12. AUCTION - Legacy of József Horváth

OUR ITEMS

The lots of our 12th auction are the outstanding pieces from the collection of our late colleague, the polymath József Horváth, who died in 2023, which gives us a true picture of his wide-ranging interests and unparalleled education. His library contains several 16th-century editions of ancient classics, and the essential works of the most famous Hungarian historians were also represented. His passion was to collect the Hungarian translations and editions of Greek and Roman authors as completely as possible. Perhaps his greatest love, however, was the Eastern, especially the Islamic culture. In addition to his vast Quran collection, he enriched his library with significant Turcica material. With our catalogue, we wanted to memorialize not only his collection but also his work as a scientific journalist — and by recalling his articles, we would like to bring the voice and spirit of the Renaissance man back to us.

We tried to present as comprehensive a selection as possible from the specialities of the vast collection. However, it is almost impossible to single out some items in our recommendation from among the many unique rarities, so in addition to the most exciting pieces, we also recommend whole chapters to your attention.

The chapter, which contains the pieces of the collection related to the Islamic world, presents the earliest Quran editions in Hungarian, numerous Persian-Arabic literary works, and rarities related to Turkey. Among these works is a "royal folio" size copy of the second edition of the Arabic-Persian-Turkish dictionary by François Mesgnien-Meninski, of which only two copies were made, as well as the second edition of the scarce Vankulu dictionary, which was printed in the workshop of the Transylvanian-Hungarian-born Ibrahim Müteferrika, who meant to be the father of Turkish printing.

The rare — often beautifully crafted, blind-stamped leather — 16th-century books, two incunabula and our new thematic section, the "Liturgical Books from the Archdiocese of Esztergom", deserve special attention. In addition to these, an early bibliophile work published in 1725 and a copy of the story of the Golden Fleece, dedicated by András Dugonics, will also go under the hammer. The outstanding piece of the "Hungarica from the 16-17th Centuries" category, which contains about half a hundred items — also including several unique volumes — is the historical work of Bethlen Farkas published at the Keresd princely printing house, and several editions of Temesvári Pelbárt, Janus Pannonius and Albert Szenczi Molnár. Bocatius' 1599 print from Bártfa, one of Pázmány's rarest treatises, as well as the illustrated presentation of the Hungarian Holy Crown by the mayor of Sopron, Kristóf Lackner, are considered exceptional.

As usual, our auction will be held in the Hall of Mirrors of the Festetics Palace. The items can also be viewed in person in our antique shop (1052 Budapest, Vitkovics Mihály utca 12) from 23 September to 3 October 2024, on weekdays from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

We are waiting for absentee bids and phone bidding applications by email. You can also join the auction online via www.axioart.com or invaluable.com, which we broadcast live on our YouTube and Facebook channels.