Kelmscott Chaucer Leads Sale of Publisher David Godine's Book Collection

Three sales of the printer David Godine's printed book collection including early printed books, notable Venetian and Florentine imprints, and fine bindings will be held by Bonhams in spring and autumn this year.

“Collecting books is closely related to publishing them," said David R. Godine who has headed up the Godine Press, the independent New England-based publisher known for its eclectic and beautifully designed books for 50 years, "though each title brings its own challenges, it also reveals new possibilities. I’ve always been as interested in how I selected the books in my collection as I have been in the information they contained, and am drawn particularly to how materials, structure, and craft ultimately determine whether a book endures across centuries. This collection reflects this very lifelong fascination of mine."

Printing and Process: the David Godine Collection Part I, will be a live sale of major highlights from the collection on May 5 with 125 lots including:

• a copy of the 1896 Kelmscott Chaucer (estimate: $60,000–$90,000) bound in a superb binding by Birdsall
• an exceptionally well‑preserved first edition of Italian engineer Agostino Ramelli’s Le diverse et artificiose machine (estimate: $15,000–$25,000), the seminal 1588 treatise documenting Ramelli’s visionary mechanical inventions
• a 1496 first edition of Italian printer and humanist Aldus Manutius’s Thesaurus Cornucopiae & Horti Adonidis, a foundational Greek incunable from the earliest years of the Aldine press (estimate: $15,000–$25,000)
• a limited edition, one of 500 sets, of the Doves Press’ The English Bible, the magnum opus of the celebrated private press (estimate: $10,000–$15,000)
• French mathematician, cartographer, and illustrator Oronce Finé’s 1544 scientific treatise Quadratura circuli (estimate: $4,000–$6,000)

Alongside the live sale will be Printing and Process: The David Godine Collection, Part II running online April 27–May 6, featuring material from 15th to the 17th centuries that showcase innovations in printing, illustration, typography, and book design.

“David Godine is one of the most important figures in American independent publishing, and his collection reflects a lifetime spent engaging deeply with the history and craft of the book,” said Ian Ehling, Director of Fine Books & Manuscripts, North America, Bonhams. “From early incunabula to landmark achievements in typography and printing, these works speak to Godine’s unique understanding of books as both intellectual and physical objects."