The earliest printed book on wine / by Arnald of Villanova ; now for the first time rendered into English, and with an historical essay, by Henry E. Sigerist ; with facsimile of the original edition, 1478.

  • Arnaldus de Villa Nova
Date:
1943
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The earliest printed book on wine / by Arnald of Villanova ; now for the first time rendered into English, and with an historical essay, by Henry E. Sigerist ; with facsimile of the original edition, 1478. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    14/88 (page 10)
    touch with Robert of Anjou, King of Naples, the protector of Petrarch and Boccaccio, friend of the arts and sciences. Although never in Robert’s service, Arnald dedicated several of his writings to him. Arnald’s enemies would have liked to see him end by burning at the stake, but destiny had another death in store for him. He was drowned in the Mediterranean on one of his numerous sea voyages in sight of the shore, early in December 13 n, and was buried in Genoa. Physically he had escaped the Inquisition but his books were still very much alive and the more dangerous since many had been written in the vernacular, in Catalan, so that they could poison the minds of lay people and even women. On November 8, 1316, the Inquisition, at a session held in Tarragona, condemned thirteen of his theological writings as being heretic. The Dominicans had triumphed over him at last. But his other works re/ mained and carried his fame through the centuries. He was remembered particularly as one of the great physicians and medical writers of the period. II THE TREATISE ON WINES Arnald of Villanova was a very prolific writer. Haureau5 discusses seventy/eight printed and forty/five unpublished or lost writings attributed to him. While there can be no doubt that many of them are spurious, never/ theless his literary production was certainly very considerable. Most of his works are preserved in numerous manuscripts; nine were printed before 1500.6 An Italian physician from Genoa, Thomas Murchi, who in his travels had collected manuscripts of Arnald, published after four years of research fifty/five of his treatises in Lyon in 1504 under the title Hcec sunt Arnaldi de Villanova quae in hoc volumine continentur . . . The book was reprinted at Venice in 1505, again at Lyon in 1509, and in 1520 an edition was brought out in Lyon with several additional treatises and a very uncritical life of Arnald by Symphorien Champier. This new edition was reprinted at 5 Op. cit., pp. 50126. 6 See Gesamtkatalog der Wiegendrucke, vol. n, Leipzig, 1926, col. 684^699. [ 10]