A 1501 edition of Aesop by Sebastian Brant with woodcut illustrations, sold for €71,000 (£62,830) at Giquello & Associés.
Image copyright: Giquello & Associés/Drouot
Sold for €71,000 (£62,830) against a guide of €60,000-80,000, it comprises two parts in one period binding.
Aesop compilation
The work is an 1501 edition published by the humanist Sebastian Brant (1458-1521), a native of Strasbourg, and printed by Jacobus Wolff de Pforzheim of Basel.
The first part, numbering 124 pages, is a compilation of fables attributed to Aesop and various other sources plus the life of Aesop and is based an earlier edition of Aesop by Heinrich Steinhöwel published in Ulm c.1476-77.
The second part, of 80 leaves, is a personal addition by Brant that gathers together a series of 140 fables taken from various ancient authors and dedicated to his son Onophrius (or Onuphrius) for his instruction.
The two parts include 335 woodcut illustrations in two very different styles, with a full page portrait of Aesop at the beginning, and are contained in a period cold-stamped pigskin binding.
