Books so rare they were unknown to scholars are among the treasures uncovered in a family library, in a collection going under the hammer at Christie's for £3 million.
by: Anita Singh
When the descendants of Allan Heywood Bright inherited his library, they knew it contained books of note.
After all, Mr Heywood Bright and his forebears were noted bibliophiles and the collection had been built up steadily since the 1800s.
However, they had no idea just how special the library would turn out to be. Experts called in to catalogue the dusty volumes were astonished to find medieval treasures so rare that they were unknown to scholars.
They include the only complete copy of The Mirror of Recluses, a medieval text composed in the early 15th century.
The British Library holds an incomplete version but scholars had no idea that the full version, which is over one-third longer, remained in existence.
It includes a previously unknown prologue which opens: “Here bygynneth the boke that is callid in Englysch the Mirrowr of Recluses.”
The pre-sale estimate of £50,000-£80,000 pales in comparison to that of The Missal of Ludwig of Teck, illustrated by a Master of the Prayerbook at the Habsburg Court between 1430 and 1435.
The beautifully illustrated liturgical text had never been heard of before. It is expected to sell for up to £800,000 when the collection comes up for sale at Christie’s in London on July 16.
“Nobody had any idea these books existed. They are bombshell discoveries,” said Thomas Venning, head of Christie’s book department, who described it as the most exciting find of his career.
“We approached each viewing with a sense of caution and also with a sense of wonder. We didn’t know what was going to come up.
“Many of these books are being brought to scholarly attention for the first time.”
The collection has a pre-sale estimate of £3 million but Venning said: “Nobody knows how much it will fetch because it is the unknown element that makes it so special.”
Other highlights include a previously unknown work by Catherine d’Amboise, a French Renaissance author; works of Plato bound for King Charles II; and an illuminated history of the ancient world presented to the King of Naples.
The collection was started by Joseph Brook Yates, a Liverpool banking and shipping magnate who died in 1855. He was also a social reformer who founded a hospital in the city, and president of the Liverpool Literary and Philosophical Society.
He left his books to his grandsons, Henry Yates Thompson and Samuel Ashton Thompson Yates, who were also notable figures in the city – the latter name lives on at Liverpool University, where the laboratory buildings are named after him.
Henry donated 52 books to the British Library’s Department of Manuscripts but the rest remained at the family seat of Thingwall Hall in Knotty Ash.
Two generations on, the family found another bibliophile in Heywood Bright, a Liberal politician, who resided at Thingwall and added to the collection before his death in 1941.
The collection of 365 books and manuscripts is being sold under the title Yates, Thompson and Bright: A Family of Bibliophiles by one of Heywood Bright's grandchildren, who kept them at home in Herefordshire.
The Christie’s specialist explained: “They are selling partly for practical reasons, because they are moving house. Also, the current generation are not active collectors.
“They knew there were precious books in there but they were not prepared for the rediscoveries we made. The collection had remained largely undisturbed since Allan Heywood Bright’s death 70 years ago.”
from: Telegraph
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