Property Formerly from the Estate of Charles P. Berolzheimer
ALPINUS, Prosper. De plantis Aegypti liber...accessit etiam liber de balsamo aliàs editus. Venice: Francisco de Franceschi di Siena, 1592.

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ALPINUS, Prosper. De plantis Aegypti liber...accessit etiam liber de balsamo aliàs editus. Venice: Francisco de Franceschi di Siena, 1592.

2 parts in one volume, 4o (223 x 162 mm). 38 full-page woodcuts in text, and smaller woodcuts in text; woodcut head- and tail-pieces. (Title evenly browned and slightly soiled, very occasional other pale browning, light stains to approximately 12 leaves.) Contemporary vellum, hand-lettered on spine (light wear to corners).

FIRST EDITION OF THE FIRST WORK ON THE PLANTS OF EGYPT. Alpini travelled in Egypt from 1580-83 as physician to Giorgio Emo, the Venetian consul to Cairo. "[De plantis aegyptorum] is considered Alpini's most important work. Cast in the form of a dialogue between the author and Guilando, it represents the first major botanical treatment of the Egyptian flora" (Cleveland Collections). The coffee plant, bananas, and the boabab tree are here described to Europeans for the first time. The second part is an account of balsam which was first printed in 1591.

This book (and the following books so designated) is from the collection of Charles P. Berolzheimer. Mr. Berolzheimer's family owned the Eagle Pencil Company and he was the founder of California Cedar Products, his own pencil slat company. He pioneered the design for the thinnest saw blades in the world, creating a smaller cut, less waste and more efficient production. Always searching for ways to produce less waste, Mr. Berolzheimer saw a way to convert the sawdust waste of wood processing, creating the Duraflame logs which are still with us today. Cleveland Collections 136; Hunt 164; Nissen BBI 20; Pritzel 111; Wellcome I:233.

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