Description
From the library of Barbara Walters, the limited edition of The Codex Leicester, presented by The Fine Arts Committee for the Presidential Inaugural 1981.
Octavo, 175pp, [5]. Maroon hardcover, title printed in black on cover. Heavily illustrated with hundreds of color photographs. Illustrated endpapers. Printed by White Brothers of Langley Lane, London. Printed statement by Ronald Reagan affixed to the title page. In the publisher’s dust jacket, light soiling to rear panel, a bright example.
The Codex of Leicester was named after Thomas Coke, the Earl of Leicester, who acquired it in 1719. The codex changed hands several times before being purchased by industrialist Armand Hammer in 1980 at Christie’s for $5.2 Million dollars. Hammer, a prominent art collector and philanthropist, renamed it the “Codex Hammer” during his ownership. After his death, the manuscript was sold at auction in 1994 to Bill Gates, who restored its original name and digitized its contents for wider access.
This copy includes auction tags from the Barbara Walters Estate Sale. Millea Brothers, May 2024, Lot 1303.
