The Grete Herball

BRUNSCHWIG, HIERONYMUS. The noble experience of the vertuous handy warke of surgery... (Southwark: Peter Treveris, 26 March 1525), title-page printed in red and black, woodcut illustrations (some full-page), woodcut initials, a few deckle edges, lacking T1, A4 bound before A1, last leaf torn and remargined with some loss, large repaired tear to A4, final quire washed and browned

2 works in one volume, folio (254 x 175mm.), black letter, early nineteenth-century diced Russia gilt, gilt edges, spine faded, joints worn, extremities slightly rubbed

George Spencer, marquess of Blandford (1766-1840), White Knights sale, 7 June 1819, lot 1975 (the entry mistakenly conflates the two works, giving the title of the herbal and the date of the second work); Richard Heber (1773-1833), with Bibliotheca Heberiana stamp on flyleaf and manuscript note "Wh. K. 1975, ... July 1819", sale, Sotheby's, 10 April 1834, lot 3463, bought for £5 12s 6d by S.H. Bohn

STC 13176 & 13434; Henrey 168; Hodnett 2419-2176 and 2394-2418; Wellcome 1525

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

THE FIRST ILLUSTRATED ENGLISH HERBAL AND THE FIRST ENGLISH BOOK ON SURGERY.

The herbal was translated from the French Le grant herbier which came into circulation in the late fifteenth century. An unillustrated herbal (Banckes's Herbal) was published in London the previous year, but without illustrations. Treveris's herbal contains nearly 500 illustrations, mostly of plants, including a large woodcut on the title-page depicting a man picking grapes and another gathering flowers; the woodcuts are based on those in German versions of the herbal. Treveris reissued his herbal in 1529, both under his own name and together with the bookseller Lawrence Andrewe.

On the title-page of the herbal, Treveris makes mention of his publication on surgery of the previous year (which was in fact his first dated book), thus viewing them as complementary works.

The second work is a translation of Das Buch der cirurgia (originally published in Strassburg in 1497), probably carried out by Lawrence Andrewe. It was the first treatise to deal with the treatment of gunshot wounds. Treveris's types were used for the first English translation of Brunschwig's influential Liber de arte distillandi (1527), translated and printed by Andrewe.

The woodcuts in Brunschwig's treatise depict surgical tools, anatomical details, and equipment such as racks for setting broken limbs and elevators for relieving depressed skull fractures.

BOTH WORKS ARE UNCOMMON ON THE MARKET. The last copy of the Brunschwig to appear at auction was sold in these rooms on 2 December 1994, lot 502.