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UNIQUE MAGNUS ALMANAC WITH SILVERWORK & STYLUS
RICHLY GOLD-TOOLED BINDING FOR ALBERTUS MAGNUS'S HEIRS
[ALMANAC]. DAM, Jan Albertsz van. Nieuw Geinventeerde Koopmans Comptoir- en Schrijf-almanach, op het schrikkel-jaar onzes Heeren J. Christi MDCCXII.
Amsterdam, heirs of Albertus Magnus [= Cornelis Danckertsz.], [1711]. 12mo. Title-page with Albertus Magnus's woodcut publisher's device (Atlas with armillary sphere). Printed in red and black throughout. Contemporary mottled calf over thin wooden boards, richly gold-tooled boards, spine and board edges, 4 silver catchplates with the arms of the province of Holland, held together by a stylus containing a pencil, gilt edges. With contemporary blank leaves bound in, many coated for writing with the stylus. Most likely bound in the workshop that worked for Albertus Magnus's widow before her death in 1706.
| Orders and Information | € 7000 |
A merchant's almanac for the leap-year 1712 listing the times and dates of markets and fairs, post routes and ferry schedules, the opening and closing times of city gates, the times of sunset and sunrise for each day, astronomical information and information on the tides. Also with two "specy" tables for calculating the value of silver coins in guilders, stuivers and penningen. When Albertus Magnus's widow died in 1706, their son-in-law Cornelis Danckertsz. took over the bookshop. He died in 1717. We have found no other copy of this almanac and no other edition between those for 1706 and 1718.
Bound with 31 blank leaves at the back (the last two pasted down) with manuscript annotations (some dated 1718-1741), 8 blank leaves at the front (the first two pasted down) and with several loosely inserted clippings from (mostly coloured) engravings. Each of the four silver catchplates with the arms of the province Holland has a ring, and the stylus slips through them to hold the book closed. The tip of the stylus screws off to reveal a pencil point, while the top screws off for storage of extra leads. The binding illustrated in the 1961 Holthuysen catalogue, on an edition published by Magnus's widow for 1705 (at the Amsterdam University Library), uses the same tools with the same layout as the present one, and the silverwork is very similar.
In very good condition. With one small hole in the binding leather, a few small worn patches and the hinges and edges slightly worn, but the binding is still in good condition, with most of the tooling very clear and well preserved. A beautifully bound almanach with silverwork, from the heirs of Albertus Magnus.
