About this Item
3 volumes in 1. Thick 4°, contemporary stiff vellum (slight warping), fore-edge cover extensions, horizontal title in early manuscript at head of spine (two small paper tags near top and center). Title of volume I printed letterpress within elaborate engraved architectural border showing allegorical figures of Neutralitas, Justitia, Diligentia, Veritas, Experientia and Libertas. Woodcut headpieces and initials. Some foxing and browning. In very good condition. Engraved armorial bookplate of the Bibliotheca Seckendorfiana. 474 pp., (29 ll.); (10 ll.), 391 pp., (26 ll.); (19 ll.), 379, (1) pp., (15 ll.). *** Later edition of this extraordinary collection of three hundred self-contained essays (three "centuries") full of fascinating facts and fictions culled from the author's wide reading. First published at Altdorf, 1591, in a single volume, it was soon expanded into three volumes, Frankfurt 1601-1609. It remained popular throughout the mid-seventeenth century (we have seen editions as late as 1658), and was translated to English, French, Italian, and German. Camerarius carefully cites his sources - nearly a thousand of them - in marginal notes, and lists them at the beginning of each volume. Occasionally he quotes directly from his sources, in Italian, French, Latin, Greek, and German.Broad subjects include history, natural history, mythology, linguistics, and religion. Among the specific topics covered are: elephants, werewolves, Cicero's death, Marseilles' law on bearing arms, punishment in kind, the Cabala, beggars and lepers, lions, bears, persecution of Christians by Nero and the Turks, amulets, the German language, libraries, laws against transvestites, homosexuality ("De turpi amore virorum erga viros, ementito sexu, sub praetextu nuptiarum, & falsa foeminarum specie."), the bite of the tarantula spider, the emotions of fish, the bulls of Arles, gypsies, the Faust legend, Turkish dervishes, the Gowrie conspiracy against King James VI of Scotland (1600), and the death of Sir Thomas More.In Book 1, chapter 77, which considers the efficacy of war cries in battle in striking fear into the enemy, Camerarius cites verbatim Jean de Léry's 1578 description of the shrieking Tupinambá Indians of Brazil (pp. 352-3).The engraved title page is similar in layout to the Frankfurt, 1609 and 1610 editions of the Centura tertia, but is clearly a later and rather more elegant development. The 1609 and 1610 editions have female figures of Justitia (top center), Veritas (center left) and Libertas (center right), with two unidentified female allegorical figures at upper right and upper left. The title page for the present edition has Justitia, Veritas, and Libertas in the same positions. However, the figure at the upper left, now blindfolded and holding a pen and an open book, is labeled "Neutralitas." The figure at the upper right, grasping a shovel and assorted tools, is "Diligentia." (In contrast to the figures on the 1609 and 1610 title pages, none of these are winged.) Below the letterpress title is "Experientia," a man in a loose tunic surrounded by piles of books. His feet rest on a small coat of arms.According to the engraved title page, the first volume (Centuria Prima) was printed in Frankfurt at the press of Caspar Rötelius (Kaspar Rötel) and at the expense of Johannes Hallervordius (Johann Hallervord) and Joachim Wildius (Joachim Wilde). Its title page promises an "indice locupletissimo." The second title page (letterpress) promises Centuria, II, et editio correctior, atque auctior, Tertia: una cum Indice locupletissimo. The third title page (also letterpress) promises Centuria tertia, una cum indice locupletissimo. Both were printed in Frankfurt, at the press of Johannes Fridericus Weissius (Johann Friedrich Weiss) and the expense of Joachim Wildius (Joachim Wilde).Philippus Camerarius (1537-1624), humanist, professor, jurist, and historian, was the son of the German reformer and humanist Joachim Camerarius (1500-74). He studied.
Seller Inventory # 20637
Contact seller
Report this item
