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STRABO (64/63 B.C.- c.25 A.D.). Rerum geographicarum libri septemdecim, in Greek and Latin. Translated and edited by Guilielmus Xylander. Basel: Henrich Petri, August 1571.
2o (308 x 198 mm). Greek and Roman types, double-column, woodcut initials, printer's woodcut device on title-page, smaller device on verso of last leaf, 27 double-page woodcut maps (including three repeats) by Sebastian Münster, 6 smaller maps in the text by Johann Honter and others, one woodcut text diagram. (Some dampstaining near gutter in first quire, some occasional pale spotting, generally very clean.) Contemporary vellum over pasteboard, tooled in silver-gilt (some oxidation), sides with foliate and triple-fillet borders, each side centering a lozenge incorporating figures of Faith on the front and Justice on the back, remains of ties (some light staining to board edges). Provenance: some contemporary marginalia; B. Mendel (morocco bookplate).
Xylander's edition of Strabo is illustrated with most of the maps used in Sebastian Münster's editions of Ptolemy, printed by Heinrich Petri and his heirs from 1540. The binding tools are characteristic of the Nothern European style of the period, with tooling in Zwischen Gold, a metal foil popular in German-speaking areas of Europe. A thin layer of true gold is beaten over a supporting layer of silver foil. In time, the silver oxidizes and discolors the foil, producing a blackened metallic sheen (see Nicholas Pickwoad, "Bookbindings in the Bibliotheca Augusta," in A Treasure House of Books, 1998). Adams S-1907; BM/STC German, p.834; Phillips Atlases 3390.
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Xylander's edition of Strabo is illustrated with most of the maps used in Sebastian Münster's editions of Ptolemy, printed by Heinrich Petri and his heirs from 1540. The binding tools are characteristic of the Nothern European style of the period, with tooling in Zwischen Gold, a metal foil popular in German-speaking areas of Europe. A thin layer of true gold is beaten over a supporting layer of silver foil. In time, the silver oxidizes and discolors the foil, producing a blackened metallic sheen (see Nicholas Pickwoad, "Bookbindings in the Bibliotheca Augusta," in A Treasure House of Books, 1998). Adams S-1907; BM/STC German, p.834; Phillips Atlases 3390.