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68 etched and engraved plates containing 554 plans
Giambattista Morandi. Historia botanica practica; sev, Plantarum, quae ad usum medicinae pertinent, nomenclatura descriptio, et virtutes, cum ab antiquis, tum a recentibus celebrium auctorum scriptis desumptae, ac aeneis tabulis delineatae, atque ad vivum ex prototypo expressae, nec non in classes XXV. distributae. (Milan) Mediolani, Apud J. Galeatium, 1761. with engraved added title page: Historia botanico-practica stirpium, atque herbarum, quae ad usum medicinae pertinent. LARGE FOLIO. 42 cm., [12], 32, 164, [1] p. lxviii plates.; 2 initials and 68 plates, all by Morandi . Contemporary Italian mottled calf gilt, spine in seven compartments with raised bands, red morocco label, loss to one spine compartment, some toning, foxing, occasional minor dampstaining, but overall A VERY GOOD AND COMPLETE COPY. [SOLD]
“A CHARMINGLY ILLUSTRATED WORK ON THE PLANTS THAT WERE THEN CONSIDERED TO BE OF USE IN MEDICINE. A second edition was published in 1761.” (Ref: Christies) “Morandi was a botanical artist at the Castello Valentino under Victor Amadeus II of Savoy. The Historia contains 68 etched and engraved plates on which 554 plants are figured.” [Ref: Herbals at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln]
WITH TITIAN’S FAMOUS DEVICE OF A BEAR LICKING HER CUBS
SIXTY-FOUR (64) beautiful and enigmatic emblematic plates
PITTONI, BATTISTA (1520-1583) and LODOVICO DOLCE (1508-1659.) Imprese nobili et ingeniose di diversi Principi et d’ altre personaggi illustri nell’ arme et nelle lettere : con le diciarationi in versi Venetia, 1578. 4to., 27 cm., wide margined and handsome copy. 18th century Italian boards and vellum., 122 p. : ill engraved title, engraved dedication & 64 emblematic plates, 2 plates with crude early repairs touching emblems with loss, 1 plate with hairline tear with no loss in emblem, some toning throughout as usual, spotting, and minor staining. The work includes a depiction of Titian’s famous device of a bear licking her cubs (see photos below). Fine impressions of the plates. COMPLETE AND VERY RARE. [SOLD]
These are the emblems and devices used by historical and distinguished personages in the sixteenth century, within rich ornamental borders ; all probably engraved by Girolamo Porro (c. 1520 – after 1604), the highly regarded Italian engraver. Lines of verse by Dolce are engraved at foot of each. [Ref: 1. French, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese books of devices and emblems, 1534-1827: a bibliography, by John Landwehr, Utrecht, Haentjens Dekker & Gumbert, 1976; 2. Rosand, David . “Titian and the Critical Tradition,” in Titian: His World and His Legacy, ed. pg. 16, 36; note 16; 3. Quaritch, B. A catalogue of fifteen hundred books remarkable for the beauty or the age…, 1889, item 1225]
RARE UNFINISHED UNDERDRAWINGS IN PREPARATION FOR LARGE ILLUMINATED INITIALS
Scotus, Johns Duns. Quaestiones in quattuor libros Sententiarum. Nuremberg, Anton Koberger, 1481. Part III and IV in 1 volume. FOLIO, 347 mm. [58], [140] lvs. Parts COMPLETE including initial and final blanks. Edited by Thomas Penketh and Bartholomaeus Bellatus. Commentary on Petrus Lombardus’ Sententiarum libri quattuor. Ref: Brit. Mus. Cat. (XV cent.) II, p. 419, Goff. Third census, D-380. Later 19th century boards with wear to hinges. Internally, except for some minor marginal worming, a remarkably FRESH COPY; handsomely rubricated in red throughout. Large penwork initial in fictive frame for each part, in a rare unfinished state, drawn in preparation for illumination.
The unfinished initials, present here as underdrawings, are highly interesting and serve as fine and rare examples of the early process of medieval illumination. A master artisan was responsible for the layout of the composition prior to the application of gold. As can be seen in these examples, a metal point, especially a leadpoint, or diluted ink was generally used.
“Anton Koberger (was the godfather of Albrecht Dürer, whose family lived on the same street. In the year before Dürer’s birth in 1471 he ceased goldsmithing to become a printer and publisher. He quickly became the most successful publisher in Germany, absorbing his rivals over the years to become a large capitalist enterprise, with twenty-four presses in operation, printing numerous works simultaneously and employing at its height 100 workers:[3] printers, typesetters, typefounders, illuminators, and the like. Constantly improving his business prospects, he sent out traveling agents and established links with booksellers all over Western Europe, including Venice, Europe’s other great centre of printing, Milan, Paris, Lyon, Vienna and Budapest. At the supply end, he obtained two papermills” [Wikipedia]
“John (Johannes) Duns Scotus, O.F.M. (c. 1265 – 8 November 1308) was one of the more important theologians and philosophers of the High Middle Ages. He was nicknamed Doctor Subtilis for his penetrating and subtle manner of thought.Scotus has had considerable influence on Catholic thought. The doctrines for which he is best known are the “univocity of being,” that existence is the most abstract concept we have, applicable to everything that exists; the formal distinction, a way of distinguishing between different aspects of the same thing; and the idea of haecceity, the property supposed to be in each individual thing that makes it an individual. Scotus also developed a complex argument for the existence of God, and argued scripturally for the Immaculate conception of Mary.
