Hercules Prodicius

1587

De Beer Lb 1587 P

Christopher Plantin

One area that captivated many aristocrats was book collecting, and with their wealth, they accumulated vast book collections. In the modern era, the Roxburghe sale of 1812 had the Duke of Devonshire, George John, Lord Spencer, and the Marquis of Blandford fighting it out for the Valdarfer Boccaccio (1471). It was a seminal moment; Blandford paid £2260 for it – the first time a book had sold for four figures. Augustus Frederick, the Duke of Sussex (1773-1843), the sixth son of George III, was a fine book-collector, amassing a collection of some 50,000 books and manuscripts, mainly theological. Sussex had two bookplates: one ornate with his coat of arms flanked by a lion and unicorn, and this smaller, simpler one on display. In 1844, his library was sold to pay off debts