05/18/2025
Today I am like Dean Corso the unscrupulous bookseller/book scout played by Johnny Depp in "The Ninth Gate" (1999)! Well I am not unethical but I have acquired a set of the so-called "Ibarra Don Quixote" printed in 1780. I learned about this edition-set around 2010 after having seen this movie on DVD.
Before we get to the film connection, a little bit of background. The Ibarra Don Quixote is one of the most famous illustrated editions of Don Quixote ever produced. Some bibliophiles and book scholars argue it's the best ever. The printer Joaquín Ibarra hired some of the best artist-engravers working in Madrid in the late 18th century. He created a wonderful four-volume quarto set of The Adventures of Don Quixote by Cervantes with 31 engravings. It is probably one of about a dozen or so of the most famous lavishly illustrated editions of high literature of the 18th century. (The 1745 Albrizzi Gerusalemme liberata by Tasso is another.)
Back to the film. Dean Corso being the quintessential sleazy book trader, appraises a book collection owned by a vegetative older gentleman. We guess that the younger middle-aged man and woman in the scene are his offspring who know nothing about antiquarian books and therefore nothing about his collection.
Corso plays the old hi-ball/lo-ball trick. He overpraises most of the collection claiming it's worth about $600,000. (Later, a book colleague says the collection was worth about half Corso's appraisal.) But then Corso singles out a set of books which he claims aren't particularly valuable, hence the "lo-ball" part of the trick. He offers then $4000 cash for the set which they accept.
The hitch: it's an Ibarra Don Quixote set! At the time and even now, sets tend to be priced at $20,000+ but can go for a bit less at auction. We see a closeup of the old man and his face appears to be grimacing and clenching his hand! He knows the offer for the set is terrible but he can't do anything about it.
