25th Jan, 2023 10:30 GMT/BST
The David Stather Library
139
More (Sir Thomas, Saint)
The Workes of Sir Thomas More, Knyght, sometyme Lorde Chauncellour of England, wrytten by him in the English Tongue.
John Cawood, John Waly and Richard Tottell, 1557, first edition, folio in eights, the Roper family copy with manuscript ownership inscriptions on title page 'William Rooper, the only true (?) owner of' and 'Antony Rooper liber ex dono fratris (or patris)', [34], 88, 89-104 columns, 105-1138, [2], 1139-1458 pages, text and register continuous despite pagination. Title with repaired tear, laid down and silked with pencil drawn border, blank leaves [par.]10 and 2Z6 supplied with later paper, repaired closed tear to e7, abrasion to X2 with some loss of text, repairs to last two leaves, hinge gaping between fly-leaf and title page, binding rubbed with bumped top corner, armorial bookplate, all edges gilt, blindstamped morocco binding by Ramage. Gibson 73, ESTC S115047.
[William Rooper or Roper (1496-1578) was Thomas More's son-in-law and had lived in his household for 16 years. When this copy was sold in 2006 at a London auction, the description described William and Antony as brothers. Subsequent research by David Stather suggests that the book passed from William to his son Antony (ex dono patris rather than fratris) and then to William Roper (later Sir William), grandson of the first William].
Sold for £10,000
Estimated at £8,000 - £12,000
Auction: The David Stather Library, 25th Jan, 2023
A single-owner sale of the Library of David Stather (1940-2022)
The library comprises a large collection of early books, pamphlets and manuscripts on English history, focusing on the English Civil War, the ‘Popish Plot’, the Monmouth Rebellion and the Glorious Revolution, early Parliament and the Monarchy of that period, the development of English law, the Reformation, early bibles and prayer books, chronicles of English history and some very early books on witchcraft.
The earliest manuscript dates from 1285, and the earliest book is an incunable from 1486, however the majority date from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Interestingly, many are books that contribute to English history rather than just reporting on it, for example the collection includes books reporting the Popish Plot, which were written specifically to create social division through what is now known as ‘fake news’.
The books have been lovingly preserved by David Stather and the auction provides a rare opportunity to purchase books from a very focused collection built up over his lifetime.
Please submit any enquiries for the sale to books@tennants-ltd.co.uk
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Tuesday 24th January 10am-5pm and the morning of the sale from 8am
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