Charlotte Du Rietz - Discussing Catalogue 56
Charlotte Du Rietz Rare Books, based in Stockholm, Sweden is well-known among antiquarian booksellers. Charlotte specialises in books on Voyages & Travels, Exploration and Linguistics, with a primary emphasis on Asia and Africa, as well as Asian and international illustrated books on fashion, design and textiles.
Charlotte's family has been involved in the rare books trade since the late fifties, when the late Richard Du Rietz acquired Thulins Antikvariat in Stockholm. After an initial period working at Thulins, Charlotte started Antikvariat Bokkultur and in 1995 moved to London where she traded as Charlotte Du Rietz Rare Books until she moved the company to Stockholm in December 2002.
Her latest catalogue - Catalogue 56 - is an excellent example of her special expertise, and we have picked out a few items to ask her about.
Frederika Bremer's Dagbok (diary) sounds absolutely fascinating - tell us a little bit about her five-year journey around Europe and the Middle East in the mid-19th-Century. Has she been a big name in Swedish literature and the women's movement or has she had a recent 'revival'?
Fredrika Bremer (1801-65) published a large number of novels and travelogues and introduced the modern novel to Sweden. She also received much international attention at the time and is often considered to be the Swedish answer to Jane Austen.
Her main concern was the issue of women’s rights. Especially at home but also abroad. Her work had a huge impact on Swedish international suffrage campaigns and feminist ideology.
She made two long journeys; the first to America 1850-1 where she travelled extensively, and from there to Spanish Cuba. Mainly concerned about social and political questions. Her travel books from this trip are considered by Americans to be among the most important by a foreigner of this period.
The book in my catalogue deals with her second journey to the ”old world”. She was away for five years and visited Switzerland where she wanted to explore the ”free church”, before going to Rome to meet the Pope. Frederika then continued to the Holy Land where she visited many famous sites, and in Constantinople (Istanbul) she visited the old harem and the Topkapi Palace before going on to Greece where she spent several years before returning home at the age of 60. Written as a diary, she vividly describes people and landscapes with much about religion, art, and social conditions.
The wonderful puzzle of the world by William Peel & Co caught my eye - it must be so rare to find an educational puzzle that's 150 years old and in such good condition, perhaps its original owner wasn't a big fan of geography, but please do tell us a bit more about how you came across it.
This series of Peacock Puzzles were introduced in the 1850s. I think it’s pretty rare to find complete ones nowadays. Our set has two pieces made at a later date, nicely done, and I think it shows that the puzzle meant a lot to the owner. It used to belong to a private person here in Sweden who acquired it in the 1990s from a collector in England (in this state).
I spotted the image of the Hungarian Folklore book on your website - it seems that this book was one man's life project, please tell us what you found out about Istvan Györffy.
Istvan Györffy (1884-1939) spent twenty years writing this monograph on the special Hungarian Shepherd’s Cloak called Cifraszûr, a very special kind of clothing only to be found in Hungary. Györffy became acquainted with this coat during his childhood. He collected many pieces during his travels, now kept at the National Museum in Budapest. His monograph describes the historical material, technical tricks, the way of ornamentation, etc. Also the different styles depending on area. The illustrations depict various ornaments and styles, and there are numerous photo reproductions of Hungarian shepherds wearing this special garment.
Györffy was the first professor of Hungarian ethnography at the University of Budapest.
Please tell us a little more about the collection of books from the library of the Swedish-born orientalist and art historian Carl Johan Lamm. It must be a bit of a coup to get that - what is your favourite item and what surprised you most?
Yes, I was very happy to be able to buy the whole collection. The books belonged to Carl Johan himself or his parents. Someone from the family sold the collection.
His main work (31) is still the most important work on Islamic glassware. I loved this particular copy because it contained original small watercolour illustrations (of glassware housed at the Ashmolean Museum) most likely made by himself. It makes this copy very special.
Another colourful inclusion in the catalogue is the beautiful manuscript by the Japanese artist Seika - can you please tell us a little bit more about what you believe the background to this manuscript is.
We don’t know much about the artist Seika. Only know his name and we believe he belonged to an Ikenobo school. Manuscripts with illustrations of flower arrangements are not so uncommon but many of them are not complete and the quality of the illustrations varies.
This version of ikebana drawings are taken from a famous work named “Shinsen Heikazu” which was issued in 1698. It’s still used by the Ikenobo school of flower arranging.
Ikebana is one of three classical Japanese art forms, together with tea ceremony and incense appreciation. This is a lovely copy.
Last but not least, I was fascinated to see the illustration of the Ottoman Public Library, but please share some of the life story of the man behind the folio, D'Ohsson, and the folio's provenance with us. It must be one of the most important works in your catalogue.
Ignatius Mouradgea D’Ohsson (1740-1807) was born into an Armenian catholic family in Pera (part of Constantinople, today Istanbul). He was gifted in languages and served as a dragoman at the Swedish embassy in the Ottoman Porte. From an early age he became interested in the Ottoman history and spent twenty years working on this monumental work, Tableau General de L’empire Othoman. He finalised it when he lived in Paris (1784-91). He was ennobled by the Swedish King Gustav III and became D’Ohsson.
It’s a lovely book with the most wonderful engravings.
The provenance for this is also really interesting as it belonged to D’Ohsson’s granddaughter Amelie who was married to the Spanish diplomat José Moreno Landaburo Daoiz who used to own these first two volumes with his signature on front paste downs.
View Charlotte Du Rietz's Catalogue 56 >
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