Hortus sanitatis.

first edition printed in italy, folio (297 x 205mm.), double column, 53 lines plus headline, initial spaces with guides, title within decorative woodcut border, more than 1000 column-width woodcut illustrations, 3 full-page woodcuts, 2 within decorative white-on-black borders, old vellum, c5 torn at inner margin affecting text, q5 torn at foot extending into text, T3 and T4 browned, some minor marginal dampstaining, without final blank

Adams H1016; Durling 2468; Hunt 12; Mortimer Italian 238; Nissen BBI 2368

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 illustration cuts are reverse copies of those by Johann Prüss. Two full-page cuts depict physicians in consultation, one based on that in Ketham's Fascicolo di medicina, the other repeated from a 1504 Venice edition of Guillelmus de Saliceto, Chirurgia. Original to this edition, as a supplement to the section De urinis, is the pseudo-Galen tract De facile acquisibilibus. As detailed by Mortimer, composition was divided between Benalius's and Tacuinus's shops, the former setting thirty of the quires, and the latter twenty-eight. The fine four-part title-page border with dolphins was part of Tacuinus's stock, first used by him a few months earlier for his edition of Vitruvius. In Mortimer's words, "it was one of the most influential pieces of [book] ornamentation of the sixteenth century", being copied in several formats by many other Renaissance printers.