Sotheby & Co. (London)

(25 cm), 144 pp., [3] plates, text illustrations. 513 lots. Publisher’s green printed wrappers. - Heinrich (Harry) Schraemli (1904-1995) first promoted his collection for the purposes of sale in Vom Werden einer Sammlung: Berühmte Kochbücher (Bern: Schweizerisches Gutenbergmuseum, 1963); a few years later, the booksellers Harry Levinson and L’Art Ancien were instructed to sell it en bloc (A Resume of the great Herr Schraemli collection of books & Mss relating to cookery, gastronomy, wine, drink and related subjects, Zurich & Beverly Hills: [printed in Great Britain by the Courier Press, Leamington Spa], 1969). When their attempt failed, the library was consigned to Sotheby’s. Highlights were Arnoldus de Villa, Von Bewahrung und Bereitung der Weine, published at Ulm in 1499, one of four known copies (lot 33, £3200, sold to “Wright”; now Schweinfurt, Bibliothek Otto Schäfer); and a 15th-century manuscript of Giovanni Michele Savonarola, physician at the d’Este court, perhaps the dedication manuscript for Borso d’Este (lot 303, £2600, sold to Rosenthal; now Lugano, Biblioteca internazionale di gastronomia / B.IN.G; cf. edition by Jane Nystedt, Stockholm 1988). More books were offered by Sotheby’s on 28-29 February 1972. ¶ Good, unmarked copy. Photocopy of List of prices realised and buyers’ names loosely inserted.