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Californian winemaker Sean Thackrey has sold his collection of more than 700 historical wine books and manuscripts for two million dollars at the New York Antiquarian Book Fair. The extensive library includes scripts and documents dating back to the 6th century and is one of the world's largest private collections of wine texts. Sean Thackrey had consulted his collection for decades as a guide to growing grapes and making wine.
"Any institution that acquires this library would distinguish itself as one of the most important places in the world for the study of wine history," Sonoma-based antiquarian Ben Kinmont told Wine Spectator magazine. Kinmont has been working with Thackrey to curate and sell the library. It is of immense importance, he said, because it contains so many books printed before the 1600s. The oldest document in the Thackrey Library is a 6th century papyrus receipt for vines. Among the 50 or so pieces Kinmont has on display at the fair are a 14th century illuminated leaf showing a man stomping grapes, a 15th century edition of Arnaldus de Villanova's De Vinis and several 16th century manuscripts.
( ru / Source: Wine Spectator; Photo: Ben Kinmont Bookseller)