The Lawbook Exchange has published their Catalogue 112. Its subject is Incunabula. Law Books from the First Fifty Years of Printing. Obviously, these are all very old books. Each was printed during the fifteenth century, the “newest” one coming from 1500. Those dates don't reflect the age of these works. Many were written a couple of centuries earlier. They had existed only in manuscript. They needed to wait for Gutenberg to reach a wider audience.
Their importance is shown by the fact that they exist in print at all. A book sufficiently respected to be printed a couple of centuries after being written had to survive a test of time. On the other hand, printing also made it easier for newer texts to be created and spread around, meaning that legal texts that had survived centuries had a shorter future ahead. The Renaissance was on, and nothing, the law included, would ever be the same.
These books, as would be expected, were written in Latin. Most of us, myself included, can't read Latin, and if we could, my guess is the language has evolved such as to make these challenging reads even for those who do. I think I can understand English, but Chaucer is beyond my comprehension. The result is that I can't provide individual descriptions of these books. Then again, I suspect many if not most of the collectors who come to own these books will not be able to read them either. Suffice to say the appeal is in holding something so old, and appreciating their significance, the artistry of the type, and in some cases, illustrations. Even if you can understand their meaning, the laws are way out of date anyway. Some were written by popes and other ecclesiastical figures so they do not correspond well to today's civil law. Today, these books are best appreciated as physical objects, rather than sources of legal wisdom.
A couple of these books have later distinguishing features. They were owned by Alexandre P. Rosenberg and contain his bookplate. His bookplate was designed by his friend, Pablo Picasso. Anything that can justly be described as a Picasso is going to be valuable. One includes the bookplate of noted American printer and author Theodore Low DeVinne.
Freeman’s How History Unfolds on Paper: Important Americana from the Eric C. Caren Collection, Part X June 30
Freeman’s, June 30: [Queen Anne's War] Extraordinarily Large Manuscript Petition Signed by a Who's Who of Colonial New York Accomplished to Queen Anne. $8,000/12,000
Freeman’s, June 30: [Mormonism] A Unique Manuscript Account of Joseph Smith's Final Words Offered to His Congregation, the Day Before his Violent Death, 1844. $8,000/12,000
Freeman’s, June 30: [Baseball] [Mantle, Mickey] Mickey Mantle's First Cover: The Earliest Front-Page Newspaper Image of Mickey Mantle, "Something Good from Joplin". $8,000/12,000
Freeman’s, June 30: [Baseball] A Striking Type 1 Press Photograph of Lou Gehrig's Hands. $8,000/12,000
Freeman’s, June 30: [Declaration of Independence] One of the First Printed Announcements of American Independence, Subscriber Ebenezer Hazard's Copy, in the Exceedingly Rare Original Wrappers, 1776. $10,000/15,000
Freeman’s How History Unfolds on Paper: Important Americana from the Eric C. Caren Collection, Part X June 30
Freeman’s, June 30: [American Revolution] Born in the USA: First Day of Printing in the United States, July 4, 1776! $15,000/25,000
Freeman’s, June 30: [War of 1812] "We Have Met the Enemy and They are Ours": The Critical Promotion of a Naval Hero, Oliver Hazard Perry is Appointed Master Commandant in the United States Navy, 1812. $40,000/60,000
Freeman’s, June 30: [Star-Spangled Banner] Eyewitness Account of the Shelling of Fort McHenry in the War of 1812, in a Manuscript Logbook from the HMS Trave, Present at the Battles of Baltimore and New Orleans, 1814-16. $60,000/80,000
Freeman’s, June 30: [American Revolution] Thomas Jefferson at the Birth of a New Nation: An Important Letter Carried by a Jewish Patriot Communicating the Definitive Treaty of Paris, January 16, 1784. $100,000/200,000
Freeman’s, June 30: [Colonial America] [Plymouth Colony] Plymouth Colony Seeks a Royal Charter: A Rare and Important Plymouth Colony Document, 1690/91. $6,000/9,000
Sotheby’s Selections from The Jay T. Snider Collection of Benjamin Franklin Live Sale 24 June
Sotheby’s, June 24: (Benjamin Franklin). The founding—and funding—of the Pennsylvania Hospital. $150,000 to $200,000.
Sotheby’s, June 24: Benjamin Franklin, "the Day of the Declaration of Independence is everywhere annually celebrated”. $80,000 to $120,000.
Sotheby’s, June 24: Benjamin Franklin, “probably the most fundamental thing ever done in the field of electricity”. $75,000 to $125,000.
Sotheby’s, June 24: Benjamin Franklin. One of Franklin's very earliest surviving letters. $40,000 to $60,000.
Sotheby’s, June 24: Roger More and Benjamin Franklin. The only complete copy known of Poor Roger. $25,000 to $35,000.
Sotheby’s, June 24: John Jerman. The American Almanack ... for 1731 — the only known copy in private hands. $25,000 to $35,000.
