Naturalis histori[a]e.

Accession number: 
PML 18395
Author: 
Pliny, the Elder.
Published: 
Restituit Venetis : me nuper Spira Ioannes, .M.CCCC.LXVIIII [1469, before 18 September].
Description: 
[358] leaves ; 40.5 cm (fol.)
Credit Line: 
Purchased by Pierpont Morgan, 1908.
Notes: 

Title from incipit, leaf [1]/1r: [P]linivs secundus nouocomensis equestribus militis industri[a]e functus: procurationes quoq[ue] splendidissimas atq[ue] continuas summa integritate administrauit. Et tamen liberalibus studius tantam operam dedit: ut non temere q[ui]s plura inotio scripserit. Itaq[ue] bella omnia qu[a]e undiq[ue] cum romanis gesta sunt .xxxvii. uolu[men]ibus compr[a]ehendit. Ite[m] naturalis histori[a]e .xxxvii. libros absoluit. ...
Imprint from colophon, leaf [36]/9: Quem modo tam rarum cupiens uix lector haber[et]: / Quiq[ue] etiam fractus pene legenus eram: / Restituit Venetis me nuper Spira Ioannes: / Exscripsitq[ue] libros [a]ere notante meos. / Fessa manus quondam moneo: Calamusq[ue] quiescat. / Nanq[ue] labor studio cessit: & ingenio. / .M.CCCC.LXVIIII.
Printed in De Spira's type 1:110R.
Collation: [1¹⁰ 2⁸; 3-9¹⁰ 10¹²; 11-18¹⁰ 19-20⁸; 21-28¹⁰ 29¹²; 30-32¹⁰ 33⁸; 34-36¹⁰]: 358 leaves, leaf [36]/10 blank.
Paper format: Royal folio.
Edition printed in 100 copies.
For 3 variant settings of leaves 1-5, see BMC reprint.
PML copy leaf dimensions: 39.5 x 29 cm.
PML copy missing 1 leaf: [36]/10 (blank).

Binding: 
19th-century English gilt-tooled full brown goatskin over heavy paper boards (40.5 x 30 cm), sewn on 6 supports by Francis Bedford. Plain paper pastedowns and endleaves; decorative endbands; gilt edges.
Variant Title: 

Historia naturalis

Inscriptions/Markings: 

Hand decoration: Contemporary Venetian rubrication and illumination; decorative floral border, previously attributed to Girolamo di Cremona (leaf [1]/1r), white vine initials on red/blue/green ground, some over woodcut pattern stamping, some with manuscript guide letter visible; minor initials in alternating red and blue, with pink chapter rubrics. Annotations: A few contemporary marginal notations, in several hands, sporadically in text, mainly keywords, including naming of winds (leaf [3]/7r). Contemporary manuscript alpha-numeric quire signatures.

Provenance: 
Unidentified (families include Alberici of Orvieto, Rossi of Florence, Odasio of Pesaro Urbino, Bado of Genoa, Peyrani of Turin, Oltrono Visconti of Milan, and Vignola of Padua) Italian armorial: d'azzurro, al leone d'oro, lampassato di rosso (leaf [1]/1r); unidentified Italian inscription, dated 10 May 1537 (leaf [36]/9v); Charles Scribners Sons, First Editions of 100 Famous Books, 1463-1795, exhibited 15-22 Nov. 1905, no. V for $7,500; Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913), purchased from J. Pearson & Co., 1908.
Classification: 
Department: