[COOKERY & VITICULTURE] Il Latte, Idilio

8vo.  200 x 125 mm., [7 ½ x 5 inches].  18 [2] pp. Modern blue paper wrappers.

First and only edition.  Rare poem in praise of milk’s wholesomeness, a natural food that “purifies the blood, makes clear the mind”.  The author challenges physicians who question its benefits and condemn its use as an important food element.  “Milk, according to Mr. Cerretesi, is the most suitable food for the human body” (Journal encyclopèdique).  Lamy adds, “The healthiness of milk is praised, and the ignorance of those Doctors who condemn a food so suitable for our bodies, are reproached.” 

ICCU (Italian Union Catalogue) cites 2 copies in Italy.  USTC (Union Short Title Catalogue) cites one copy in Leipzig and OCLC does not cite this title.

Journal encyclopèdique, VIII, part 2.  Lami, Annales Typographici, p. 160, no. 38.  (1238). For biographical information on Cerretesi, see Maria Augusta Timpanaro Morelli’s article in Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, V, 23.