CRESCENS Pierre de Ruralia commoda. Il libro della agricultura

ISTC ic00973000 ; USTC 995538 ; Goff, C973 ; GW, 7826 ; CIBN, C-673 ; BMC, VI, 627 ; this edition not in Schwerdt or Thiébaud.

First edition of the first Italian translation.

It is very rare on the market. It is preceded only by two Latin editions (Augsburg 1471 and Leuven 1474).

Pierre de Crescens (Bologna, 1230-c. 1320), writer and magistrate, can be considered the father of modern agronomic literature.

“A most interesting treatise on the art of cultivating vines and making wine, the author of which, known as Petrus de Crescentiis or Pierre Crescenzi, refers to himself as follows: ‘Petrus ex Crescentia natus, civis Bononiensis’. ‘Book IV is devoted entirely to vines and wine: “De vitibus et vineis et cultu carum, ac natura et utilitate fructus ipsarum” (see Simon).

Drawing inspiration from both the great Latin authors—Cato, Varro, Palladius, and Columella—and medieval authorities, Crescenzi recorded in his treatise on rural economics the fruits of his own observations as well as information provided to him by scholars at the University of Bologna and a large number of learned clergymen.

Written with the utmost care and proofread by several scholars, including Fra Amerigo da Piacenza, the work was an immediate success and quickly spread throughout Europe. Charles V had it translated into French in 1373, and it was one of the first texts to be printed after the invention of the printing press, which shows how highly it was regarded in humanist circles (the first edition appeared in Augsburg in 1471).

This seminal book, “the prototype of all Maisons rustiques” (Thiébaud), was also, when it was published in 1471, the first printed work to contain a section entirely devoted to hunting, with the other chapters covering all aspects of rural life: agriculture, plowing, gardening, edible and medicinal plants, animal husbandry, viticulture, beekeeping, food, etc.

Of particular interest are chapters 4 (vine cultivation, wine making) and chapter 10, entirely devoted to breeding and caring for birds of prey.

Well represented in institutional libraries in Italy, ISTC locates one copy of this edition in Austria (incomplete); only one in France (BnF); 2 in Germany; 4 in the United Kingdom; one at the Vaticana; and only 4 copies in the United States (San Marino: Huntington Library; Washington DC: Library of Congress; Chicago: Newberry Library; New Haven: Yale/Beinecke Library).

The digitized copy of Biblioteca universitaria Allessandrina (Rome) does not contain the first quire of 6 leaves with the dedication to Amerigo de Piacensa followed by the detailed index.

First quire with consolidated margins and most liklely supplied at the moment of binding, rare small stains. Otherwise a fine copy.

Provenance : old ownership note on the inner cover “Edizione principe di questa traduzione. Rarissima” – Yves Burrus (book plate)