[REISCH Gregor]

Margarita Philosophica. Totius Phiijae Ratinalis, Naturalis & Moralis principia dialogice duodecim libris complectes

      Johan Schott. [Apriles Anno Gratie] Freiburg: Johan Schott. [Apriles Anno Gratie], 1504. Second edition. Titlepage with small repair from back and skillful infill in ink from front, n3 with skillful marginal repair, occasional light browning, a very nice copy. Quarto. 307 ff [of 330, lacking 23 leaves: rr-tt]. Signatures a-c in sixes (preceded by six preliminary leaves), d-pp in eights, qq in six Illustrated with woodcuts, many full page as well as numerous ones in text, 2 folding plates. Map of the world and colophon in facsimile. Some of the woodcuts are by Jost Amman (1539-1591) rebound in full dark brown morocco, blindtooled to period, with gilt lettered morocco label on spine whith raised bands and blind tooled decorations, new endpapers Leaf nn3 with lengthy old brown ink notation This is the second edition, revised and enlarged by the author. The colophon (here present in facsimile) cautions the reader about an evidently unauthorized edition printed in the same year by Gruninger. On the verso of the woodcut title are twenty-two lines of a verse headed "Suo Gregoriso Reisch gnerois Comitis de / Zolrn alumno: Adam Vuerherus Tema / rensis. Salutem. P. D." and below "Ex Heydelberga, iij. Klanu /arias. m. cccc. lxxxvi". This verse have led some bibliographers to the erroneous conclusion that the work was printed in Heidelberg in 1496.#11;The volume was very widely read since its first publication in 1503 and is the first encyclopedia of liberal arts and science. It is divided into twelve books, edited by Gregor Reisch, a Carhusian monk and confessor of Emperor Maximilian I. The twelve books, or parts, deal with: anatomy of humans and of animals, astronomy, mathematics, medicine, metallurgy, geometry, music, philosophy, morals, and more, and are profusely illustrated with woodcuts. #11;The illustrations are detailed and very well done; many are full page plates. The illustrations cover everything from human anatomy to comets and galaxies to relating the signs of the planters to the human body to a number of pages with music notations and words to the music to childbirth, and mining.#11;For the next 100 years of this period of the Renaissance the book was used in universities and all institutions of learning [Sabin 69124. See J. Ferguson, The Margarita Philosophica of Gregorius Reisch].