RECUEIL DE FACSIMIL?S D'AUTOGRAPHES DE PERSONNAGE C?L?BRES APPARTENANT ? PLUSIEURS SI?CLES

Geigy, Charles

Published by Rodolphe Geering, Bâle, 1925

4to. later cloth with stiff paper wrappers bound-in. (x), 296+(1) pages. First edition. Lightly rubbed along spine ends and hinges. Else a near fine copy. Charles Geigy (1866--1949) was a Swiss collector with the impressive ambition to compile the autographs of all great men and women throughout history. This book is a representative sampling of this forty-year undertaking and includes over a thousand entries. In his introduction, Geigy justifies his project with the words of another collector, Goethe, who wrote that "autographs show us men in a magic light," suggesting that a glimpse of their greatness may be preserved in their hand. Geigy further writes that this book "is specially intended to guide younger collectors by way of comparison and to serve as a foundation for systematic collecting." The catalogue is broken up into broad categories by vocation or status and then by country. For example, the section with signatures of Sovereigns and Rulers catalogues entries are arranged by country, such as the emperors of Germany (Maxmillian I, for example) and presidents and diplomats of the United States (G. Washington, James Madison). Other categories include Popes, Warriors (Joan of Arc, Cesare Borgia), Statesmen (La Fayette, Machiavelli, Castiglione), Savants and Explorers (Amerigo Vespucci, Erasmus, Ben Franklin), Poets and Writers (Moli?re, Hans Sachs, Emerson), Painters, Musicians, and Actors. Introduction, chapter titles and brief comments with the entries written in French, English and German. later cloth with stiff paper wrappers bound-in. Seller Inventory # 77473

Bibliographic Details

Title: RECUEIL DE FACSIMIL?S D'AUTOGRAPHES DE ...
Publisher: Rodolphe Geering, Bāle
Publication Date: 1925
Binding: Hardcover
Illustrator: Autographs
Edition: 1st Edition