![BRUNSCHWIG, Hieronymus (ca 1450-ca 1512). [Grosses Destillierbuch in German]. Liber de arte Distillandi de Compositis. Das buch der waren kunst zu distillieren die Composita und simplicia, und das Buch thesaurus pauperum. Strassburg: [Johann Grüninger], 1512.](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2013/NYR/2013_NYR_02706_0139_000(brunschwig_hieronymus_grosses_destillierbuch_in_german_liber_de_arte_d091830).jpg?w=1)
Details
BRUNSCHWIG, Hieronymus (ca 1450-ca 1512). [Grosses Destillierbuch in German]. Liber de arte Distillandi de Compositis. Das buch der waren kunst zu distillieren die Composita und simplicia, und das Buch thesaurus pauperum. Strassburg: [Johann Grüninger], 1512.
2o (307 x 214 mm). 364 leaves. Gothic type, double column, large woodcut of an air- and water-cooled still on title, double-page woodcut and 257 smaller woodcuts (including repeats), of which 130 cuts depict distilling apparatus, some composed of two or three assembled blocks, eight-line and smaller ornamental woodcut initials. (Without the six errata leaves, some dampstaining in places, a few mostly marginal tears or tiny holes.) 17th-century French reversed deerskin. Provenance: Franciscus Rudella (inscription dated 1645 on title page); Archives D'Etat Fribourg (old ink stamp on front free endpaper); acquired from August Laube, 1968.
FIRST EDITION of the so-called "Grosses Destillierbuch," or "The True Art of Distilling." The text is an enlarged revision of the Kleines Destillierbuch, containing more extensive descriptions of methods of distillation, plants and illnesses, as well as new sections on surgery and easily procured remedies. The many new woodcuts show distillation stills, furnaces and beakers, and scenes of physicans treating patients. Brunschwig's work was "a pharmaceutical-technical handbook that was the authority far into the sixteenth century" (DSB). The fifth book Arzneibuch fuer die Armen or Thesaurus pauperum, was a useful pharmacopeia for the poor and was often reprinted. Written in German in order to have the widest practical influence, the Grosses Distillierbuch also derived much of its value from the many illustrations which accompany it. Choulant p.83; NLM/Durling 748; PMM 44; Stillwell Science 828.
2o (307 x 214 mm). 364 leaves. Gothic type, double column, large woodcut of an air- and water-cooled still on title, double-page woodcut and 257 smaller woodcuts (including repeats), of which 130 cuts depict distilling apparatus, some composed of two or three assembled blocks, eight-line and smaller ornamental woodcut initials. (Without the six errata leaves, some dampstaining in places, a few mostly marginal tears or tiny holes.) 17th-century French reversed deerskin. Provenance: Franciscus Rudella (inscription dated 1645 on title page); Archives D'Etat Fribourg (old ink stamp on front free endpaper); acquired from August Laube, 1968.
FIRST EDITION of the so-called "Grosses Destillierbuch," or "The True Art of Distilling." The text is an enlarged revision of the Kleines Destillierbuch, containing more extensive descriptions of methods of distillation, plants and illnesses, as well as new sections on surgery and easily procured remedies. The many new woodcuts show distillation stills, furnaces and beakers, and scenes of physicans treating patients. Brunschwig's work was "a pharmaceutical-technical handbook that was the authority far into the sixteenth century" (DSB). The fifth book Arzneibuch fuer die Armen or Thesaurus pauperum, was a useful pharmacopeia for the poor and was often reprinted. Written in German in order to have the widest practical influence, the Grosses Distillierbuch also derived much of its value from the many illustrations which accompany it. Choulant p.83; NLM/Durling 748; PMM 44; Stillwell Science 828.