Milestones of Science Books

[LAUFENBERG, Heinrich].

Versehung von Leib, Seele, Ehre und Gut.

Nürnberg: Peter Wagner, 1489.

1st Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. Item #004078

4to (215 x 155 mm). [1], CLXXI, [9] leaves, bound without final blank. Black letter. Letterpress title and full-page woodcut on verso; full-page exlibris woodcut on final leaf verso; 151 richly ornamented black-ground woodcut initials after Israhel van Meckenem. Signatures: a-v⁸ x-y⁶ z¹⁰ (-z10). Bound in contemporary blind-stamped half pigskin over wooden boards, spine with two raised bands and two hand-lettered paper labels, brass catch preserved, leather strap and closure gone; uncut and with deckle edges preserved (small wormholes to wood and leather, extremities rubbed). Preserved in custom clamshell box. Pastedowns and 6 flyleaves with copious contemporary manuscript notes. Somewhat browned and foxed internally, faint finger-soiling, minor worming in blank margins and slight edge wear in places. The first 4 leaves with waterstains near gutter, a few minor brown spots. Some old marginalia in brown and red ink by various hands. Few pages rubricated, border line of an initial rubricated, 2 further initials and a few lines of text with pale red smudged coloring; f.81 with tear, f.125 with small hole in the text area due to paper defect, f.140 with old tear in the margin; 5 leaves with remnants of old leather leaf markers. An exceptional and textually complete copy. Provenance: The ex-libris woodcut at the end with crossed-out ownership notes "Willa (Wella?) Gollatterin V V," "hueberin," as well as a painted coat of arms and the uncrossed ownership note of a vicar named Leonhard Korber (probably from the Bad Cannstatt area), which is repeated on the title leaf recto and dated 1562; ink stamp of the Imperial University of Moscow on the title verso (numerous, mostly valuable works were sold from this collection, especially after the October Revolution, for the purpose of obtaining foreign currency; Antiquarian bookshop B. Quaritch (collation note in pencil, ca. 1990). An exceptional copy in its original binding, uncut and with the copious annotations and notes unshaved. ----

RARE FIRST EDITION of the important medical book for the general public. "The medical section, which makes up almost 7/8 of the whole, contains a complete semiology, special pathology, therapy, and pharmacology. It advises consulting a doctor and, where this is not possible, teaches pulse taking and assessment, urine examination and detailed assessment of the various colors and other physical characteristics of urine, and then deals in equal detail with the indications and performance of bloodletting ... and behavior in times of plague, etc., as well as cupping ... Digestion and laxatives of all kinds in potions, suppositories, and enemas are also explained in detail... The individual more common local and general diseases (including gynecology) are then discussed in detail, and finally some 40 herbs and their effects are discussed, as well as over 90 'priced waters' (according to Schrick). The conclusion is a discussion of the signs of death. A thoroughly remarkable popular work" (transl. Sudhoff, Dt. med. Inkunabeln 230).
The introduction deals with caring for the sick, drawing up a will (with an example), and concludes with spiritual medicine (admonitions, confession, prayers, etc.). The attribution to Konrad Zeininger as printer by Sudhoff and Proctor is outdated. The xylographic title "Verseh'g leib sel er unnd gutt" is decorated with printed bands and slightly rubricated. The woodcut on the reverse of the title page with the banner "Versehung eines menschen leib sel ere und gut" shows a sick man lying in bed, to his left a priest with a host, a doctor with a urine glass, and a notary. In the background, a young woman is bringing food, and in the foreground, an old woman is reading a large book. The final woodcut depicts a universal bookplate with the banner "Das puch und der schilt ist" (The book and the shield are) with space for the owner's name and coat of arms. The magnificent initials with foliage, tendrils, and fruits on a black background are woodcut copies of the letters of the "greater capital alphabet" by Israhel van Meckenem the Younger.
References and bibliography: ISTC iv00235000; Klebs 1028,1 Hain-C. 16019; GW M50194; BMC II, 463; Goff V-235; Schramm XVIII, p.18; Waller 146; Schullian-Sommer 479; nicht bei Wellcome; H.H.Menge, Das "Regimen" Heinrich Laufenbergs. Textologische Untersuchung und Edition, Göppinger Arbeiten zur Germanistik 184, Göppingen, 1976, pp. 38–120; A.Klöss, Die Inkunabel "Versehu(n)g leib sel er unnd gutt" von 1489: Analyse eines medizinischen Wiegendrucks aus dem späten 15. Jahrhundert. Diss. Köln 2009.

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