16th-century leaf with two illustrations, one showing the harvesting of white pepper and the other of a still from Ambroise Paré's Distillations

Paris: Chez G Boun, 1585. Unbound. Very good. This leaf (M.CLXXV-M.CLXXVi) measures approximately 8.25" x 12.5" and came from the 1585 printing of Les Oeuvres d'Ambroise . . . Des Distillations. The images are strong. The leaf has some minor soiling and edge-wear. The two images on this leaf show (roughly translated from Paré's French) show 1) a group of men, women and children harvesting white pepper and 2) a furnace arranged with vessels to distill the essences of sage, rosemary, thyme, lavender, anise, fennel, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, pepper, as well as wine, vinegar, and aqua vitae (brandy). Paré, the French royal surgeon for many years, was the preeminent surgeon of his time and is considered one of the fathers of surgery and modern forensic pathology as well as a pioneer of surgical techniques, battlefield medicine, and prosthetic design. He additionally had a scholarly interest in natural history, especially reports of "miraculous" or "monstrous" creatures and malformed births. (Inventory #: 008795)