Columella, De re rustica, Lyon, 1537, contemporary polished black morocco

COLUMELLA, LUCIUS JUNIUS MODERATUS. De re rustica. Lyon: Sébastien Gryphe, 1537

8vo (162 x 110mm). Roman and italic types, 29 lines plus headline. Collation: A–Z⁸ AA–KK⁸ L¹⁰: 274 leaves. Woodcut printer’s device on title, blank leaves bound at end.

Binding: Contemporary polished black morocco (169 x 116 mm), Bologna or Siena, frame formed by twin gilt fillets flanked by blind fillets with a small square at each corner, spine with 3 full and 4 false bands, compartments undecorated, traces of 4 pairs of fabric ties, plain edges stained black (perhaps originally silvered).

Provenance: Andrea Cini, archdeacon (1613) of Montepulciano, inscription at foot of title-page — marginal annotations in ink on first 53 pages, index in ink "Tabella Calendarum Nonarum Iduum" on four (of 60) blank leaves bound at end — Étienne Audin de Rians, Catalogue des éditions Aldines qui se trouvent chez Étienne Audin libraire (Florence 1827), item 188. Acquisition: Purchased in 2017 from Librairie Lardanchet, Paris. References: USTC 147232; von Gültlingen V: Gryphe 399