In 1643, the first work in Romanian, “Carte romaneasca de uțățătura”, was published in Iași, and almost 400 years later, on November 17, 2022, it was put up for auction at a starting price of 5,000 euros in an event dedicated to books and collected manuscripts.

“Cazania lui Varlaam”, known only in a few copies, an extremely rare appearance on the Romanian book market, is a landmark of Romanian civilization and, at the same time, a work of art. The edition of the princeps was edited by Metropolitan Varlaam and printed in the royal printing house of the “Three Hierarchy” monastery during the reign of Vasile Lupu. Varlaam’s Cauldron, a masterpiece of medieval Romanian culture, reprinted in countless editions since the era, is one of the most read books of our past, and today it is considered a museum exhibit, a collector’s item.

100 years after the appearance of the first book written in Romanian, Antim Ivirianul, printer and Metropolitan of Constantine Brankovianu, canonized by the Orthodox Church in 1992, translated and printed two important books for Romanian culture and history. The New Testament of 1703 has a starting price of €1,000 and is an extremely rare work, complete and in a very good state of preservation. The “Romanian clock mechanism” of 1715 is also up for auction at a starting price of 1,000 euros.

The November 17th event brings together the largest collection of LPs and LPs ever to be auctioned. In 1634, on February 20, during the reign of Matej Basarab, a certificate was issued in the office of the ruler of Wallachia, which at the auction of rare books, old maps and manuscripts from important collections has a starting price of 1,500 euros. A rare collector’s item attesting to the sale of estates in Caineşti and Meneileşti, written in Romanian, Cyrillic and Slavic alphabets and containing the middle seal of the chancery. At the same time, a certificate issued in the office of the ruler of Wallachia, Konstantin Brankovianu, is being sold at a starting price of 1,000 euros. The extremely rare document was issued in 1703, October 15, and on the basis of books and records of inheritance, determines the control of Dančul Čoflanescul over parts of the estate in the villages of Rusatestii, Mihestii de Sous and de Jos and Zanoaga.

The auction offers collectors access to the premiere on the Romanian book market – The Prophecies (of Nostradamus) by Michel de Nostradamus. The volume of the collection was written in French in 1568 in Lyon, and at the auction its starting price is only 300 euros. The November 17 auction will also bring together an impressive selection of rare 1700s maps or collectible maps depicting important historical events.

The traditional book auction, organized by the auction house A10 by Artmark, offers bibliophiles access to a special selection of rare books that bear the holographic signatures of famous Romanian writers, such as Emil Cioran – the princeps edition of the volume “On Failure to Be Born”, whose starting price is only 100 euros, as well as a manuscript with philosophical reflections on Napoleon with a starting price of 400 euros. The volume On Magical Thinking, signed by Lucian Blaga, has a starting price of €150, while The Bald Singer, holographically signed by the famous Eugene Ionescu, has a starting price of €200.

Exhibits from the “Rare Book Auction, Old Maps and Manuscripts from Important Collections (Dan Nasta, Sascha Pana, George Macovescu, Vania Gerginescu)” make up a miniature museum in Cesianu-Rakovice Palace for bibliophiles and investors in history, as well as for everyone and those who who is looking for museum and collectible items. The 219 exhibits are on display until November 17 and can be admired for free from Monday to Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Exhibition of rare books in the Česianu-Rakovice Palace

Article supported by A10 by Artmark