216 - Agrippa, Heinrich Cornelius. *De incertitudine et vanitate scientiarum declamatio*. [Cologne], 1527. A rare edition, likely the first, of this treatise on the occult sciences and human knowledge

Agrippa, Heinrich Cornelius. *De incertitudine et vanitate scientiarum declamatio*. [Cologne], 1527. A rare edition, likely the first, of this treatise on the occult sciences and human knowledge Agrippa, Heinrich Cornelius. De incertitudine et vanitate scientiarum declamatio. [Cologne], 1527. In octavo (155 x 98 mm); [192] leaves. Woodcut portrait of the author on the title page (slightly browned). Contemporary binding in brown leather, 5-rib spine, sprinkled edges (rather worn, with missing sections at the hinges, headbands, and corners). In this famous and provocative work, Agrippa surveys the disciplines of Renaissance learning, from Kabbalah to astrology, from magic to necromancy, from the arts to the customs of society, even including a curious chapter dedicated to the art of prostitution. An emblematic text of Renaissance culture, poised between a fascination with occult knowledge and a radical denunciation of the vanity of human knowledge. A rare copy, likely a first edition, of this treatise on the occult sciences and human knowledge.