79 2165 Literature Colette 
= On one of her favorite subjects, the cat: "(...) Si vous connaissiez la chatte, la vraie - elle est vivante et bien vivante - tout vous serait claire et simple comme à moi-même. Je n'ai jamais connu, entre cent chattes, une chatte comme celle-là. Qui réincarne-t-elle? J'aime mieux ne pas le savoir (...).." Included in the lot are 5 facsimiles of Colette's handwriting,
79 2166 Literature Dumas fils A 1824 1895 
79 2167 Literature Hugo V 1802 1885 
- Folded three times; a few unobtrusive light brown stains; sm. tears in margins of folds. Otherwise fine.
= Provenance: Willem Hubrecht, building inspector of the Dutch public water management corporation, by descent to the present owner. Apparently mr Hubrecht had found a clear resemblance between the subterranean vault that Hugo had described in his book l'Homme qui rit and a penal cave that Hubrecht had discovered below Vredenburg Castle in Utrecht. According to information added by a nephew of Willem Hubrecht, Hubrecht had sent Hugo a sketch of the penal cave and had asked him where he got his information for his description of the vault. Hugo does not give a specific answer to this question, but responds as follows: "J'ai reçu, Monsieur, (...) votre très curieuse et très précieuse communication. Je vous en remercie, ainsi que de l'utile dessin qui l'accompagne. Je regrette la démolition de votre cave pénale d'Utrecht. Ces vieux monuments sont bons à conserver, ils inspirent l'honeur[?] du passé. Je sens, Monsieur, dans votre lettre excellente un homme très distingué, et je vous serre la main. [signed:] Victor Hugo". SEE ILLUSTRATION PLATE LXXXI.
79 2168 Literature Naipaul V S 1932 2018 
= Fine letter, signed twice (above the printed letterhead and at the end of the letter), responding to the congratulatory letter of the Dutch publisher Theo Sontrop on occasion of the knighthood that had been granted to Naipaul in 1990. "It is a very great gesture by the country to me. I came to England in 1950 to be a writer. It is nice, in 1990, to be given a [...] honour for literature. I am delighted you are giving Among the Believers another run. Incidentally, Rushdie reviewed it for one of the glossy magazines & thought it was written to reassure the Americans!"
79 2169 Literature Naipaul V S 1932 2018 
79 2169 Literature Naipaul V S 1932 2018 
= Letter written in response to an "emblematic card" that Sontrop had sent to Naipaul after it had become known that he had won the Nobel Prize for literature in 2001. "You were among my best publishers, and I cherish your kindness. The prize was quite unexpected. I thought that the political current had showed[?] too strongly against me. In those days you were a supporter, and that does not go unremembered. (...)".
Idem. TYPESCRIPT LETTER SIGNED "Yours ever Vidia N.", to [typescript:] "Dear Theo [Sontrop]", dated "2 December 1991", 1 leaf w. printed letterhead "Dairy Cottage, Salterton, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP4 6AL", recto only, w. the orig. envelope.
- Numb. "31" (encircled) in upper right corner in a different hand.
= Commenting favourably on the Dutch paperback edition of A House for Mr Biswas that Sontrop had sent him and sending Sontrop "the reprinted Updike review of the Loss of El Dorado from the New Yorker" and calling his attention to the review of the book by Gregory Rabassa.
79/2170 Medieval manuscripts Book of Hours 
79/2170 Medieval manuscripts Book of Hours 
79/2170 Medieval manuscripts Book of Hours 
79/2170 Medieval manuscripts Book of Hours 
79/2170 Medieval manuscripts Book of Hours 
- Lacks matins of the Hours of the Virgin (w. miniature?) and none; lacks first leaf to Office of the Dead cut out (w. miniature?); lacks O Intermerata(?).
= A book of hours possibly made for a patron residing in the region of Brittany of Normandy, France. Contents: a calendar w. i.a. mentioned in red St. Augustine, St. Jerome, St. Dyonisius, St. Maclou, St. Nicolas and St. Thomas of Cantrbury; the Hours of the Virgin; the Penitential Psalms and Litany and the Office of the Dead. SEE ILLUSTRATION PLATE LXXXI.
79/2171 Medieval manuscripts Leaf from a Bible Gospel 
79/2172 Medieval manuscripts Membra disiecta Lot of 6 fragments/ pieces of manuscript leaves and one leaf from an incunable 
- With the usual scuffing and soiling due to previous use as part of a later binding.
79/2173 Medieval manuscripts Miniatures Letter P 
- Not examined outside of frame. = Delicate, detailed image. SEE ILLUSTRATION PLATE LXXXI.
79 2174 Netherlands Anonymous 18th cent 
79 2174 Netherlands Anonymous 18th cent 
- Hinges weak. Vellum sl. soiled/ stained; lacks ties.
= Transcript (autograph?) of this work by S. VAN SLINGELANDT, published as the 3rd part of his Staatkundige Geschriften (Amst., P. Schouten, 1784-1785) and separately (n.pl., n.publ., n.d. (±1783)). Cf. Dekkers p.161, 1; Doorninck 3828. With the notes in left margin.
79 2175 Netherlands Caron Noël de ±1550 1624 
79 2175 Netherlands Caron Noël de ±1550 1624 
79 2175 Netherlands Caron Noël de ±1550 1624 
- Outer lvs. soiled; waterstained in lower part throughout.
