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ALDINI, Tobia and CASTELLI, Pietro
Exactissima descriptio rariorum quarundam plantarum...in Horto Farnesiano.
Rome, Jacob Maseardi,
1625
£3950.00
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FIRST EDITION. Folio. [xii] 100 [viii]. Roman letter, some Italic, within printed double line borders. Floriated and historiated woodcut initials, typographical and woodcut head and tail pieces, fine engraved architectural title-page by Luca Ciamberlano depicting Dioscorides and Theophrastus with putti and the Farnese arms at head, 22 full-page engraved botanical plates and 6 small woodcut illustations in text. Contemporary ms. ex libris at foot of t-p. "Biblioth. Domus Profess: Soctis Jesu Antwerp", and "Pharmacop domus professa Antwerpia Soc. Jesu" at head, bookplate of Günther Schmid on pastedown. Very light age yellowing. A very good copy, on thick paper with excellent dark impression of the plates, in contemporary vellum over boards, minor wear to corners, lacking ties. First edition of this beautifully illustrated catalogue of rare and exotic plants in the Farnese gardens in Rome by its curator Tobia Aldini of Cesena. The authorship has been hotly debated as although the title names Aldini as the author, the dedicatory poem contains an acrostic hiding the name 'Petrus Castellus Romanus'. The printer's address to the reader also highlights the phrase in capitals 'In gratiam Tobiae Aldini scripsi cuncta' which looks like Castelli's acknowledgement of Aldini's help in writing the work. Castelli (1570-1657) was professor of botany at the University of Rome, and the founder of Messina's botanical garden. "Aldini presents various rare plants from the unique collection of the Farnese family, which due to its close ties with the Jesuit Order, frequently obtained seeds and specimens of exotic plants from priests returning to Rome after long periods abroad. The enthusiasm with which these plants were received in Rome during the first decades of the seventeenth century is well documented: new species were avidly sought after and grown in private gardens, constituting objects of prestige to be vaunted in cultivated circles.... Exactissima description is divided into sixteen chapters, each one of which is devoted to a particular plant. A complete description of the plant, as well as details concerning its medicinal and culinary properties, are provided, while elegantly engraved plates aid the reader to grasp its salient characteristics... Although the name of the artist who made the preparatory drawings for this work is not known, the engraver can be identified as the same artist who signed the frontispiece, Luca Ciamberlano (1586-1641), then working in Rome as an engraver of religious, classical and allegorical subjects and as a designer of frontispieces. It is known that Castelli was an accomplished draughtsman with regard to plants, and it is quite possible that he was responsible for these high-quality plates..." Tongiorgi-Tomasi, An Oak Spring Flora. In addition to the cassia, to which Aldini dedicates the opening chapter, he also describes the passion-flower, the tobinambur, the Spanish dagger, an amaryllis, a Yucca gloriosa, several Aloes, and the leaves and branches of cinnamon. A very good copy of this beautifully illustrated work from the "Domus Professa" in Antwerp, an institution for learned Jesuits, that particularly specialized in the study of mathematics and the sciences generally. "
Describes and illustrates several American plants including the Yucca (agave)" Alden 625/49.
BM STC It C17 p. 203 (as Castelli). Hunt 208. Nissen BBI 13. Tongiorgi-Tomasi 28; Pritzel 1590 (as Castelli). Wellcome I 170.
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