Petri Andreæ Matthioli senensis Serenissimi Principis Ferdinandi Archiducis Austriæ &c. Medici, commentarii secvndo avcti, in libros sex Pedacii Dioscoridis anazarbei de medica materia. Adiectis quamplurimis plantarum, & animalium imaginibus, quæ in priore editione non habentur, eodem auctore. His accessit eivsdem apologia adversvs Amathum Lusitanum: quin & Censura in eiusdem enarrationes. Cum Pont. Max. Caes. Maiestatis, Christianiss. Galliarum Regis, ac Illustriss. Senatus Veneti Gratia, & Priuilegio
Venice: Vincenzo Valgrisi, 1560. Third edition in Latin.
Folio in 6s (12 7/16” x 8 6/16”, 318mm x 213mm): α4 β6 a–f6 g4 2a–z6 A–Ss6 Tt4, 2A–D6 [$4 signed; –2A3; q2 signed “qa,” s2 signed “sa”]. 462 leaves, pp. [100] (title, blank, 11pp. dedication to Prince Ferdinand, 4pp. to the reader, 3pp. privileges, 32pp. index, 48pp. simples) 1–776, 21–5 (half title, verses, 3pp. dedication) 26–46 [2] (blank, woodcut vignette). With 705 woodblock prints integral with the text, woodcut initials, and tailpieces.
Bound in contemporary stabbed vellum with yapp edges. On the spine, 5 raised bands. All edges of the text-block speckled red.
Soiled, with some scuffing. Hinges starting at the tail. Splitting to the paste-downs at the turn-ins. Loss to the corner and upper margin of the first free end-paper. The title-leaf reinserted, with some nibbling to the upper edge of the first dozen leaves, not affecting the text. Wormholes in the lower margin from 2q1–z3, not affecting the text. Dampstaining throughout, principally at the upper fore-corner. Two perished paper labels to the head. Old repairs to the fore-edges of Rr5, Rr6, Ss1, and Ss2. Loss to an ink inscription along the upper margin of the front pastedown; the remaining script reads: “…den 4 July 1705.” Ex libris stamp of “F. Fasting… Rio de Janeiro” completed in ink manuscript 2363 to the front pastedown.
Pietro Andrea Mattioli (Matthioli, 1500–1577) was a Sienese physician who was appointed court physician to Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I, and to his successor, Maximilian II. He had a strong interest in botany and pharmacology and studied the Περὶ ὕλης ἰατρικῆς (peri hyles hiatrikes, latinized to De materia medica) of Dioscorides (ad Ic) diligently. His commentary was first published in Italian in 1544 (unillustrated) and in Latin in 1554 (featuring quarter-page woodcuts, as in this edition). These early illustrations served as blueprints and laid the groundwork for the grander, more elaborate woodblocks commissioned for subsequent editions (see our 1584 example) with support from the Habsburg family. Far from crude precursors, these initial images reflect an evolving visual language that would culminate in some of the most celebrated botanical illustrations of the period. Of the lush prints, Blunt remarks that “the details are executed with great skill…the baffling intricacy of their detail…never proved too difficult a task for either the draughtsman or the engraver.”
Mattioli’s Discorsi sits in the grand tradition of early woodcut-illustrated herbals. By taking the foundational first-century pharmacological text and amending it to include dosages, preparations, and case studies from his own work as a physician, Mattioli bridged theory and practice and refreshed De materia medica for a contemporary audience.
As the number completing the ex-libris of F. Fasting would indicate, he was a prolific collector in Rio de Janeiro. His ink-stamp has appeared widely in books that have come to the market, including incunables and other XVIc material.
Edit 16 CNCE 38076; Nissen, BBI 1305; Pritzel 5985.
Catalogued by G.R. Murdock.
Item #GRM0019
Price: $3,500