BACCI (Andrea)

Lot 14
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Estimation :
3000 - 4000 EUR
Result with fees
Result : 4 762EUR
BACCI (Andrea)
Of thermis. Libri septem. Of balneis totius orbis. Venice, Vincenzo Valgrisi, 1571. In-folio, 32 ff.n.ch. and 509 pp.: olive green morocco on ais, wide golden lace, decorated spine, band between two ribs and lower box mosaic of red, roulette on the cups and inside, gilt edges (binding second half of the 18th century). First edition. A scholarly treatise on the history and therapeutic properties of waters, by Andrea Bacci (1524-1600), physician of Sixtus V and professor of botany in Rome. The author studies the nature of waters in general, gives notions about fountains, lakes and thermal springs, how to use baths to cure illnesses, and so on. Books V and VI deal with metallic and sulphurous waters, and Book VII deals with baths under ancient Rome. A double-page plan of Diocletian's baths, woodcut, between pp. 443-444. A superb copy bound by Richard Wier for Count Mac-Carthy Reagh (1744-1811) in a sumptuous morocco binding with wide floral lace gilt in small irons. A bibliophile of Irish origin, Count Mac-Carthy Reagh had settled in Toulouse where he had brought the Scottish bookbinder Richard Wier and his wife, who took care of the binding of the copies. The thin "twisted" roulette that runs along the greasy fillet on the edge of the plates can be found on many of Wier's bindings (cf. Maggs catalogue no. 1212, Bookbinding in the British Isles, pl. nos. 142 and 144). A copy, with wide margins, set in English: purple and blue ink for the title and purple ink for the text. The catalogue of the first Mac-Carthy sale (1779) shows two copies of this book as no. 478 (1571 edition, bound in red morocco) and no. 479 (1588 edition, bound in green morocco): no doubt there was a confusion of colour between these two volumes. Handwritten note from the end of the 18th century on a guard: This is a very rare and much sought-after work, the 1st edition known as the De Bure edition. Engraved armorial bookplate of Anglo-Saxon origin bearing
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