HERESBACH (Conrad). Rei rusticae libri quatuor universam agr - Lot 30

HERESBACH (Conrad). Rei rusticae libri quatuor universam agriculturae disciplinam continentes. Speyer, Typis Smesmannianis, 1595. In-8, cold-stamped sowhide, with a border of fillets and a roulette pattern, different plates on the covers, traces of ties, ribbed spine, title in ink, red edges (contemporary binding). A very rare treatise on agriculture by Conrad Heresbach (1496–1576), a humanist and diplomat nicknamed the “German Columella.” The volume contains the four books of the *Rei rusticae*, followed by a section on hunting, falconry, and fishing: *De venatione, aucupio, atque piscatione* (pp. 729–831). The first edition was published in Cologne in 1570. (Missing from Souhart; Kreysig, p. 4; Westwood & Satchell, p. 116.) A copy in a cold-stamped binding of the period, likely from a Germanic workshop. The plate on the front cover bears the initials A, P, and C, and the date 1607: it depicts the sacrifice of Abraham; the plate on the back cover features a coat of arms. Handwritten inscriptions and bookplates on the title page. Paper restoration at the bottom of the title page, at the corner of three leaves, and on leaves **6 and C8, with missing words on the latter two. Loose pages within the volume; binding slightly stained and rubbed. Tears in the paper on the upper back cover.

Estimate:£417.33

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