ALPINUS, PROSPERO. De Plantis Aegypti. Padua: P. Frambotti, 1638-40. 3 parts in one, 4to, 210 x 140 mm., contemporary mottled calf, spine gilt; minor pale spotting. Second edition of Alpini's work on Egyptian plants and his tract on balsam, and the first with Vesling's commentaries which comprise the third part. 73 woodcuts in text. Alpini's work was the first treatment of the plants of Egypt. He accompanied the Venetian consul to Egypt as his personal physician, residing there from 1580 to 1583. He was the first European to mention the coffee plant, and the first to record the sexual differences of the date-palm tree. 18th-century Linnaean annotations neatly written near printed names above some woodcuts and early notations in French regarding this edition on page opposite the title; Robert de Belder -- GUILANDINUS MELCHIOR. Papyrus, hoc est commentarius in tria C. Plinii majoris de papyro capita... Venice: A. Ulm, 1572. 4to, 200 x 137 mm., nineteenth-century calf-backed marbled boards, spine gilt; title with a few minor repairs on gutter margin verso. FIRST EDITION. Wellcome 2988; Adams G-1562. KKM/HSNY, bookplate. (2)