= Noël de Caron was an administrator from Bruges and was elected in the States General. He was a protestant, loyal to the prince of Orange, and became a Dutch diplomat. He served in several diplomatic missions to i.a. France and Great Britain (i.a. working on the Treaty of Nonsuch). He bought a house in Lambeth, London in 1602. In 1604 he was requested to start as an envoy for the Republic, but he had to wait until 1609 to become the official ambassador of the Dutch Republic in England, at the start of the Truce between Spain and the Republic. The Dutch Republic was only then officially recognized by the English. While in England he became very wealthy and a good personal friend to king James I. The report centers mostly around the upcoming marriage between Frederick V, elector Palatine and the only daughter of James I, Elizabeth Stuart and the political ramifications of that union (also for the Republic). He writes i.a. about the king's growing favourable sentiment towards Frederick V, his future son-in-law, who arrived in London, on the 16th of October. The king arranged a meeting between De Caron and Frederick. De Caron also mentions marriage negotiations between James I and the duke of Savoye and the grand duke of Tuscany, to match their respective daughter and sister to the prince of Wales, Henry Frederick. The negotations had progressed to such a stage that the pope was asked for a dispensation. The pope, however, threatened to excommunicate, which rattled the grand duke. The king was more inclined to the Savoy candidate because of the large dowry (according to Caron's sources "ses hondertmael duisent cronen"). De Caron asked the prince of Wales directly about the two possible matches, especially about the Savoye princess, to which the prince answered that he preferred a princess with his own religion, but that in the end he would accept his father's wishes and showed De Caron a painted portrait of the Savoye princess [Henry died a month later before any marriage had been decided on]. At the end of the report De Caron also mentions that James I wanted to reassure the States-General about the positive outcome of the king's diplomatic efforts to end the Kalmar War between Denmark and Sweden [the war affected the trade between England and the Netherlands]. According to James I, the king of Denmark (his brother-in-law) would accept his role as an impartial party. And De Caron finally ends with asking to send money a.s.a.p.
79 2176 Netherlands Heermale Floris van ? ±1608 
= Floris van Heermale was the treasurer of the bishop of Utrecht and representative of the states of Utrecht in the States General and one of the signatories of the Union of Brussels and one of the main supporters of William the Silent in the states of Utrecht. He writes about a letter he has received from Oldenbarnevelt on the 3rd (?) of May and comments about the situation in Friesland and Nijmegen (Nijmegen was besieged by prince Maurits). He mentions that the 'Uwe edele' must know more, "want wij hier zeer weinich daervan hooren". He further mentions the strengthening of i.a. the troops of ritmeester Edmondt, carabines and lancers. He suggest that the payment of that strengthening should go through the states of Holland, rather than Brabant.
79 2177 Netherlands Leoninus Elbertius 1519 1598 
79 2177 Netherlands Leoninus Elbertius 1519 1598 
- Letter unread. = Leoninus was a jurist and professor in Leuven, who became the chancellor of Gelderland.
79/2178 Netherlands Treaty of Plessis les Tours 
79/2178 Netherlands Treaty of Plessis les Tours 
- Lvs. frayed; waterstains in lower margin.
= Probably an official copy made after the original signed agreement, between the Duke of Anjou and the Dutch United Provinces in which he accepts the official reign. It was signed by all Provinces, except Holland and Zeeland in 1580 and ratified in 1581. François, duke of Anjou (1555-1584), son of king Henry II of France and Catherine de Medici, was asked by William the Silent to become the hereditary souvereign of the Netherlands after the United Provinces had left the Habsburg rule of Philips II. After the French Fury in Antwerp failed in 1583, his troops were massacred and he withdrew from the Low Countries and died the next year from malaria. SEE ILLUSTRATION PLATE LXXXI.
79/2180 Netherlands Lot of ±40 manuscript poems documents etc 
= I.a. "Overpeinzing op de tegenwoordigen tydt" (2 copies in 2 different hands); "Zoo lang den Brit, hier in ons land, zal vullen s' Hertogs Beurs en Hand (...)"; "'K heb nooit een vorst gewildt voor neerlands vreyen staat (...) 'K wil des veel minder nog een koning uit 't gemeen En stem voor 't staatsontwerp en Schimmelpenninck neen" (adaptation of the poem by P. Boddaert); "Hercules of de Geklopte Patriotten" (after W.J.F. Nuyens); "Testament de la Republique Batave" and "Grand bal Masqué National sur la place de la Revolution le jour de l'inauguration de l'arbre de la liberté a Amsterdam" (description of a masqued ball, with i.a. "Citoyen Kraayenhoff déguisé moitiée en Medecin moitiés en guerrier (...)".).
79/2181 Oriental manuscripts Batak manuscript 
- Browned and worn; partly splitting on folds; occas. ink partly faded.
79/2182 Oriental manuscripts Ethiopian prayerbook 
79/2182 Oriental manuscripts Ethiopian prayerbook 
79/2182 Oriental manuscripts Ethiopian prayerbook 
79/2182 Oriental manuscripts Ethiopian prayerbook 
79/2182 Oriental manuscripts Ethiopian prayerbook 
- Sl. fingersoiled and stained.
= The miniatures depicting i.a. Saint George slaying the dragon, Mary with the infant Christ and an Ethiopian emperor(?).
79/2183 Oriental manuscripts Koran 
79/2183 Oriental manuscripts Koran 
79/2183 Oriental manuscripts Koran 
- Lacks the first sura and beginning of the second sura; bookblock broken and contents partly loose; occas. sl. offsetting of decoration on opposite pages.
= SEE ILLUSTRATION PLATE LXXXII.
79/2184 Oriental manuscripts Persian manuscript 
79/2184 Oriental manuscripts Persian manuscript 
79/2184 Oriental manuscripts Persian manuscript 
- Silk sl. worn along extremities; a few faint waterstained spots in blank corner/ margin.
= Attractive miniatures. SEE ILLUSTRATION PLATE LXXXII.