Rupert de Deutz, Opera [9 parts in 3 vols], Cologne, 1577, German calf with fore-edge decoration, Gómez Dávila y Toledo copy

RUPERT DE DEUTZ. Ruperti Abbatis Monasterii Tuitiensis, ordinis D. Benedicti, viri undequaque doctissimi, summique inter veteres theologi. Opera omnia. Nunc recens in unum corpus collecta, diligenter recognita, & à quàm plurimis mendis vindicata: divisa in tres tomos, quorum quid singuli contineant, vide pagina sequente. Additis Indicibus quàm locupletissimis. [part 2:] Operum Tomus secundus. [part 3:] Operum tomus tertius. Cologne: Heirs of Arnold I Birckmann, 1577

These volumes formed part of the Dávila y Toledo library, with its distinctive fore-edge decoration. For more information on this substantial library, see Bibliotheca Brookeriana V, 10 December, 2024, lot 1044 (Budé). Along with lots 1044, 1127 (Isocrates), 1208 (Tacitus), 1229 (Vegetius, now lot 315 in the present sale) and lot 1238 (Villalobos, now lot 321 in the present sale), this volume belonged to Gómez Dávila y Toledo.

9 parts in 3 volumes, folio (312 x 190 mm). Roman and italic type, 64 lines plus headline. Collation: [first volume] (1) *⁶ **⁴ A-Z⁶ Aa-Oo⁶ Pp⁴ Aaa-Zzz⁶ AAaa-KKkk⁶ LLll⁴ (last leaf blank); [second volume] (2) ()⁸ A-Z⁶ Aa-Oo⁶ PP⁴; (3) πa⁴ a-e⁶ f-g⁴; (4) *⁴ A-M⁶ N⁴; (5) a⁸ A-P⁶ Q⁴ (last leaf blank); [third volume] (6) ()⁶ a-p⁶ q²; (7) *3-6 A-I⁶; (8) §§⁴ A-Z⁶ Aa-Dd⁶ Ee⁴; (9) +⁶ A-R⁶ S⁴: 438 + 378 + 438 leaves. Woodcut printer's device on 6 title-pages and 2 final leaves, woodcut initials and tailpieces, some passages marked in ink, small manuscript note (dated 1603) in Spanish loosely inserted in third volume. (Marginal dampstaining, browning to endleaves of first and second volumes, tear to upper endpaper of second volume.)

Binding: Contemporary calf (322 x 212 mm), plausibly German, tooled in blind, border frame of repeated fleurons emerging from interlaced stippled semicircles, inner frame containing quatrefoil roll repeated in 2 vertical lines in centre, spine with 4 full bands, plain compartments, late sixteenth-century fore-edge decoration, title lettered across fore-edge with armorials and leafy decoration, traces of 2 brass clasps at fore-edge, brass corner guards. (Bindings somewhat rubbed and scraped, rebacked retaining most of original spine, leather delaminating, second volume upper corner defective.)

Provenance: Gómez Dávila y Toledo (1541-1616), arms on fore-edge — old shelfmarks "Est 2. Ano.F" (crossed through) and "Est. 5.Y" on upper endleaves — [by family descent to] Vicente Joaquín Osorio de Moscoso (1744-1816), marqués de Astorga, printed label pasted to π2 of each volume “Biblioteca del excmo. Señor Marques de Astorga”, sale, Delbergue-Cormont, Catalogue de la bibliothèque de son excellence le Marquis d’Astorga, Paris, 31 May-4 June 1870, lot 165 — Order of Capuchin Friars Minor, Wallonia, circular blue inkstamp lettered "Sig. Studii partis Wallonicae O.F.M. in Belgio" — unidentified owner, blue inkstamp with crowned ᗺB — Romantic Agony Book auctions, Auction 37, Brussels, 21-22 November 2008, lot 1151. Acquisition: Purchased in 2009 from Jean-Baptiste de Proyart, Paris. References: [volume 1] USTC 691716; [volume 2] USTC 691712; [volume 3] USTC 691711