Lemnius Levin (3 results)

Couverture rigide. Condition: Très bon. Edition originale. Plein vélin de l'époque, dos lisse. Un volume in-8 ( x mm), 459-(37) pages. Etiquette au dos. Première édition en français. Médecin hollandais, disciple de Gesner et Vésale, Lemne livre ici un véritable cabinet de curiosités sur les origines des êtres vivants et maléfiques. References : Caillet [II, 6481 : "Cette traduction est d'Antoine du Pinet. La présente édition de Lyon, Frellon 1566 est extrêmement rare."], Yve-Plessis [238 : "au Chap.2 du Livre II, Lemne, tout en niant les maladies démoniaques, admet que le démon peut abuser les sens"], Catalogue Frédéric et Anne Max [87, ed. 1574 : " Par ses nombreuses éditions et traductions, l'ouvrage exerça une grande influence sur tout le seizième siècle. Il fut mis à l'index en 1583 par Rome et y fut maintenu jusqu'en 1900. Si les éditions latines sont courantes, la version française est rare."], Coumont [L51D.36]. ___________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________ENGLISH_DESCRIPTION : Contemporary full vellum, flat spine. 8vo (x mm), 459-(37) pages. Sticker on spine. First french edition. A Dutch doctor and disciple of Gesner and Vesalius, Lemne here delivers a veritable cabinet of curiosities on the origins of living and evil beings. References : Caillet [II, 6481 : "Cette traduction est d'Antoine du Pinet. La présente édition de Lyon, Frellon 1566 est extrêmement rare."], Yve-Plessis [238 : "au Chap.2 du Livre II, Lemne, tout en niant les maladies démoniaques, admet que le démon peut abuser les sens"], Catalogue Frédéric et Anne Max [87, ed. 1574 : " Par ses nombreuses éditions et traductions, l'ouvrage exerça une grande influence sur tout le seizième siècle. Il fut mis à l'index en 1583 par Rome et y fut maintenu jusqu'en 1900. Si les éditions latines sont courantes, la version française est rare."], Coumont [L51D.36].

Hardcover. Condition: Very good. 8vo., ff. (i) 212 (xx). Roman letter, side notes and quotations in Italic. Woodcut printers device on title, contemporary autograph "Grisson" beneath. Woodcut initials and decorations. Occasional cont. marginal annotations. Light paper yellowing. Very good copy in cont. vellum, 19C bookplates on paste down. Lemnius (1505-1568), studied medicine at Louvain under Dodoens, Gessner, and Vesalius and practised for over forty years in his home town of Zelande with great success. This work, translated by Jaques Gohory, was designed as much for the amusement of the reader as for his education and contains a mass of information, partly real partly fantastic, taken from ancient Greek, Hebrew, Arab, and Latin sources, and presented and commented on in rather haphazard fashion. "bits of medical and natural lore are thrown together hit-or-miss", although it is not without importance "since it was often cited by subsequent learned authors, and since the numerous editions and translations of it show that it was well suited to the tastes of the time."(Thorndike). Despite his interest in the occult and belief in the importance of the influence the stars and moon exert on the person, Lemnius remained pragmatic, always insisting on the importance of treating the patient with what remedies where available rather than relying on astronomy. Of the many diverse and interesting subjects the book deals with, such as the effects of human saliva, or whether it is better to sleep with ones mouth open or closed, one most referred to is the subject of vines, wine and drunks; white wine should be drunk before red, vinegar is useful in times of plague, the wines of the Poitou make you quarrelsome whereas the wines of the Rhine make you amorous and when inebriated, you must not sleep in the moons rays, etc. Translations of books dealing with the occult sciences are rare (an English translation of this work did not appear until 1650). BM STC Fr. 16C p.262. Brunet III 972. Graesse IV 159. Not in Adams. French edition not in Cantamessa. Not in Honeyman. Thorndike V 393/4. Simon II 403. French.

12°. Tit. m. gr. gest. Vign., 10 Bll. (7. Bl. w.), 638 S. Ldr. d. Zt. m. Rückengoldpräg. u. Linienvergold. Tit. u. erste S. m. kl. Randläsuren (b. Tit. hinterl.). Tit. m. gelöschtem Besitzverm. Dorbon-Aimé 2612; Rosenthal (Bibl. Magica) 2955; Wellcome III, 489 - "La plus jolie des nombreuses éditions de ce livre curieux. faite sur celle de Plantin, Anvers 1564 in 8" (Willems 1667) - "Lemnius describes the distillation `per alembicum` of brandy. He mentions the `compas`, `Pistolettes`, potable gold, the manufacture of salt, soap, and potash [.] the use of saltpetre in cooling wine." (Partington) Gewicht in Gramm: 500.