Turner Auctions + Appraisals is pleased to present the Holbrook T. Mitchell Collection of Books & Manuscripts on January 29, 2022. From the estate of a Northern California collector, the auction features 85 lots of antique or vintage written works in various languages from the 14th-20th centuries. Themes include art, antiquities, history, geography, travel and foreign countries, literature, poems, and more. Highlights include an illuminated 19th-century Persian Qu’ran (Koran) in Arabic; a book from the library of Marie Louise, the second wife of Napoleon; Cook's Voyages Around the World by G. W. Anderson, 1781; 11 Egyptian papyrus fragments, likely all from a single leaf; and a first edition of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from 1885.

Of particular note in this auction is the Book of Hours (Horae), an illuminated manuscript in Latin from the 15th-16th centuries. Popular in the Middle Ages and usually produced by scribes in monasteries, books of hours were created to assist the daily devotions of Christian monks, nuns, and laymen. They contained sets of prayers, usually in Latin, which were to be recited during the eight canonical hours. These books, each unique, were often designed to be visually appealing, with leading artists paid by wealthy patrons to create opulent illustrations that encouraged reflection and piety.