deTolnay, Charles (Buonarotti, Michelangelo; Kurz, Otto)

Michelangelo (Volumes I-III) with: Ephemera

Princeton, NJ, USA: Princeton University Press, 1947; 1945; 1948. Second Edition; First Edition; First Edition. Hardcovers. Hungarian art historian and Michelangelo expert Charles de Tolnay (1899-1981) immigrated to the United States in 1939, working as a member of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, NJ, until 1948 followed by a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Bollingen Fellowship until he became a professor at Columbia University. The final volume of his Michelangelo epic was published in 1960. German-Jewish art historian Erwin Panofsky, a contemporary of de Tolnay, called him "one of the most brilliant art historians" of his time. He retired in 1965 to become director of the Casa Buonarotti in Florence, Italy, the birthplace of the subject of his obsession. Michelangelo [di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni] (1475-1564) was a master Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance most famous for the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling and the statue of David. Michelangelo I. Youth was first published in 1943 followed by the second revised edition in 1947. The production of volume two must have raised a concern about some aspect of volume one leading to the revision. Youth provides an overview of Michelangelo’s early years up to 1508 when he returned to Rome at the request of Julius II to begin work on the Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo II. The Sistine Ceiling covers 1508 to 1512, diving deeply into the chapel architecture, the fresco design, and the execution of one of the most impressive artistic feats of all time. Michelangelo III. The Medici Chapel covers 1512 to 1534 while the Medici Family recruited Michelangelo as the artist to adorn the Church of San Lorenzo as it became the family’s mausoleum. The final two volumes IV. The Tomb of Julius II (1954) and V. The Final Period: Last Judgement, Frescoes of the Pauline Chapel, Last Pietas (1961) are not included here. The three volumes offered are from the library of Otto Kurz (1908-1975), a British historian and Slade Professor of Fine Arts at the University of Oxford, providing significant provenance. We have found and retained drafts of Kurz’s reviews of volumes one and two as well as clippings of the printed versions of his reviews from Burlington Magazine of all three volumes. At least once, Charles de Tolnay replied to Kurz’s review in the form of a letter to the editor some months later, a clipping of which is pasted to the inside front cover of volume one. Biographer Ernst Gombrich (1909-2001) summarizes Kurz as follows: “Otto Kurz had become a legend in his lifetime as a polymath, a wit and a scholarly oracle always willing to be consulted.” This set of these three volumes with one-of-a-kind ephemera included makes this uniquely collectible. Hardcovers without dust jackets, as issued: [1] “Second Edition, Revised, 1947,” as stated on copyright page, first printing, though not explicated as such thereon. Book is in Near Fine condition with minor bumping to the edges and corners of front, back covers & spine; minor scuffing, rubbing to same; moderate tearing to the paste down of front cover along gutter; Charles de Tolnay’s response to Kurz’s review of this volume is pasted inside the front cover; a draft of said review and a print copy are also included loosely; [2] First Edition, as indicated by reference to American Council of Learned Societies grant, first printing, though not explicated as such thereon. Book is in Fine condition with minor bumping to the edges and corners of front, back covers & spine; minor scuffing, rubbing to same. A draft of Kurz’s review of this volume is included loosely, along with a pamphlet from the Victoria and Albert Museum for the exhibit of Michelangelo’s “The Taddei Tondo” and an article from an April 2012 issue of The Wall Street Journal by James Hall entitled “Unfinished Business” about the “The Taddei Tondo”; [3] First Edition, as indicated by reference to American Council of Learned Societies grant, first printing, though not explicated as such thereon. Book is in Fine condition with very minor bumping to edges and corners of front, back covers & spine; moderate tearing along the gutter at pages 4/5; a print copy of Kurz’s review of this volume is included loosely. Each volume has Kurz's signature in pencil at the top right corner of first front endpaper along with, possibly, a cataloging code: “Otto Kurz / 110-B.” An extra handling fee will be added for shipping due to the size and weight of this item. Near Fine; Fine; Fine. [Item #6522]

Price: $150.00