HERBARIUS LATINUS. — [Incipit]: Arnold of Nova Villaavicenna - Lot 201

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HERBARIUS LATINUS. — [Incipit]: Arnold of Nova Villaavicenna - Lot 201
HERBARIUS LATINUS. — [Incipit]: Arnold of Nova Villaavicenna. Tractatus de virtutibus herbarum. No place, no date. [Colophon]: Vicenza, Leonardo of Basel & William of Pavia, October 27, 1491. In-4, dark green morocco, Jansenist style, interior lace, gilt edges (Alain Devauchelle). GW, 12276. - Goff, H68. - Schuh, no. 2183. - Anderson, An Illustrated History of Herbals, pp. 82–88. First edition published in Italy of one of the great printed herbals of the fifteenth century. Printed by Leonardus Achates, a printer from Vicenza, and Guilielmus de Papia, it is illustrated with 150 woodcuts in the text depicting plants, medicinal herbs, vegetables, etc. The incipit page is adorned at the top with a woodcut depicting two seated figures facing each other: this engraving, previously used by the printer in his Italian edition of Pierre de Crescens’s *Ruralia commoda* (1490), is believed to depict the physician Arnaud de Villeneuve discussing botany with Avicenna, the Persian philosopher and physician. The *Herbarius latinus*, an anonymous compilation of works by medieval authors and certain Arabic classics, is more of a pharmacopoeia for the medicinal use of plants than a treatise on botany. First published in 1484 in Mainz by Peter Schoeffer, Gutenberg’s former partner, the work was widely circulated throughout Europe; there are 11 known incunabula editions, the vast majority of which were printed in Germany and the Netherlands, with the exception of two or three in Italy and one in France. For this incunabulum edition, Leonardus Achates followed the Latin text of the first edition, though he did not include the German names of the plants; the illustrations, meanwhile, remain influenced by the original, but the woodcuts were re-engraved with greater finesse. All incunabula editions of this printed herbarium are rare: of the 49 copies of this edition listed by the GW as held in institutions, none are located in France. Washed copy. The covers of the original vellum binding, which have been preserved, bear this handwritten bookplate: *Liber ad usum Domini Fratris Bernardini de Trinusio quam amet veronae*. Old handwritten annotations on a few leaves. The margin of f. 104 has been reinforced; paper restoration has been performed in the margin of f. 115 and along the edges of the last two leaves. A small, faint water stain appears along the edges of the twelve end leaves at the end. Expert: Mr. Dominique Courvoisier
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