Mallams' Oxford Library Sale 7 & 8 February
Rare collection of books for auction by Mallams after 50 years hibernation in bank vault
26/01/2024
Lot 565 - Post-incunable (Book of Hours): Heures a l'usaige de Romme. Paris, Anthoine Chappiel pour Gilles Hardouyn, 22 August 1504 [includes almanac for 1497-1520]. Octavo, 79 leaves of 32 lines. Printed on vellum.
Provenance: John. P. Love Collection
Estimate £4,000 - £6,000
A seat for scholars for over 800 years, the beautiful city of Oxford has been our home since Mallams Auctioneers was first established in 1788 and we have been selling books here for over two hundred years.
Our Oxford Library Sales, which are held thrice yearly, attract interest from all over the globe from rare and antiquarian book dealers, institutions and collectors.
We are delighted to be offering two unusual collections in our forthcoming sale from private libraries which are already sparking interest for literary lovers.
The first under lots 501 to 575 is the John Love Collection. John Percival Love was born in 1896 and was Chairman of Francis Edwards, the renowned antiquarian bookseller founded in London in 1855, from 1944 until his retirement in 1972.
This collection, which we are selling on behalf of his family, was acquired during his time with Francis Edwards and includes Incunabula which have lain undisturbed in a bank vault for nearly 50 years. He also collected around 60 lots of Antiquarian books beautifully bound by some of the most well-known 18th to 20th century British bookbinders.
The second is an extensive ‘Latin American’ library from the estate of Malcolm Deas, Historian, Author & Fellow of St. Antony’s College Oxford. Lot 601 to 702. The collection includes some important ‘Simon Bolivar’ material and a wide range of English and Spanish titles.
His research was largely on the 19th & 20th century history and politics of, and travel in, South America and he was regarded as a pioneer of Colombian historiography and was highly esteemed in Colombia. Indeed, he was awarded the country’s highest honour for his work, the Cruz de Boyaca, as well as an OBE from the Queen in 1994.
Benjamin Lloyd, Director at Mallams, who is curating the Library sale said:-
“It has been a real privilege to catalogue these two very different collections. It has given me the opportunity to explore and compare the expertise of a distinguished dealer and the working library of an internationally respected academic, a veritable feast for bibliophiles”.
Full biographies are included within our sale catalogue which can be viewed online at www.mallams.co.uk along with viewing times at our Oxford saleroom prior to the sale on the 8th February.
