Herbal

The Grete Herball. London in Southwarke: Peter Treveris, 27 July 1526



Large 8vo (9 3/4 x 7 in.; 248 x 178 mm). Title printed in red and black with woodcut scene of two men tending a garden with male and female mandragora roots in the foreground, full-page woodcut skeleton on title verso, black letter, 2 columns, 479 impressions of 44 column-width woodcuts of plants, animals, minerals, and genre scenes (Hodnett 2420–2463), a variety of 9-line, 5-line and 4-line decorative woodcut initials; title soiled and cropped at fore-edge touching ornament in first line, worm hole in lower margin and another in text block of a few quires, repaired tear in lower margin of leaf B1 entering text, occasional contemporary marginalia more extensive in index, occasional spotting and soiling. Early nineteenth century calf decorated in a panel design with gilt floral roll-tooled outer frame and blind-stamped tool in inner frame, cornucopia stamp in central panel within sunburst, spine gilt, dark blue endpapers, dentelles, edges gilt, by Staggemeier & Welcher, with their pink ticket on front pastedown; rebacked with original spine laid down, edges rubbed.

Robert Heathcote (note on front endpaper, his sale of duplicates, Leigh & Sotheby's 11 February or 16 December, 1805) — Mrs. J.M. Sears (bibliographic letter to her tipped in to front endpaper, dated 7 July 1922 from C.S. Sargeant of the Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University) — Massachusetts Horticultural Society (gift of Mrs. J.D. Cameron Bradley, December 1947)

Hunt 25; STC 13176; Nissen, BBI 2296

The Grete Herball. London in Southwarke: Peter Treveris, 27 July 1526 Large 8vo (9 3/4 x 7 in.; 248 x 178 mm). Title printed in red and black with woodcut scene of two men tending a garden with male and female mandragora roots in the foreground, full-page woodcut skeleton on title verso, black letter, 2 columns, 479 impressions of 44 column-width woodcuts of plants, animals, minerals, and genre scenes (Hodnett 2420–2463), a variety of 9-line, 5-line and 4-line decorative woodcut initials; title soiled and cropped at fore-edge touching ornament in first line, worm hole in lower margin and another in text block of a few quires, repaired tear in lower margin of leaf B1 entering text, occasional contemporary marginalia more extensive in index, occasional spotting and soiling. Early nineteenth century calf decorated in a panel design with gilt floral roll-tooled outer frame and blind-stamped tool in inner frame, cornucopia stamp in central panel within sunburst, spine gilt, dark blue endpapers, dentelles, edges gilt, by Staggemeier & Welcher, with their pink ticket on front pastedown; rebacked with original spine laid down, edges rubbed.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

First edition of the first illustrated herbal in English.  The Grete Herball is a translation of the French Grant Herbier or Arbolayre. The text describes the use of simples, minerals, and animal parts as medicaments and adds a treatise on urines, "The exposicyo[n] of the wordes obscure and euyll knowen," and an index to remedies, the latter of which is, in this copy, heavily annotated by a contemporary hand.

The charming woodcuts are based on the cuts in the sixteenth-century Dutch vernacular editions of the Herbarius (1511, 1514 and others) which in turn derive from the Gart der Gesundheit. Treveris used the same cuts later for his editions of Brunschwig, Boke of Distyllacion (1527 and no date).

Of the greatest rarity on the market; only three incomplete copies have appeared at auction in the last 35 years.