De Re Rustica Libri XIIII

Luguni; [Lyon]: Sebastien Gryphe, 1549. Octavo (16 x cm.), [1-2] 3-184, [8] pages. Collation: 2A-2M8. With decorative initials, printer's devices to title page and final page. Text in Latin. An early Lyon edition. A Roman agricultural treatise from the late 4th or early 5th century, well-known throughout the medieval period, also called Opus Agriculturae. Palladius tells us that he owned land in the Neapolitan countryside and in Sardinia and that he directed the farming himself. This work is the result of his observations but was strongly influenced by Columella and others. With general advice on farming, including fruit trees, viticulture, beekeeping, and an early reference to a water mill; and including an 85-couplet poem on grafting. Palladius drew on earlier agricultural authors, but his treatise is condensed and arranged in order by month and season, making his book a useful reference for working farmers. Minor external dirt, occasional foxing, slight worming to lower margins of many leaves, effecting text in some cases. Parchment over boards, rebacked in later parchment and titled in black on spine, all edges sprinkled red and green; renewed endleaves. Still, overall very good. Bookplate of the James V. Brown Library, Williamsport, PA. [OCLC locates twenty-one copies of this printing; USTC 150242; Adams P112; ].