LIBRI (Count Guglielmo Bruto). Catalogue of the Extraordinary Collection of Splendid Manuscripts, Chiefly upon Vellum... Which will be Sold by Auction, by Messers. S. Leigh Sotheby & John Wilkinson, on Monday, 28th of March, 1859. 4to (252 x 174 mm), [2], xlviii, [2], 260pp., 37 lithograph plates (3 folding), 1190 lots. [Sold with:] Catalogue of the Choicer Portion of the Magnificent Library... Which will be Sold by Auction, by Messers. S. Leigh Sotheby & John Wilkinson, on Monday, 1st of August, 1859. 4to (252 x 174 mm), xx, 380pp., 2824 lots. [Sold with:] Catalogue of the Mathematical, Historical, Bibliographical and Miscellaneous Portion of the Celebrated Library... Part the First, A-L. [-Part the Second, M-Z.] Which will be Sold by Auction, by Messers. S. Leigh Sotheby & John Wilkinson, on Thursday, the 25th of April, 1861 [Thursday, the 18th July, 1861]. 2 vols., 4to (252 x 174 mm), xxxi, [1], 475, [1]; [4], 477-799, [1]pp., 4 plates, 7628 lots. [Sold with:] Catalogue of the Reserved and Most Valuable Portion of the Libri Collection... Which will be Sold by Auction, by Messers. S. Leigh Sotheby & John Wilkinson, on Friday, the 25th July, 1862. 4to (252 x 174 mm), [4], 185, [1]pp., 713 lots. [Sold with:] Catalogue of the Magnificent Collection of Precious Manuscripts and Objects of Art and Vertu, of M. Guglielmo Libri... Which will be Sold by Auction by Messrs. Sotheby, Wilkinson, & Hodge, on Wednesday, June 1, 1864. 4to (252 x 174 mm), [2], 44pp., 15 plates (one folding), 153 lots. [Bound with:] Catalogue of a Valuable Collection of Patristic & other Manuscripts on Vellum. Which will be Sold by Auction, by Messrs. Sotheby, Wilkinson, & Hodge, on Wednesday, the 1st of June, 1864. Immediately after the sale of the Libri Collection of Manuscripts and Objects of Art. 4to (252 x 174 mm), 35pp., lots 154-188.1859

London: Printed by J. Davy and Sons, 7 Vols., bound in 6, vol. I with a presentation inscription for Count Libri to Sir Henry Ellis (1777-1869) librarian to the British Museum, uniformly bound in contemporary half calf, marbled boards, spines ruled in gilt with leather lettering pieces, a very nice set. Libri, 1803-69, was as infamous for his thefts of books and manuscripts as he was renowned for his work as bibliophile, mathematician, and director of the state libraries of France. Immediately after his appointment as secretary of a commission to make an inventory of the manuscripts in the French public libraries, he began to "collect". In 1850 the French courts sentenced Libri, in his absence, to ten years in prison for his thefts. He never returned to France, but moved to England were he disposed of his large library. Léopold Delisle proved that Libri had in fact stolen many of the books contained in these catalogues, and in 1888 the French government requested that the books and manuscripts which Libri had stolen, and the sold, be made available for them to buy back. "The catalogues were drawn up in a charlatanesque style with which English bibliophiles were quite unfamiliar and the success of these sales was far from brilliant. They contain, however, a large number of valuable books and manuscripts and, if used with some caution, will always be found of use to the bibliographer... The biggest buyer of manuscripts at the Libri sales was Sir Thomas Phillipps."—De Ricci. De Ricci, pp. 131-38.