Over 4,000 books from the library of Mount St Alphonsus, a former Redemptorist seminary in New York state, will be sold over a series of auctions by Freeman's Auctioneers, the first of which will be held on April 4.
 The seminary was closed in 2012 due to 'pressing pastoral needs and an ageing membership' |
The collection is valued at more than $700,000, with the proceeds going towards preserving the remaining archive at the historic seminary. Highlighting the first sale is a rare book on mineralogy from 1519, De Mineralibus Libri Quinque, which is expected to make $12,000-18,000.
David Bloom, book specialist at Freeman's, commented: "It is our privilege to offer this previously all-but hidden American collection of early European printed books and manuscripts so richly illuminating our 15th and 16th century heritage."
Paul Fraser Collectibles has a fantastic selection of rare manuscripts for sale, including incredible documents from King Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, the latter bearing the remarkable Royal Great Seal, also known as the Seal of the Realm.
