[BOUND BY NICOLO EDLER OF PARMA]. Opere del Padre Paolo Segneri della Compagnia di Giesu

Parma: Alberto Pazzoni and Paolo Monti, 1701. First Edition. Very good. 2 vols., folio (350 x 220). Dedication copy to Pope Clement XI (Albani). Bound by Nicolo Edler of Parma: red morocco, edges gilt and gauffered, sides and backs richly adorned with gold tooling, the Papal arms and tiara worked in gold on silk and set in on the obverse and reverse of the covers. Incomplete: this set is missing the portrait in Vol. 1, the text of Vol. 1 part 2, and the text of Vol. 2 part 2 (plus the Supplement). Endbands chipped and partially defective, board edges and joints rubbed, silk painting of the arms of Clement XI now very faded. With faults, these bindings are UNSOPHISTICATED and highly suitable for exhibition and study. DEDICATION COPY TO POPE CLEMENT XI (ALBANI) PRINTED ON LARGE PAPER. THESE SENSATIONAL PARMA BINDINGS ARE THE ONLY ONES KNOWN FROM THE WORKSHOP OF NICOLO EDLER, "LIBRARO" TO THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF PARMA, WHOSE NAME IS LETTERED IN GOLD ON THE LOWER BOARD EDGES OF EACH BINDING. THE SET FIRST APPEARED ON THE MARKET IN 1858 IN THE AUCTION OF THE ALBANI FAMILY LIBRARY; IT THEN WENT TO THE FAMED BIBLIOTHECA LINDESIANA AND WAS SOLD IN 1887. WE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO CREATE A DETAILED PROVENANCE HISTORY THROUGH 1952, AT WHICH TIME THE SET WAS DESCRIBED AS CONTAINING FOUR VOLUMES, TWO OF WHICH ARE NOW PRESUMED LOST.

Nicolo Rinaldo Edler was a Salzburg native who trained under Theodor Helm. In 1690 Helm arrived in Parma in the entourage of Duchess Dorothea Sophia von Pfalz-Neuburg (1670-1748), the year in which she married Odoardo, son of Ranuccio II, becoming Duchess of Parma and Piacenza in the process. Theodor Helm served as her court librarian, and also opened his own bookshop.

Edler, Helm's compatriot, may have traveled to Parma with him, but in any event we find Edler recorded as acting "libraro" to the ducal library. In this capacity Edler was not only a bookbinder but was responsible for buying books, as well as copying them when no other copies could be procured.

Almost nothing else about Edler is known, save that he was apparently interested in magic and possessed the formulas of certain "secrets." He had free access to the library, and he occasionally allowed obscure individuals to view, and even to copy, books of the Kabbalah and magic. A scandal ensued when Edler was found to have removed from the Duke's library a manuscript of the "Clavicula Salomonis" (a practical manual of magic) to his own home, and indeed he was almost finished copying it when he was discovered.

Concerning Theodor Helm, see Federica Dallasta's Eredita di carta: biblioteche private e circolazione libraria nella Parma farnesiana 1545-1731 (2010) and her entry in DBI for Ranuccio II Farnese in DBI LXXXVI, pp. 453-458. Nicolo Rinaldo Edler is mentioned briefly in her "Il posto di Caifa. L'Inquisizione a Parma negli anni dei Farnese" (pp. 184-185) following Paolo Golinelli's "Un infortunio di Bacchini bibliotecario ducale: la diffusione clandestina della 'Clavicola di Re Salomone" in: Adriano Prosperi (ed.), Il piacere del testo. Saggi e studi per Albano Biondi (2001), pp. 573-585.

PROVENANCE:

1. CLEMENT XI (Giovanni Francesco Albani) or one of his assigns (the bindings were likely commissioned by the Duchess Dorotea Sofia or her husband Ranuccio II);

2. Giovanni's nephew ALESSANDRO ALBANI;

3. 1858 sale of the ALBANI Family Library: 39th sale, Jan. 11, 1858 (see: Catalogo della copiosa biblioteca già appartenuta all'eccellentissima famiglia de' principi Albani, p. 40, no. 121). The description in the Catalogue reads exactly: "Segneri, Paolo, Opere fol. Parma Pazzoni e Monti 1701, to. 2 vol. 4. Prima e rara ediz. delle opere riunite del Segneri. Esemplare in carta distinta, con singolare legatura nobile dorata con stemmi pontifici impressi sulla seta ed incassati nella pelle."

4. 1887 sale of the CRAWFORD LIBRARY (Bibliotheca Lindesiana, First Portion, 13 June 1887, lot 1889). Described in "The Bookbinder" (1888), vol. 1, p. 8: "A copy of the works of Segner is interesting on account of its having been bound for Pope Clement XI., by Nicolo Edler, of Parma. The sides and backs of these volumes are richly adorned with gold-tooling in lines, scrolls, and floral ornaments, having the papal arms and tiara worked in gold on silk, and set in on each side of the covers." Also described in "The Athenaeum" (1887, p. 642).

5. 1897: H.T. COGHLAN (sale at Sotheby's 8-10 Dec. 1896), lot 1077, to Ridler GBP 3 3s.

6. 1902: HENRY WHITE (sale at Sotheby's 21 April 1902), lot 1960 (GBP 5)

7. 1905: Library of JOHN SCOTT, Esq. of Ayreshire, Scotland (Sotheby's 27 March 1905, Lot 852).

8. 1910: J. Pearson & Co. Catalogue ("500 Important Books, MSS and Autograph Letters, vol. 2, no. 91, GBP 60)

9. 1913: Sotheby's 5-7 March 1913, lot 185 (to Davis GBP 8 15s)

10. 1952: Parke-Bernet, New York 4-5 March 1952, lot 608 (to Wilkins)

At this point two of the four volumes in the set were separated and are presumed lost.

11. Private Collector (USA) -- purchased by Michael Laird Rare Books. NB: These two volumes were never part of the Clementine Library that was purchased in 1928 by the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC.

CATALOGUER'S NOTE: We are grateful to Prof. Federica Dallasta who shared with us some of her unpublished research concerning Theodor Helm and Nicoco Edler.