November 5 sale held by Toovey’s (24.5% buyer’s premium).
Also bid to that sum was an undistinguished and worn 1966 Penguin copy of The Catcher in the Rye that in 1975 was inscribed “…with best wishes J.D.Salinger” for the consignor’s father.
Signed and/or inscribed copies of Salinger’s book are famously scarce, and while this was far from a first, it certainly had rarity appeal.
The recipient was a friend of Janos Domokos, a director of the company that in 1974 published the first Hungarian edition.
* A copy of a 1473-74 edition of Brack’s work printed by Gunther Zainer of Augsburg sold at Sotheby’s in 1998 for £10,000.
