2 Large folios - Giorgio Liberale; W. Meyerpeck - Botany: Cardamom, Nardus Indica - 1565





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Two large folio volumes by Giorgio Liberale and W. Meyerpeck, titled Botany: Cardamom, Nardus Indica, with hand-coloured woodcuts, each leaf measuring 34 x 22.7 cm, in Good condition and dating to the 16th century, linked to Mattioli’s Herbarz edition.
Description from the seller
Giorgio Liberale (1527–c.79) ; W. Meyerpeck
2 fine folio with woodcuts.
Woodcuts hand coloured.
Leaf: 34 x 22.7 cms.
FOLIO
Issued in:
Pietro Andrea Mattioli (Siena 1501 - Trento 1568)
Herbarz. Prag, G. Melantrich, 1562
Bibliographical references: Nissen, BBI 1314; Pritzel 5992; Anderson, Herbals 163.
"Many of these woodcuts were so delicately cut, that the blocks soon became worn. The 'first impressions' of such woodcuts were undoubtedly the best" (Savage 127).
Pietro Andrea Mattioli's (1500–77) Herbarz (1562) was one of the most significant editions of Mattioli's commentary on Dioscorides (circa A.D. 40–90). It is also one of scarcest herbals, with less than a handful of copies extant in North America.
Giorgio Liberale was an Italian artist from Udine who had been working for the imperial court in Prague. In this role he produced some 600 large blocks that were used in the Prague edition of Matthioli’s Herbal. The work resulted in some of the finest woodcuts of any herbal produced in any century.
Please view images carefully. Some light staining.
Seller's Story
Giorgio Liberale (1527–c.79) ; W. Meyerpeck
2 fine folio with woodcuts.
Woodcuts hand coloured.
Leaf: 34 x 22.7 cms.
FOLIO
Issued in:
Pietro Andrea Mattioli (Siena 1501 - Trento 1568)
Herbarz. Prag, G. Melantrich, 1562
Bibliographical references: Nissen, BBI 1314; Pritzel 5992; Anderson, Herbals 163.
"Many of these woodcuts were so delicately cut, that the blocks soon became worn. The 'first impressions' of such woodcuts were undoubtedly the best" (Savage 127).
Pietro Andrea Mattioli's (1500–77) Herbarz (1562) was one of the most significant editions of Mattioli's commentary on Dioscorides (circa A.D. 40–90). It is also one of scarcest herbals, with less than a handful of copies extant in North America.
Giorgio Liberale was an Italian artist from Udine who had been working for the imperial court in Prague. In this role he produced some 600 large blocks that were used in the Prague edition of Matthioli’s Herbal. The work resulted in some of the finest woodcuts of any herbal produced in any century.
Please view images carefully. Some light staining.

