Rare Early Medical Book in Exquisite Gilt Morocco,
From the Famous Library of a Venetian Dipolomat

(BINDINGS - DUODO). ORIBASIUS.

SYNOPSEOS AD EVSTATHIVM FILIVM LIB. NOVEM.

(Paris: Maurice Meunier for Oudin Petit, 1554). 121 x 79 mm (4 3/4 x 3 1/8"). 527, [1] pp. FIRST EDITION.

SPLENDID 16TH CENTURY PARISIAN CITRON MOROCCO, VERY LAVISHLY GILT, FOR PIETRO DUODO, boards with an elegant frame of leafy fronds enclosing a large central panel occupied by five horizontal rows of three ovals, each of these ovals enclosing a lovely flower tool, the covers also with a large number of gilt thistles, passion flowers, and other small tools, a slightly larger central oval on the upper cover with the armorial crest of Duodo (Olivier 65), and that on the lower cover with three lilies on a hillock as well as a collar containing Duodo's motto, "Expectata non eludet" ("She whom I await with longing will not elude me"), flat spine similarly gilt with two flower medallions above and below a central oval containing the author's name, the spine ends raised above the top and bottom board edges in the à la grecque style, all edges gilt. In a felt-lined folding cloth box. With woodcut initials and woodcut device on title page. Ruled in red throughout. Front pastedown with green morocco bookplate of Michel Wittock (see below); front free endpaper with ink inscription "Cuthell Martin 23 May [18]04" (presumably recording purchase from London booksellers Cuthell & Martin). Durling 3410; Wellcome I, 4649; Hobson & Culot 68B (for the binding). A hint of uniform darkening to the backstrip, two tiny wormholes near tail of spine, corners and joints slightly rubbed, isolated insignificant stains internally, but still A VERY FINE COPY, the text remarkably fresh and clean, and THE EXQUISITE LITTLE BINDING LUSTROUS AND GENERALLY IN AN ESPECIALLY PLEASING STATE OF PRESERVATION, the minor wear far outweighed by the bright, sumptuous gilt.

This is one of the loveliest little bindings we have ever offered for sale, and the story of its ownership is nearly as intriguing as its appearance is beautiful. Venetian diplomat Pietro Duodo (1554-1611) served as ambassador to the court of French king Henry IV from 1594 to 1597, and took advantage of his residency in Paris to accumulate a portable gentleman's library of 90 works in 133 small but dazzling volumes. He commissioned a Parisian atelier to produce richly decorated, color-coded bindings for the works: olive brown morocco for literature (72 volumes); red for theology, philosophy, and history (46 volumes); and--rarest by far--citron for medicine and botany (15 volumes). Duodo never had the chance to enjoy his books: he was recalled to Venice and later served as its ambassador to Prague, London, and the Vatican. His portable humanist library remained in Paris, probably packed away, for 200 years. Volumes began to appear on the market around the time of the French Revolution, and have been sought after by collectors ever since. The binding's provenance can be established by the very distinctive stamps used on the Duodo bindings, as well as unusual features like the raised "à la grecque" head and tail of the spine, seen here and on other Duodo bindings in the British Library's Database of Bookbindings. The fourth century physician Oribasius was born in Pergamon (the birthplace of Galen), studied under Zeno at the medical school in Alexandria, and became physician to Emperor Julian, Constantine's nephew. According to "Heirs of Hippocrates," he was "one of the most important medical figures of the Byzantine period and was responsible for preserving the writings of many medical authorities of antiquity in his 'Synagogae Medicae.' In this 72-book encyclopedia of medicine, of which only one-third has been preserved, he carefully translated and excerpted the works of such notable authors as Archigenes, Rufus, Aristotle, Heliodorus, Soranus, Antyllus, and Galen." Many of those represented are known only through Oribasius' extracts. Our volume is a synopsis of this great work, well suited for a travelling library like the one assembled by Duodo. This item was later part of the renowned collection of Michel Wittock, one of the great collectors of bindings in the 20th century. Wittock founded the Biblioteca Wittockiana in his native Belgium, a private library where exhibitions from his extensive collection are open to the public. In order to create an endowment to ensure the continuation of the library's work, and to add fine modern bindings to its collection, Wittock sold some of his early volumes, including this one, at auction in 2004. Any book from Duodo's library would be a notable volume, but an early work on medicine that is quite rare as well is an obvious bonus. Except for the present copy--which sold at Christie's in 2004 for the dollar equivalent of approximately $15,500 (including buyer's premium)--ABPC seems to list just one other medical book from Duodo's library since 1975. (ST11795)