Details
ALDROVANDI, ULISSE. Dendrologiae naturalis scilicet arborum historiae Libri Duo... Bologna: G.B. Ferroni, 1668 [colophon dated 1667]. Folio, 351 x 228 mm., contemporary calf gilt worn, spine ends crudely tape-repaired; lacking *6 (blank?), text block cracked at center, some minor pale marginal spotting. FIRST EDITION, second state of preliminary leaves, with textual changes on dedication corresponding with BM Banksian copy (cited in Hunt), but bound in the following order: Engraved title; [*1], half-title; *2, dedication; *3-[*4], poems; [*5], imprimatur; lacking [*6]. Fine engraved title and 219 large woodcuts in text. Hunt 306 (lacking 4 leaves of first gathering, but presumed second state); Nissen BBI 14.
First edition of Aldrovandi's great work on dendrology, his only botanical publication, which was edited and published posthumously by Ovidio Montalbini. "Aldrovandi was the instigator and first director of the R. Istituto ed Orto Botanico dell'Università di Bologna, and said to have formed one of the first herbaria as we know them today. His was an outstanding zoölogical and botanical intelligence, and it was unfortunate that he died before much of his work was published" (Hunt).
Provenance: armorial bookplate -- Kenneth K. Mackenzie; Horticultural Society of New York, bookplate.
First edition of Aldrovandi's great work on dendrology, his only botanical publication, which was edited and published posthumously by Ovidio Montalbini. "Aldrovandi was the instigator and first director of the R. Istituto ed Orto Botanico dell'Università di Bologna, and said to have formed one of the first herbaria as we know them today. His was an outstanding zoölogical and botanical intelligence, and it was unfortunate that he died before much of his work was published" (Hunt).
Provenance: armorial bookplate -- Kenneth K. Mackenzie; Horticultural Society of New York, bookplate.