The most recent chapter in the history of this copy of Don Quixote begins in London nearly a century ago, at Maggs, bookseller to the Kings. At the beginning of the 1930s, a young man, already a passionate collector, but unknown to booksellers at the time, walked through the door of the shop for the first time and asked to buy the large copies of Don Quixote. He left empty-handed and was put on a waiting list.
A few years later, the telephone will ring at the Parisian mansion of Jorge Ortiz Linares, at 34 avenue Foch. It was the same voice from Maggs: “We have a copy for you, sir.” Ortiz flew across the English Channel and returned to Maggs to purchase these books on December 21, 1936. One of the greatest book collections of the 20th century was born. (The books had recently arrived at Maggs from the estate of Escrick in Yorkshire, their home for 150 years, since they were acquired by landowner Beilby Thompson (1742-1799), an avid book collector and MP of Yorkshire.)
Ortiz was the Bolivian ambassador in Paris, a suitable owner for Don Quixote, a book so deeply rooted in the history of the “New World”. He was the son-in-law of Simón Patiño, also known as “The Tin King” or “The Andean Rockefeller”, and one of the richest men in the world of the 20th century. The apartment he shared with his wife Graciella Patiño at 34 avenue Foch during his long tenure as ambassador became one of the centers of artistic and social life. He passionately collected rare books and manuscripts from an early age, focusing on two areas: his native Spanish-American world and French literature, building over time one of the great libraries of the time.
The legacy of Don Quixote
The first part of Don Quixote was printed in 1605, and was mainly sent to the “New World” under the instructions of Cervantes himself. As was not unusual at the time, most were lost at sea in a shipwreck near Havana, but about 70 examples reached Lima, from where they were sent to Cuzco in the heart of the Andes and to the Inca Empire lost.
Like many writers of his time, Cervantes was fascinated by stories of Europeans arriving in the Americas, and even asked to settle there himself at some point. As Spain colonized the region politically and economically, “the New World” colonized Spain in imaginative ways. In Don Quixote we see a clear symmetry between the postural figure of Don Quixote traveling through Spain on horseback and the conquistadors invading the Americas.
Sotheby’s Sale
From the collection of Jorge Ortiz Linares, Sotheby’s offers among the most desirable copies of Book One and Book Two of Don Quixote:
For the first book: Ortiz purchased a copy of the Madrid-based third edition, published by Juan de la Cuesta in 1608, the large and final edition revised by Cervantes himself. While the first edition of the 1605 edition was riddled with errors, the 1608 edition is considered the definitive edition of the author’s work.
For Book Two: Ortiz unearthed the original and very rare first edition which appeared in 1615, and which was to become an even greater success for Cervantes.
Both had been uniformly bound in England at the end of the 17th century for one of the great aficionados of the time, and they will be offered with an estimate of €400,000 to €600,000.
On that same day at Maggs in 1936, Ortiz also purchased the very rare first edition of Novels by Cervantes of 1613, intended for Jérôme II Bignon (1627-1697), Grand Master of the King’s Library.
Together with Don Quixote, more than eighty books from Ortiz’s magnificent library will be offered in a dedicated sale at Sotheby’s Paris on December 14, with a particular focus on books from the French Grand Siècle – featuring rare literature with magnificent editions of Corneille, Descartes, Pascal, Racine, Molière and La Rochefoucauld. The shadow of two of the greatest booksellers of the 20th century hovers behind this collection: Maggs of London for Hispanic books, and the unforgettable Pierre Berès, of whom Jorge Ortiz Linares was one of the most loyal customers.
The content of the sale will first be presented in the Sotheby’s galleries in New York (22-27 October), Madrid (7-8 November) and London (25-30 November), before their exhibition in Paris (10-13 December ) .