Author: PORTA, Giambattista della.
Title: Magiae naturalis, sive de miraculis rerum naturalium libri IIII. Cum indice.Antwerp, Christopher Plantin, 1585. 12mo. With Plantin's woodcut printer's device on the title page, and 9 decorated woodcut initials. Slightly later vellum, dark blue edges.
Description: 296, [7], [1 blank] pp.Early edition of a famous work on natural magic, discussing a wide variety of topics, from invisible writing to alchemy and cosmetics. It became the most popular treatise on the subject in the 16th century and was translated into many European languages. The present Latin edition, however, is one of the first editions with an index. It is also quite rare on the market, as we have only been able to trace one other copy in sales records.The work is divided in four books, which contain instructions for gardening, like tree grafting and the dyeing of flowers; recipes for fireworks, including torches that cannot be extinguished by the wind; hair dyes, make-up, and witches' ointments; alchemy and metallurgy; and optical instruments such as mirrors, lenses, and magic lanterns. The text also includes a number of experiments. Magiae naturalis is a continuation of the books of secrets and experiments from the late Middle Ages, and was written when the author was just fifteen years old. It was first published in Naples in 1558, and republished 15 more times within the next two decades by publisher's across Western Europe. Due to its popularity, the author expanded the work from four to twenty books in 1589. The present edition, however, was published before this, and therefore only includes four books. It is the 6th and final edition by Plantin and is a textual reprint of his 1576 edition, which was the first to include an index. A later shelfmark label ("1115") mounted on the front pastedown, with the bookplates of the Bibliothèque de Mr. E.M. Mangel, and Gordon Willis Jones (1915-1987) mounted below, a later annotation ("1104") on the 4th free flyleaf in the front, and near-contemporary calculations on the first free flyleaf in the back. The vellum is slightly soiled. The work is somewhat browned throughout, a tear in the outer margin of the title page, which has been repaired with tape on the verso, and a tear in the outer margin of page 289 that has been repaired with Japanese paper, slightly affecting a few words. Otherwise in good condition.l Belgica typographica 4045; Machiels P 1131; USTC 406717 (13 copies); Voet 2090; cf. DSB 11, pp. 95-98; Caillet 8854 (edition 1560); Thorndike VI, pp. 418-422; this edition not in Duveen; Ferguson; STCV.
Keywords: [KCRG291IIT91] EARLY PRINTING & MANUSCRIPTS|[KCRG291IIT91] EARLY PRINTING & MANUSCRIPTS -> [KCRGAIZECJ4N] Medicine & Pharmacy|[KCRG291IIT91] EARLY PRINTING & MANUSCRIPTS -> [KCRGCAKUEWCH] Natural History & Science|[E51AD6E3D609] SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY|[E51A
Title: Magiae naturalis, sive de miraculis rerum naturalium libri IIII. Cum indice.Antwerp, Christopher Plantin, 1585. 12mo. With Plantin's woodcut printer's device on the title page, and 9 decorated woodcut initials. Slightly later vellum, dark blue edges.
Description: 296, [7], [1 blank] pp.Early edition of a famous work on natural magic, discussing a wide variety of topics, from invisible writing to alchemy and cosmetics. It became the most popular treatise on the subject in the 16th century and was translated into many European languages. The present Latin edition, however, is one of the first editions with an index. It is also quite rare on the market, as we have only been able to trace one other copy in sales records.The work is divided in four books, which contain instructions for gardening, like tree grafting and the dyeing of flowers; recipes for fireworks, including torches that cannot be extinguished by the wind; hair dyes, make-up, and witches' ointments; alchemy and metallurgy; and optical instruments such as mirrors, lenses, and magic lanterns. The text also includes a number of experiments. Magiae naturalis is a continuation of the books of secrets and experiments from the late Middle Ages, and was written when the author was just fifteen years old. It was first published in Naples in 1558, and republished 15 more times within the next two decades by publisher's across Western Europe. Due to its popularity, the author expanded the work from four to twenty books in 1589. The present edition, however, was published before this, and therefore only includes four books. It is the 6th and final edition by Plantin and is a textual reprint of his 1576 edition, which was the first to include an index. A later shelfmark label ("1115") mounted on the front pastedown, with the bookplates of the Bibliothèque de Mr. E.M. Mangel, and Gordon Willis Jones (1915-1987) mounted below, a later annotation ("1104") on the 4th free flyleaf in the front, and near-contemporary calculations on the first free flyleaf in the back. The vellum is slightly soiled. The work is somewhat browned throughout, a tear in the outer margin of the title page, which has been repaired with tape on the verso, and a tear in the outer margin of page 289 that has been repaired with Japanese paper, slightly affecting a few words. Otherwise in good condition.l Belgica typographica 4045; Machiels P 1131; USTC 406717 (13 copies); Voet 2090; cf. DSB 11, pp. 95-98; Caillet 8854 (edition 1560); Thorndike VI, pp. 418-422; this edition not in Duveen; Ferguson; STCV.
Keywords: [KCRG291IIT91] EARLY PRINTING & MANUSCRIPTS|[KCRG291IIT91] EARLY PRINTING & MANUSCRIPTS -> [KCRGAIZECJ4N] Medicine & Pharmacy|[KCRG291IIT91] EARLY PRINTING & MANUSCRIPTS -> [KCRGCAKUEWCH] Natural History & Science|[E51AD6E3D609] SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY|[E51A
Price: EUR 1750.00 = appr. US$ 1901.98 Seller: A. Asher & Co. B.V.
- Book number: 824
- Book number: 824