Marbodus, De gemmarum, Cologne, 1539, old calf

MARBODUS REDONENSIS

De gemmarum lapidumque pretiosorum formis, naturis, atque viribus... opusculum. Cologne: Hero Fuchs, 1539, woodcut portrait on title-page, final errata leaf, slightly stained at end

PSEUDO-APULEIUS. De viribus herbarum, ad veterum exemplarium fidem magna diligentia excusus. Paris: Pierre Drouart, 1543

2 works in one volume, 8vo (154 x 99mm.), old calf, manuscript fragments in binding, early manuscript notes at front, binding worn and defective, lower cover detached

This popular didactic treatise on precious stones was written by Marbodus, bishop of Rennes, in the twelfth century. It was redacted by Georg Pictorius for a 1531 edition, and revised here by Alaard of Amsterdam, a humanist scholar and a sometime friend of Erasmus. It is best known for the title-page woodcut of a Jewish priest surrounding a table with the names of twelve precious stones, linking each one to a Tribe of Israel.

The second work is an uncommon and unillustrated edition of the herbal of Pseudo-Apuleius.

LITERATURE:

1st work: VD16 M 932; Sinkankas 4173; 2nd work: IA 106.652; BP16 110965