Buchinger, Matthias | The first original work by Buchinger to be acquired by Ricky Jay

Buchinger, Matthias
Fine autograph micro-calligraphic Ten Commandments, with the Apostles' Creed and the Lord's Prayer signed ("Mathew Buchinger")

Manuscript on vellum (126 x 100 mm), Bath, 1717. Light, mostly marginal, soiling, wrinkle at bottom margin reinforced on verso, short tear at left margin, upper left corner lost.

Written in Bath shortly after his move from France to Britain in 1717, this manuscript was the first original work of Buchinger acquired by Ricky Jay. After some negotiation, Jay purchased it in 1982 from Milbourne Christopher, a magician and collector from Baltimore, who, through his book Panorama of Magic (1962), first introduced "The Little Man of Nuremberg" to the man who would become the foremost collector and champion of Buchinger's work. Jay later described the manuscript: "The Ten Commandments were calligraphed within an elaborate altar with architectural columns, six small cherubs, and a marvelous micrographic rendition of the Lord's Prayer and the Apostles' Creed" in the form of a chalice" (MB, p. 7).

The Bath manuscript features a blank cartouche, indicating that it was probably taken in its present form to a fair or exhibition where Buchinger could have personalized the empty panel for a patron.

REFERENCE:
Exemplars, p. 65; MB, figs. 2, 44; Wordplay 55

Condition Report:
Condition as described in catalogue entry.

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