A unique book dating from the 1520’s and lost for over two centuries will be sold in July by the Edinburgh auction house of Lyon and Turnbull. The Codex Stosch is a series of twenty-three folios of early 16th century drawings of Roman architecture which were bound together during the middle of the eighteenth century. There was no record of the Codex’s whereabouts from then until its recent discovery at Pallinsburn House in Northumberland.

“This is an incredibly exciting find,” said Dr. Sebastian Pryke, an auctioneer and specialist at Lyon and Turnbull. “The book was last recorded in the 18th century in the library of Baron Philip de Stosch, a celebrated collector who was also an English spy who reported on the whereabouts of the Old Pretender in Rome. His library was sold in 1764 with most of the architectural drawings ending up in the Albertina, the drawings collection of the Vienna State Museum. The Codex, however, was not included in the sale and disappeared for over two hundred years only to resurface in the library at Pallinsburn House.”

The Codex is named after its first known owner, Philipp von Stosch, who died in 1757. A 1762 reference attributed the folios to Raphael, claiming they were plans for the reconstruction of Rome as proposed in his letter to Pope Leo X. In actual fact, they are believed to be the work of Giovanni Battista da Sangallo (1496-1548) as they strongly resemble his illustrations for a first edition of Vitruvius, currently held in Rome’s Biblioteca Corsiniana.

The Codex Stosch (Sale 125 Lot 1) is scheduled to be auctioned July 1. See: www.lyonandturnbull.com.