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Upon completing his studies in history of art, German literature
and history with a PhD thesis that presented for the first time
the complete corpus of all 56 hitherto known illustrated Middle
High German World Chronicle manuscripts and thereby complemented
the knowledge of 14th and 15th century German manuscript illumination
by an important group, Jörn Günther founded his antiquarian
book business in 1990 specialising in medieval and Renaissance
manuscripts and miniatures, and early printed books.
The firm expanded continuously since, gained an international
reputation and presence and has established among the few leading
businesses worldwide active in this area. We primarily focus
on giving private collectors and institutional collections across
the world competent advise on the development of their holdings.
We keep
a varied and complex inventory of museum quality surveying five
hundred years of book art from the most important and venerable
centres of manuscript production and early printing. We aim
at taking a broad approach to the extant corpus of medieval
and Renaissance manuscripts and early printing and thus attempt
to take into account all facets of the history of manuscript
production and early printing. Besides works of sacral content,
be it books of liturgical use such as missals, gospel books
or choir books that contain the parts of the mass or the divine
office sung by the choir, or be it lavishly illuminated books
of hours, books of secular nature provide deep insights into
the culture and history of the Middle Ages and the early modern
age. Astrological and medical treatises or early editions of
literary works for example are often of great rarity as they
were usually amply read and used and thus survive in far smaller
numbers.
We participate
in the major international antiquarian book and fine art & antique
fairs which are subject to strict selection and vetting guidelines,
such as The European Fine Art Fair Maastricht, or the elegant
Biennale des Antiquaires in Paris. In addition our activities
are complemented by exhibitions and events privately organised
for a selected circle of clients, collectors and interested
individuals. |
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To mark the 10th anniversary of our business, for instance,
an exhibition titled "The Art of the Book - A Journey through
a Thousand Years of Book Art" was mounted in 2000 in Boston
and Berlin. It featured 100 manuscripts, miniatures and early
printed books from our stock and loans from private collections
the development of which we follow and support with our advice.
As a statement of our encyclopaedic approach to the collecting
field this exhibition spanned the thousand year period between
the two most crucial changes in the method of book production:
from the superseding of the papyrus scroll by the vellum codex
on the edge of the fifth century, represented by the oldest
Western European codex in private hands, one of only about 100
complete manuscripts from the beginning of written transmission
until 800 preserved worldwide, up until the invention of printing
with movable types in Germany in the mid-15th century.
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Canones Conciliorum, a codex written by an insular scribe
from Ireland or Northumbria working in northern Italy.
The manuscript whose text deals with the resolutions of
early church councils and synods and decretals by fourth
and fifth centuries Popes is of paramount importance by
reason of its contents as well as its early date of production
in c. 775. |
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We
apply extensive research. Each newly acquired item is meticulously
described by an experienced team of experts academically recognised
in their field. The outcome of our collecting and research is
presented to the public in regular intervals by means of comprehensive
profusely illustrated cloth-bound catalogues. As reviews in
the press and the feedback we get from private and institutional
collectors as well as from the academic community attest, our
catalogues have meanwhile gained a status of useful, competently
prepared and researched reference tools enjoying an international
circulation among collectors, librarians and other interested
parties.
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