Details
[MENDEL, Gregor (1822-1884)]. A collection of documents relating to Mendel, comprising:
Two inventories of Mendel's possessions at his death, n.p. [Brno], n.d. [1884]: 'Inventory of the money in banknotes and silver to hand at the decease of the prelate Gregor Mendel, as well as precious objects and other items in silver', the cash amounting to more than 5200 fl., 3 pages, folio, blanks; and a further inventory listing the furnishings in the 'grossen Prelatur', mostly beds and linen, 4 pages, folio, blanks (yellowed);
Two documents relating to the library of the Augustinian monastery at Brno, the first an autograph document signed by Matthaeus Klacel, Procurator, 8 August 1867, describing the piecemeal growth of the library and estimating its value at 4500 fl., the second by Wenzel Sembera, the librarian, 30 August 1867, describing the layout of the library, and estimating its value at 1800 fl., with a postscript noting the much higher estimate by the imperial and royal commission, together two pages, folio;
Letter to Mendel, 23 July 1882, from an elderly widow in Odrau, asking for financial assistance; with envelope, addressed to 'August [sic] Mendel';
Printed obituary notice for Mendel's mentor and predecessor as abbot in Brno, Cyrill Napp, with a related printed document.
Gregor Mendel entered the Augustinian monastery at Brno on 9 October 1843, more as a matter of practical necessity after his failure to establish himself as a private tutor than out of any sense of vocation. It was to prove, however, the ideal environment for his development, a centre of learning and scientific endeavour, already possessing, under its englightened abbot, F.C. Napp, an experimental garden in which heredity was studied. The monastery was eventually to sponsor virtually the whole of Mendel's scientific education, and provided the facilities for his now-famous series of experiments on plant hybridisation in the monastery's garden. Mendel was elected abbot in 1868: the two documents here describing the extent of the monastery library at this time provide an important picture of the intellectual resources available to the monks. Owing to the complete obscurity in which he died, manuscript material relating to Mendel's life appears very rarely at auction, and the inventories of his personal possessions offered here cast an extraordinarily personal light on this lonely, unrecognised genius. (8)
Two inventories of Mendel's possessions at his death, n.p. [Brno], n.d. [1884]: 'Inventory of the money in banknotes and silver to hand at the decease of the prelate Gregor Mendel, as well as precious objects and other items in silver', the cash amounting to more than 5200 fl., 3 pages, folio, blanks; and a further inventory listing the furnishings in the 'grossen Prelatur', mostly beds and linen, 4 pages, folio, blanks (yellowed);
Two documents relating to the library of the Augustinian monastery at Brno, the first an autograph document signed by Matthaeus Klacel, Procurator, 8 August 1867, describing the piecemeal growth of the library and estimating its value at 4500 fl., the second by Wenzel Sembera, the librarian, 30 August 1867, describing the layout of the library, and estimating its value at 1800 fl., with a postscript noting the much higher estimate by the imperial and royal commission, together two pages, folio;
Letter to Mendel, 23 July 1882, from an elderly widow in Odrau, asking for financial assistance; with envelope, addressed to 'August [sic] Mendel';
Printed obituary notice for Mendel's mentor and predecessor as abbot in Brno, Cyrill Napp, with a related printed document.
Gregor Mendel entered the Augustinian monastery at Brno on 9 October 1843, more as a matter of practical necessity after his failure to establish himself as a private tutor than out of any sense of vocation. It was to prove, however, the ideal environment for his development, a centre of learning and scientific endeavour, already possessing, under its englightened abbot, F.C. Napp, an experimental garden in which heredity was studied. The monastery was eventually to sponsor virtually the whole of Mendel's scientific education, and provided the facilities for his now-famous series of experiments on plant hybridisation in the monastery's garden. Mendel was elected abbot in 1868: the two documents here describing the extent of the monastery library at this time provide an important picture of the intellectual resources available to the monks. Owing to the complete obscurity in which he died, manuscript material relating to Mendel's life appears very rarely at auction, and the inventories of his personal possessions offered here cast an extraordinarily personal light on this lonely, unrecognised genius. (8)
Special notice
Buyers from within the EU:
VAT payable at 17.5% on just the buyer's premium (NOT the hammer price)
Buyers from outside the EU:
VAT payable at 17.5% on hammer price and buyer's premium. If a buyer, having registered under a non-EU address, decides that an item is not to be exported from the EU, then he/she should advise Christie's to this effect immediately.