“THEY DISPERSED THEMSELVES THROUGHOUT THE ISLAND IN SEARCH OF GOLD”: FIRST EDITION OF MEMORIALS OF COLUMBUS, 1823, HANDSOMELY BOUND IN A COSWAY-STYLE BINDING BY HOLLOWAY

(SPOTORNO, D. Gio Batista). Memorials of Columbus; or A Collection of Authentic Documents of that Celebrated Navigator… Preceded by a Memoir of His Life and Discoveries. London: Treuttel and Wurtz, 1823. Octavo, mid-19th-century full crushed green morocco, elaborately gilt-decorated spine and covers, raised bands, original miniature of Columbus set on front board within an oval frame, all edges gilt.

First edition in English, containing numerous documents and letters from the King and Queen of Spain declaring Columbus “Admiral of the Ocean,” with two folding facsimiles of letters by Columbus, in an elegant Cosway-style binding of rich gilt-tooled crushed morocco with inset portrait of Columbus.

On publication of this Memorials of Columbus, the prestigious North American Review noted “about two thirds of the volume are made up of Documents consisting of Letters, Privileges, Notes and other Writings of Columbus, the original Grants and Charters of the King and Queen of Spain to him, their Letters Patent, Warrants, and Licences, and other Official Papers, illustrating the discovery of Ameirca and the Life of Columbus… Spotorno’s Memoir contains some original facts respecting the early life of Columbus, which has always been a dark subject” (XVIII:415-6). Cosway bindings (named for renowned 19th-century English miniaturist Richard Cosway) were first commissioned in the early 1900s by London bookseller Sotheran, from the famous Rivière bindery, who employed Miss C.B. Currie to faithfully imitate Cosway’s detailed watercolor style of portraiture. These delicate miniature paintings were set into the covers or doublures of rich bindings and protected by a thin pane of glass. Cosway bindings executed by other than the original collaborators are designated as “Cosway-style” bindings— still splendid productions— by such esteemed binderies as Sangorski & Sutcliffe, Morrell, Bayntun, and Bumpus. First edition in English, translated from the Italian of Spotorno’s Codice diplomatico Colombo-americano, published in Genoa the same year. With engraved frontispiece, title page vignette, full-page engraved illustration and two folding facsimiles of letters by Columbus to Oderigo, one dated March 21, 1502, and the other dated December 27, 1504. Sabin 14666. Armorial bookplate.

Text and plates fresh with light foxing, mainly to preliminary and terminal leaves. An about-fine copy in a stunning binding.