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Lot 232

PORTA (GIAMBATTISTA DELLA)
Phytognomonica... octo libris contenta. In quibus nova, facillimaque affertur methodus, qua plantarum, animalium, metalloru[m], FIRST EDITION, Naples, Orazio Salviani, 1588

11 November 2015, 13:00 GMT
London, Knightsbridge

£1,500 - £2,000

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PORTA (GIAMBATTISTA DELLA)

Phytognomonica... octo libris contenta. In quibus nova, facillimaque affertur methodus, qua plantarum, animalium, metalloru[m], FIRST EDITION, title within wide woodcut border (including images of a scorpion, ram, spider, fruits, etc., and Porta's device of lynx), and woodcut portrait of the author on the verso, 32 large woodcut illustrations of plants, 3 small wormholes to title touching border, gathering DD (?supplied from another copy) remargined at foot, eighteenth century calf, rebacked and recornered [Adams P1938; Durling 3734; Hunt 158; Norman 1724; Wellcome 5203], folio (297 x 202mm.), Naples, Orazio Salviani, 1588

Footnotes

FIRST EDITION, the earliest issue with the title dated 1588, and with the index which is often missing, of Porta's attractively illustrated herbal. Porta addresses matters of vegetable physiognomy, believing the inner nature of plants could be determined from their outward appearance, and that "Divine providence had formed plants in such a way as to indicate the ailments they would cure (e.g. a walnut looked like the human brain, and so would cure head ailments)" (Hunt).

Additional information

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