14 - Natural History

Natural History Pliny the Younger Naturalis historiae. Volumes 1 and 2. 2 vols. (of 3). With commentaries and 6 annotations by Hermolae Barbari, Pintiani, Rhenani, Gelenii, Dalechampii, Scaligeri, Salmasii, Is. Vossii, and others... With 2 engraved title pages. Leiden and Rotterdam, Hack, 1669. 8 leaves, 80, 838 pp., 67 leaves, 917 pp., 43 leaves. Contemporary leather bindings with rich gilt decoration and labels (spines worn at the heads with minor losses). Ebert II, 17292 “Clean and correct, and one of the rarer editions of the *Suite cum notis varior*.” - An important edition featuring marginal notes, textual comparisons drawn from various manuscripts (variae lectiones), and commentaries by the most influential European humanists and philologists of the Renaissance. In terms of content, the work covers, in thirty-seven books, the entire natural and cultural history known at the time—from cosmology, geography, and anthropology through zoology, botany, and medicine to mineralogy, metallurgy, and art history—and remains to this day a central source for scientific and classical studies. - Slightly stained; handwritten bookplate on the title page. Humanism. - Important edition with marginal glosses, textual-critical comparisons drawn from various manuscripts (variae lectiones), and commentaries by the most influential European humanists and philologists of the Renaissance. In terms of content, the work covers, across thirty-seven books, the entire natural and cultural history known at the time, ranging from cosmology, geography, and anthropology to zoology, botany, and medicine, and on to mineralogy, metallurgy, and art history, remaining to this day a central source for the study of science and antiquity. Somewhat foxed, with a handwritten bookplate on the printed title page.