HERBARIUS LATINUS — Tractatus de virtutibus herbarum Venice:... - photo 1
HERBARIUS LATINUS — Tractatus de virtutibus herbarum Venice:... - photo 2
HERBARIUS LATINUS — Tractatus de virtutibus herbarum Venice:... - photo 3

HERBARIUS LATINUS — Tractatus de virtutibus herbarum Venice:...

Sold
£ 25 200
Auction dateClassic
13.07.2022 10:30UTC +01:00
Auctioneer
CHRISTIE'S
Event location
United Kingdom, London
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 794496
Lot 102 | HERBARIUS LATINUS — Tractatus de virtutibus herbarum Venice:...
HERBARIUS LATINUS — Tractatus de virtutibus herbarum. Venice: Simon Bevilaqua, 14 December 1499.

The beautifully illustrated second Italian edition of the Herbarius and the first of about a dozen Venetian editions. Many of the woodcuts, which were first used in the Vicenza 1491 edition, differ substantially from those of the earlier German editions. ‘These drawings are more ambitious than those in the original German [editions], and, on the whole, they are more naturalistic. A delightful example, almost Japanese in style, shows an iris at the edge of a stream, from which a graceful bird is drinking. In another picture the fern called "capillus veneris", which is perhaps intended for the maidenhair, is represented hanging from rocks over water’ (Arber, pp.192-93). This edition was also the first to erroneously ascribe the text to Arnoldus de Villa Nova, whose name appears run-on with Avicenna's at the head of the preface, the printer having misunderstood the significance of the names printed beneath a woodcut that supposedly represented these two scholars and that was used as a headpiece to the preface in the Vicenza 1491 edition. While the woodcut was omitted from this edition, the names were retained, and the misattribution was perpetuated throughout later editions. HC 1807*; BMC V, 524; BSB-Ink. H-104; Early Herbals 11; Essling 1190; IGI 5677; Klebs 506.11; Nissen BBI 2308; Pellechet 1315; Sander 612; Goff H-69; ISTC ih00069000.



Quarto (205 x 147mm). 171 leaves (of 172 without final blank) 150 numbered half-page woodcuts of plants (a few misnumbered), two white-on-black woodcut initials, capital spaces with guide-letters (single wormhole in lower blank margin) 19th-century cream paper over boards, red morocco labels gilt (minor soiling, labels rubbed). Provenance: Carleton P. Richmond (bookplate); Arthur and Charlotte Vershbow (bookplate).





Special notice


No VAT on hammer price or buyer's premium.
Place of origin:Italy, Europe
Auction house category:Printed books
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
13.07.2022 – 13.07.2022
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
Buyer Premium see on Website
Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase

Related terms

Frequently asked questions

First of all, you should register to be able to purchase at auction. After confirming your email address, enter your personal information in your user profile, such as your first name, last name, and mail address. Choose a lot from the upcoming auction and the maximum amount you want to place on it. After confirmation of your choice, we will send your application by e-mail to the appropriate auction house. If the auction house accepts a request, it will participate in the auction. You can view the current status of a bid at any time in your personal account in the "Bids" section.
Auctions are performed by auction houses and each of the auction houses describes their terms of auction. You can see the texts in the section "Auction information".
The results of the auction are published within a few days after the end of the auction. In the top menu of the site, find the tab "Auctions". Click on it and you will be on the auction catalog page, where you can easily find the category "Results". After opening it, select the desired auction from the list, enter and view the current status of the interested lot.
The information about the auction winners is confidential. The auction winner will receive a direct notification from the auction house responsible with instructions for further action: an invoice for payment and the manner in which the goods will be received.
Each of the auction houses has its own payment policy for the won lots. All auction houses accept bank transfers, most of them accept credit card payments. In the near future you will find detailed information for each case in the section "Auction information" on the page of the auction catalog and the lot.
Shipment of the won lot depends on its size. Small items can be delivered by post. Larger lots are sent by courier. Employees of the auction houses will offer you a wide range to choose from.
No. The archive serves as a reference for the study of auction prices, photographs and descriptions of works of art.