Cesalpino, Andrea | One of the most important early works on metallurgy, Rome, 1596

Cesalpino, Andrea

De metallicis libri tres. Rome: Aloyse Zanetti, 1596

4to (219 x 163 mm). Engraved arms of Pope Clement VIII on title-page, ornamental woodcut initials, one historiated, type-ornament headpieces; scattered light browning, a number of upper fore-edge corners turned or lightly creased, upper platemark of engraved arms with early reinforcement on title-page verso, first gathering, and especially a4, with some minor worming at upper fore-edge corner, just perhaps touching a typographic ornament on a4r, short wormtrail at lower inner margins of gatherings L–M. Contemporary limp vellum; soiled, ties lost.

First edition. Although Cesalpino’s principal contributions to science and medicine were in the fields of botany and the anatomy and physiology of the movement of the blood, De metallicis is considered one of the most important early works on metallurgy and includes as well his original views on chemistry and geology.

Conceived as a continuation of Michele Mercati's unpublished (until 1717–1719) catalogue of the Vatican’s Metallotheca, Cesalpino’s work is more rigorous and wide-ranging than his student's, describing—in addition to metals and the papal collection of gems and marbles—the organic nature of fossils, the process of crystallization, the nature of the magnet, and the uses of metals and minerals in contemporary manufacture. More than two hundred entries in the copious index indicate the thoroughness of Cesalpino's work, e.g.: agate, bitumen, copper ore, topaz, sea-snails, and kidney stones. “De metallicis … may still be usefully consulted for information on the stones and ores of Italy” (Geikie, Founders of Geology, p. 53).

Uncommon: according to Rare Book Hub, only the Norman-Freilich copy has been sold at auction since the present copy appeared in 1990.

REFERENCES

Adams C19; Hoover 212; Norman 433; Partington 2:89–92; Schuh 1:824; Sinkankas 1:1218

PROVENANCE

Alexander Genay (?, contemporary signature at foot of title-page) — Gelltich (signature dated 1941 in upper right of title-page) — Sotheby’s London, 2 July 1990, lot 602