Scotus is considered one of the most important Franciscan theologians and was the founder of Scotism, a special form of Scholasticism.” [Wikipedia]
[16th Century Mining and Metallurgy.] [Ordinances and Statues] [Maximilian II (31 July 1527 – 12 October 1576) ] [Ferdinand I (10 March 1503 – 25 July 1564)] 1. Abschiedt der Römischen Kayserlichen Majestat, und gemeiner Stände auff dem Reichstag zu Speyr, Anno MDLXX auffgerichtet. Gedruckt in der Churfürstlichen Stat, Meintz : durch Franciscum Behem, 1571. [2; (of 4)]; 103 lvs.., lacking t.p.;. BOUND WITH… 2. [L. Fronsperger, Baron von Mindelheim]. Besatzung. Ein kurtzer bericht, wie Stätt, Schlösser oder Flecken mit kriegs volck soll besetzt sein, dass sie sich für dem Feinde erhalten mögen. Mit einer ausstheylung, was einem Menschen einen jeden tag an Brot und Fleysch, dergleichen was einem jeden Pferd allen tag an Habern soll gegeben werden, dass sie sich nach notturfft erhalten künden. Frankfurt an Main, Feyerabend and Huter, 1563 [2]-16, [2] colophon and final blank present, lacking t.p.; BOUND WITH…. 3. Bergkordnung des freyen Königlichen Bergwercks Sanct Joachimthal, sambt anderen umbligenden und eingeleibten Silberbergkwercken, auffs neue gebessert, Anno domini 1548. Zwickau, 1548. [81] of [82] lvs., with errata and final blank, lacking t.p.. BOUND WITH…. 4. Römischer auch zu Hungern und Behem etc. Kü. Mai. geordente und gebesserte Zinbergkwercks Ordnung der Bergstedt Schlackenwalden, Schönfelden, Lautterpach, sampt derselben zugehörenden gepirgen ; Römischer auch zu Hungern und Behem etc. Kü. Mai. Zinbergkwercks Ordnung auff die Bergkwerck Hengst, Perninger, Lichtenstadt, Platten, Gotsgab, Kaff, Mückenbergk und andern derselbigen orten und enden… BOUND WITH… 5. [Ferdinands I.] Geordente und gGebesserte Zinbergkwercks-Ordnung der Bergkstedt Schlackenu’alden, Schönfelden, Lautterpach, sampt derselben zugehörenden Gepirgen. :[Zwickau:, Wolffgang Meyerpeck, 1548] [22] lvs. t.p., crudely remargined, coat of arms on title page. Ornamental initials and head- and tailpieces. Very Rare. Condition: Handsome contemporary blind-tooled German Pigskin over wooden boards, brass catches, some dampstaining, browning, marginal repairs, several inserted blanks for notes and annotations as well as contemporary manuscript pages, facsimile bookplate. [$8500]
Extracting metals from the ground has clearly been a fundamental technology that helped pave the way for advances in human civilization. Besides wealth creation, mining required men and smelters,which led to the founding of many villages and communities that formed a backbone of medieval society. This sammelband of 5 separate and rare works, dated from 1548-1571, is therefore of great scholarly importance to both 16th century German law and the history of technology. It addresses the competing rights and claims of kings, landlords, landowners, as well as the individual miners. Additionally it discusses material covered by Agricola, specifically how a mine can be divided into shares and the roles of various other officials in regulating mines and taxing the production. It should be noted that the two large woodcut illustrations were executed a full eight years before the 1556 edition of Agricola’s De re metallica .
The Most Influential Tract if the English Revolution
Charles, King of England; John Gauden . Eikōn basilikē The Povrtraictvre of His Sacred Maiestie in his solitudes and svfferings. Rom. 8. More then [sic] conquerour, &c. Bona agere, & mali pati, Regium est. [London, Richard Royston?, possibly H. Seile: London,] 1648 [i.e. 1649]. 8vo., 269 pgs. COMPLETE, contemporary calf, front hinge largely split, some 17th century annotations. Some browning and staining as usual, A2 with old margin repair. A VERY RARE and early issue of the famous Eikōn basilikē with only one variant copy listed by Worldcat of this edition. [$1800]
“Eikon Basilike, purportedly the meditations of King Charles before his beheading, has been something of a cause celebre since its first issuance by the renegade Royalist publisher Richard Roylston at the time of the King’s execution… Milton was the first of many to cast doubts on Charles’ authorship. Opinion swung back and forth , seeming to settle on the authorship of Dr. John Gauden, until the publucation in 1950 of Francis M. Madan’s A New Bibliography of the Eikon Basilike, which demonstrated that Gauden had worked closely from Charles’ own papers.” [ref: Christies]
