Bibliotheca Sunderlandiana. Sale catalogue of the [...] library of printed books known as the Sunderland or Blenheim Library [...]. The first [- fifth] portion [...].

2 vol., lge 8vo: viii-1058 pp. (some very minor soiling, fore-edges sl. foxed).

Contemp. half morocco (sl. rubbed and tanned). Very good copy.

The sale of the massive library of Charles Spencer, third earl of Sunderland (1674-1722), comprising 13,858 lots in the first five portions, plus another 186 lots in the final two supplemental sales. Quaritch accounted for over half of the total in terms of prices realized. The collection, dispersed by the 7th Duke of Marlborough, was strong in incunabula (many on vellum), Bibles, the first editions of the classics and fifteenth and sixteenth-century continental literature. Copy with the rare "List of prices and purchasers' names" (cxlv [= 145] pp.), and "Catalogue of [...] books returned imperfect" (pp. 1043-1058).
Ref. De Ricci (English Collectors) 38-40. - Blogie III:37-39. - Vandenhole 5039 (and 5111, 5159, 5182, 5237).