Matthioli - Dioscoride - 1550

THE MAGIC TREE IN THE SECRET GARDEN: THE BIBLE OF RENAISSANT SPICERS
The sixth book, the Antidotary, with its own title page, adorned with a large woodcut illustration: At the top a head of an angel. At the bottom the Hebrew people in the desert - motto: Pian piano - Sicut Moses exaltavit serpentem in deserto ita exaltari oportet filium hominis Dante III (V498).
This work, among the most influential in Renaissance botany, arises as a meeting between the ancient pharmacological authority of Dioscorides and the extraordinary erudite ambition of Pietro Andrea Mattioli, who makes it the medical text most widely used in the fifteenth century. The Venetian edition of 1550, printed by Vincenzo Valgrisi at Erasmo’s workshop, stands out for the luminosity of its typographic layout, the elegance of the woodcut initials, and the care given to the editorial arrangement. In it is condensed a worldview in which empirical observation of plants coexists with a symbolic and sometimes occult aura: an ancient heritage reinterpreted in the height of the Renaissance. For physicians, apothecaries, naturalists and alchemists, Mattioli was for centuries a doorway to the vast repertoire of therapeutic and mysterious virtues of nature, shaping its imagination and guiding its practices.
MARKET VALUE
The market for sixteenth-century copies of Mattioli’s Dioscoride is highly variable and depends on preservation, completeness, integrity of the text, and readability of the paper. Mid‑century Venetian editions generally sit between €1,700 and €2,000 per copy in average condition; complete, well-preserved copies with bright paper and solid bindings can reach €3,500–€5,000. Higher prices concern illustrated copies particularly rare or with notable provenance.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
The sixth book, the Antidotary, with its own title page, adorned with a large woodcut illustration.
01: alo- a;on l-li stMa (3) 1550 (R) 02: dear heo- o,e- tesp (3) 1550 (R) - Twisted snake around a staff in the shape of a tau held by hands emerging from the clouds. (Z1035) - On the front of part 1.
Twisted snake around a staff in the shape of a tau supported by hands emerging from clouds (U517) - At the end.
Twisted snake around a rod with a T shape supported by hands emerging from clouds. At the top a head of an angel. At the bottom the Hebrew people in the desert Pian piano - Sicut Moses exaltavit serpentem in deserto ita exaltari oportet filium hominis Dante III (V498) - On the front of the second part.
Later full-leather binding, gilt tooling on spine and a black panel with title. Signs of wear, a stain at the upper edge of the first leaves, red spots. Numerous woodcut initials inhabited. Pages (2); 132; 818; (2); 130; 14nn; (4). Interesting manuscript (contemporary?) at the colophon and the last leaf.

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
The Dioscorides of the excellent doctor of medicine Mr. Pietro Andrea Mattioli of Siena; with his discourses, here illustrated for the third time and abundantly expanded. With the sixth book of antidotes against all poisons translated by him, and with learned discourses throughout commented. ... There are also many other scattered additions throughout the volume, two beautiful discourses added above the prologues of the first and fifth books ..
2: The sixth book of Pedacio Dioscoride Anazarbeo in which are treated the remedies of deadly poisons, both preserved and cured; translated and commented in the vulgar Italian language by Mr. Pietro Andrea Matthiolo, Sienese physician
Venice, at Vincenzo Valgrisi’s workshop, near Erasmo, 1550.
Pietro Andrea Mattioli.
Dioscoride Pedanio.

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
The text belongs to the great humanist project of recovering the ancient natural sciences through a renewed, empirical and systematic approach. Dioscorides’ De materia medica, cornerstone of Greco-Roman pharmacology, is reinterpreted by Mattioli through direct observations, expanded descriptive passages, and comparisons with contemporary medical practice. The result is a treatise that not only updates the tradition but transforms it: an encyclopedia of natural substances in which Galenic medicine, experimental knowledge, and a symbolic imagination grounded in the occult qualities of plants coexist. The Venetian Valgrisi editions played a decisive role in the dissemination of the work thanks to their clarity, robust layout, and ability to meet the growing demand for reliable and readable medical texts, becoming indispensable tools in universities, apothecary shops, and European alchemical circles.

BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Pietro Andrea Mattioli (Siena, 1501 – Trento, 1578) was a physician, botanist and scholar. Trained in Padua, he held positions at various Italian and imperial courts. His scientific activity, based on direct observation, earned him continental renown. His commentary on De materia medica made Dioscorides accessible to modern readers and transformed the work into the principal botanical repertoire of the XVI century.

Brief biography of Dioscorides
Dioscorides Pedani (1st century C.E.), Greek physician and pharmacologist, is the author of De materia medica, the most influential treatise on pharmacy and botany in antiquity. Used up to the modern era, it represented the basis of European therapeutic knowledge for more than a millennium and a half.

PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
The Dioscoride in Mattioli’s edition enjoyed extraordinary diffusion in the XVI century, with numerous Venetian editions characterized by variations in leaves, colophons, and the presence of figures. The workshop of Vincenzo Valgrisi, active in the first half of the Cinquecento, became one of the main centers of Mattioli production thanks to the quality of printing and its ability to reach a broad and specialized audience. The Venetian copies circulated throughout Europe, in universities, courts, apothecaries, and private libraries, contributing to the definition of modern botanical science.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
Durling, Richard J., A catalogue of sixteenth century printed medical books in the National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, 1967 (entry on Mattioli, NLM 16th cent., no. 3024).
Nissen, C., Die botanische Buchillustration. Ihre Geschichte und Bibliographie, 2 vols., Stuttgart, 1951–1966 (for Mattioli, no. 1304).
Pritzel, G. A., Thesaurus literaturae botanicae, Leipzig, 1872 (for Mattioli, no. 5987).