Volume 2

Bibliographical notes on histories of inventions and books of secrets : Six papers read to the Archæological society of Glasgow April 1882-January 1888 / by John Ferguson.

  • John Ferguson
Date:
1895-1915
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Bibliographical notes on histories of inventions and books of secrets : Six papers read to the Archæological society of Glasgow April 1882-January 1888 / by John Ferguson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    111/408 (page 9)
    announced as of French origin. I investigated the matter, and have been rewarded by the discovery in the British Museum of a cluster of receipt books, which have not hitherto been included in my lists. The collection was really first written in Italian, and the book enjoyed an intermittent circulation for upwards of two hundred years, as the following enumera- tion shows. It is more than probable, however, that there are editions besides those to which I shall refer.* The list begins with the Italian of 1529, which is probably the very first of the set. The description is from the British Museum copy (7953, f. 32). Opera Nvova | Intitolata Dificio De | Ricette nella quale fi contengono tre | utilifsimi Ricettari, | Nel primo fi tratta di molte & diuerfe uirtu. | Nel fecondo fe infegna a comporre uarie forti | de foaui & utili odori, | Nel terzo & ultimo fi tratta di alcuni rirnedi | fecreti medicinali necefsari in lifanar li | corpi humani, come nella tauola | qui fequente fi puo uedere. | M D X X I X Small 4to, A, b to f in fours ; or ff. [4] 20, but the numbers are irregular. Printed in italics. At the end of the text: Stampato in Venetia per Giouanantonio et | fratelli da Sabbio. mdxxix. Ai, Title, surrounded by a broad border of white loops and twists upon a black ground. Verso, Full page picture of a master in a chair, dictating to a clerk or scholar. There are books, a sphere, a compass, etc., and the picture is sur- rounded by a border of white knots on a black ground—different from the other. Aii recto, Incomincia La Tavola. Ends Aiv recto. Aiv verso, Picture of a monk in a laboratory, directing a servant who is pounding something in a mortar; boxes, an hour glass, etc., are on a shelf, bi, Alio mio benigno lettore, and then the first receipt: Remedio contra ogni puzor et fetor di boca. This first part ends ei verso, or ff. I -17, (sic for 13). diii verso. At the top is a note to the reader within a white and black border, eii, The second part begins with a title page enclosed in a white and black border like that round the verso of the first title. It ends eiii, fo. 19 (sic for 15). eiv, The third part begins with a border like that round the first title. On the verso, top half, is a woodcut of a distilling apparatus. This ends fiv recto, or fo. 20. verso is blank. The borders and woodcuts give this book a very odd appearance. + *May, 1896. Shortly after the above was written, and after the other editions had been described, I got a copy of the Italian of 1538, which proved that my surmise had been correct. + The only copy I have seen for sale was in the catalogue of a Florence bookseller, but I failed to get it.