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LENCKER (HANS) Perspectiva literaria. Das ist ein clerliche fürreyssung wie man alle Buchstaben des gantzen Alphabets... in die Perspectif einer flachen Ebnen bringen mag, FIRST EDITION, Nuremberg, Ulrich Neuber, 1567 image 1
LENCKER (HANS) Perspectiva literaria. Das ist ein clerliche fürreyssung wie man alle Buchstaben des gantzen Alphabets... in die Perspectif einer flachen Ebnen bringen mag, FIRST EDITION, Nuremberg, Ulrich Neuber, 1567 image 2
LENCKER (HANS) Perspectiva literaria. Das ist ein clerliche fürreyssung wie man alle Buchstaben des gantzen Alphabets... in die Perspectif einer flachen Ebnen bringen mag, FIRST EDITION, Nuremberg, Ulrich Neuber, 1567 image 3
LENCKER (HANS) Perspectiva literaria. Das ist ein clerliche fürreyssung wie man alle Buchstaben des gantzen Alphabets... in die Perspectif einer flachen Ebnen bringen mag, FIRST EDITION, Nuremberg, Ulrich Neuber, 1567 image 4
GENERAL AND CONTINENTAL BOOKS, MANUSCRIPTS AND PHOTOGRAPHS
Lot 98

LENCKER (HANS)
Perspectiva literaria, FIRST EDITION, COLOURED IN A CONTEMPORARY HAND, Nuremberg, Ulrich Neuber, 1567

19 August 2020, 13:00 BST
London, Knightsbridge

£30,000 - £40,000

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LENCKER (HANS)

Perspectiva literaria. Das ist ein clerliche fürreyssung wie man alle Buchstaben des gantzen Alphabets... in die Perspectif einer flachen Ebnen bringen mag, FIRST EDITION, 21 (of 22) plates after drawings by Hans Lencker, engraved by Matthias Zündt (initialled on plate 19), ALL COLOURED IN A CONTEMPORARY HAND, plate 14 with an additional variant engraving of the perspective design (a sphere with pyramids emanating, similar in style to the other engavings but numbered "G.IIII" in upper corner) pasted opposite, Gothic text, some light foxing, short tear to one plate, last leaf near detached, old German inscription in Gothic, in ink, on verso of last leaf (this near detached), modern limp binding using an old sheet of vellum [Thieme-Becker XXIII, 45; VD16 L-1149], folio (307 x 200mm.), Nuremberg, Ulrich Neuber, 1567

Footnotes

EXTREMELY RARE HAND-COLOURED COPY OF THIS SPECTACULAR GERMAN TREATISE ON PERSPECTIVE - INCLUDING THE FIRST COMPLETE ALPHABET CONCEIVED BY HANS LENCKER.

The very elaborate perspective figures were designed by the master goldsmith Hans or Johannes Lencker (1523-1585), and engraved by his colleague Matthias Zündt. Lencker was the eldest of a dynasty of goldsmiths and engravers from Nuremberg. He worked in many fields, including the design of tableware, glass cutting and the art of bookbinding, helping to inspire a whole generation of "perspective" artists, including the renowned Jamnitzer.

The Perspectiva literaria is extremely scarce, only two or three copies recorded as having sold at auction in the post-war period. USTC and World Cat locate a total of 8 copies, all in European institutions, mostly in Germany. The present copy, uniquely hand-coloured, contains 21 plates (of 22, a geometric figure plate is missing), comprising a frontispiece using the letters of the word "perspectiva", 12 plates of intricate letters of the alphabet in various perspective arrangements, and 8 plates of geometric figures. Some of the latter are very complex, such as a spiral-shaped faceted shell, a cone made of triangular faces, a knot of twisted cylinders, and a hollow cube surrounded by a polyhedron.

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