Obrazárna Jos. V. Nováka v Praze. Popisný seznam od Dr. Th. Z. Frimmelů. Jako rukopis tistěno [The Gallery of Jos. V. Novák in Prague. A descriptive list by Dr. Th. von Frimmel. Printed as a manuscript]

Prague: self-published, 1899. Octavo (19 × 14 cm). Original green boards with silver lettering; XV, 55 pp. Forty-eight full-page reproductions on thick card stock, some with protective tissue guards; artist signatures are also reproduced, in the text. A very good copy. First and only Czech edition of this catalog of the important collection of Joseph (Josef) V. Novák in Prague, privately published for distribution as a manuscript. The printed label on the front pastedown (in Czech) suggests that Novák distributed the description of his collection free of charge. The collection existed until at least 1934; works from the Novák collection continue to appear at auction today. With a preface detailing the collector's international connections in the art world and his motivations for collecting. Among the works documented and depicted in the catalog are paintings and prints by Dutch and Flemish Old Masters (among them Hieronymus Bosch, Brueghel, and van Dyck), as well as Swiss and Spanish painters. The catalog is particularly valuable for the detailed descriptions of the works, the reproductions of many artists' signatures, and Novák's information about individual pieces' provenance. A version of this catalog was also published in German, in 1899 and in 1934. The German versions appear to be much more common than this Czech edition, of which KVK, OCLC only shows the copy at the Czech National Library. Not in NYARC (Frick holds the second expanded 1934 German edition). (Inventory #: P4346)