GART DER GESUNDHEIT | Augsburg, 1487, coloured woodcuts, later boards

GART DER GESUNDHEIT

[EDITED BY JOHANN VON CUBE]. AUGSBURG: JOHANN SCHÖNSPERGER, 7 MARCH 1487

Chancery folio (240 x 180mm.), an incomplete copy comprising leaves e2-e7, f2-y4, y6-G7, I1, I3-7, H1-5 (complete collation of 262 leaves: [4] a-v w-z A-D⁸ E⁶ F⁸ G-H⁶ I⁸, first and last leaves blank), double column, gothic type, 42 lines, numerous woodcuts with colour washes, later boards with manuscript title "Kreüter Buech" on upper cover, e5 torn without loss, k1 torn with loss at lower corner, n8 torn with loss of almost half the leaf, A1 torn with slight loss, other more marginal tearing and staining, some leaves detached, binding worn; sold not subject to return

A coloured copy of this popular and comprehensive manual of botany and medicine. The editor, Johann von Cube or Wonnecke, was a Frankfurt physician who compiled this manual using the works of Dioscorides, Galen and Pliny as well as contemporary writers. The Latin text of the manual was first printed (and commissioned?) by Peter Schöffer in 1484, who subsequently published a German translation the following March. This vernacular version was quickly copied by other printers; Schönsperger's first version appeared in August 1485 and he produced at least six more editions, including the present one. The indexes contain lists of receipts and ailments.

LITERATURE:

ISTC ig00102000 (listing 14 copies, many incomplete)

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