A COMPLETE SET OF LA COLLECTION SPITZER, 1890-1892
LA COLLECTION SPITZER. ANTIQUITE - MOYEN AGE - RENAISSANCE, vol. I-VI of VI (Paris: La Maison Quantin, 1890-1892). Folio (510 x 380 mm). Edition 468 of 600. Text in French. Illustrated profusely with 342 chromolithograph and heliogravure plates (some heightened in gold) and numerous illustrations in the text; with printed tissue guards.

LOT NOTES
When Friedrich Spitzer passed away in 1890, an auction of his collection, comprised of antiques, artwork, medieval and Renaissance art, and arms, was held in 1893, for which the present volumes were published. The sale took place over 38 days, and netted nearly 10,000,000 Francs, or approximately $60 million in today's dollars. This catalog itself was priced at 1,200 Francs. Many of Spitzer's works are in the major museums of the world, and while later scholars would dispute the authenticity of some of his collection, the prevailing viewpoint of the Spitzer collection, as summed up in an entry in The Collector journal of 1890, was "The Spitzer collection has, in the estimation of connoisseurs and amateurs, at least, long been the eighth wonder of the world."