1561 NATURAL HISTORY by PLINIUS antique VELLUM BOUND FOLIO Historiae mundi RARE

C. PLINIUS

Historiae mundi libri XXXVII. Maiore, quam hactenus unquam, studio,...


Lyon, for Jean Frellon; 1561

- Pliny's Natural History in 37 books, as edited by Gelenius. - 

Folio.

With (repeated) woodcut printer's mark

18 leaves, 679 pp., 36 leaves (annotations), 93 leaves (index).


Original vellum with gilt stamped design. Spine with raised bands and manuscript title

-Baudrier V, 254. -

Some wear of binding, vellum soiled, very good interior except some faded marginal dampstain at part of the leaves

ENTIRELY HAND-RULED

"Red-Ruled" book - an exclusive finish reserved solely for copies intended for royalty, the high aristocracy, or the most influential figures of the time.

 Each page has been meticulously hand-rubricated with a double line of red ink along all margins and text columns.

( In the 16th century, the process of rubricating an entire book required hundreds of hours of manual work by a skilled calligrapher or bookbinder. This doubled or tripled the final price of the book at the time, placing it within reach only of the noblest and wealthiest families )


Rare edition, most copies bearing the name Antonius Vincentius (instead of Ioannem Frellonium, as in presented copy).
The Lyon publishers J. Frellon and A. Vincent each published part of the edition

 Title page with the signature of Jacobi Corbinelly (editor of works by Dante and Boccaccio, second half of the 16th century)

Size 10.5 by 16.5"

Text in Latin

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