P. Andre Matthioli - Les Commentaires Médecin - 1680

Ultima Rara Edizione

Pietro Andrea Mattioli
Les Commentaires..; 1680

Pp.(6),xcv,(15),636,(36). With Portrait. 36.9x24 cm

Last Important and rare edition of the copy of “Commentaires de M. P. André Matthioli, médecin sienois, sur les six livres de la matière médicinale de Pedacius Dioscoride” by Pietro Andrea Mattioli, among the most authoritative and widespread interpretations of Pedanius Dioscorides’ work, a foundation of ancient and modern pharmacology. The edition, printed in Lyon in 1680 by Jean-Baptiste de Ville, sits in the full maturity of Mattioli’s editorial fortune and testifies to the extraordinary European diffusion of this capital text.

The work, in its enlarged and revised French version, offers a wide and updated corpus of botanical, medical, and therapeutic observations, in which classical tradition is integrated with Renaissance and proto-modern experience. The volume is distinguished by its rich iconographic apparatus, consisting of numerous wood-engraved plates of medicinal plants, executed with remarkable descriptive precision and scientific purpose, which make the work not only a study tool but also a figurative testimony of great value.

A complete and conforming copy, enriched by the presence of the author’s portrait, an element frequently missing and of particular collecting interest. Of notable significance is also the inclusion of the final chemistry treatise, which documents the evolution of medical knowledge toward more modern experimental realms, further increasing the bibliographic importance of the edition.

Contemporary binding in full leather, with gold-decorated raised spine; wear and patina appropriate to the period, small defect to the upper cap, small stains to the boards, somewhat loosened hinges, which do not compromise the structural integrity or full usability of the volume; faint signs of handling between the 5th and 6th book that do not affect the text at all, a few stains on the final index in the upper part; interior generally well preserved, with wide and fresh sheets.

A work of primary importance in the history of medicine and botany, Mattioli’s Commentaries enjoyed extraordinary diffusion throughout Europe, influencing medical and pharmaceutical practice for centuries. Complete copies, with portrait and enriched by contemporaneous additions, are today increasingly difficult to locate on the art market. The present volume thus stands as a high-level opportunity for collectors and scholars, combining historical value, rarity, and scientific relevance in a single, highly prestigious bibliographic testament.

For completeness, iconographic quality, and historical-scientific relevance, the work constitutes a specimen of clear interest to antiquarian collectors and institutions dedicated to the history of medicine and botany, representing one of the most significant testimonies of the Dioscoridean tradition in European culture.