8vo. 2 volumes in 1: 226,(12 index)(2 blank); 491,(17 index) p. 17th century vellum 18 cm (Ref: Schweiger 2,1307; Ebert 20741; Fabricius/Ernesti 1,33/34) (Details: 2 thongs laced through the joints. Brown morocco shield with gilt short title on the back. Gryphius' printer's mark on both titles, motto: 'Virtute duce, comite Fortuna'. Occasional woodcut initials. Text printed in italics) (Condition: Vellum soiled. Wear to the letter label on the back. Front joint split for 2 cm at the foot of the spine. A few tiny and unobstrusive wormholes in the vellum at the foot of the spine. One small ink underlining. Stamp on the lower margin of p. 3. Traces of an old, small ink stain at the outer margin of the first gathering; the ink has left a small damage at the right margin of the title. Faint waterstain in the last quarter of the book) (Note: Famine (with the plague) was a great problem in France during the first half of the 16th century. There were serious food shortages and outbreaks of disease in the early 1520th. This scourge reached its peak in the crisis of 1545/46 which was perhaps the most terrible year in the history of 16th century Paris. Many thousands died of hunger. This period is marked by a dramatic fall in living standards. The gravity of the situation began to be reflected in the medical and agricultural literature of that time: how to avoid disease and preserve health in times of dearth on a poor diet of gruel, bread, broth and beer. The French humanist schoolmaster Robert Breton, whose ideas were heavily coloured by classical influences, published in 1539 his 'Agriculturae encomium', in which he emphasized the need to combine theoretical and practical learning in agriculture. 'The food produced in the countryside, he pointed out, was absolutely essential to the existence of the towns and the state itself'. (H. Heller, 'Labour, science and technology in France', Cambr. 1996, p. 66) Food, especially grain, was not only scarce because of the ignorance and poverty of the peasantry, but also because of warfare. Towards the middle of this century the provision of an adequate food supply became urgent. 'Beyond assuring the subsistence of the population, it as critical to maintaining the momentum of the burgeoning manufacturing sector of the economy. Sustaining profit margins in industry depended on controling wages. Relatively low wages were only possible if the cost of grain (...) could be contained. As a result, one notes a growing preoccupation with agriculture among humanist authors'. (Op. cit. p. 65) Between 1529 and 1550 eight Latin editions of the works of Cato, Varro, Columella and Palladius were published in Paris and Lyon. Palladius (1551) and Columella (1551, 1558) were also translated into French. The result was also a flood of publications on food and crops, and suggestions for the development of agriculture on a more rational basis. The basis for reform was laid by three Roman gentlemen-farmers and landowners Cato, Varro and Columella, who wrote about agriculture, and were also successful practical farmers. Their aim was to bring Roman farming on a higher level. The conjunction of these three didactic texts can be found from the Middle Ages. They were jointly published for the first time in 1472 in Venice, and form the chief texts on agriculture and rural life in antiquity. The oldest of the trio is the Roman politician Marcus Porcius Cato, 234-149 B.C., the source of famous maxims for orators, like 'rem tene, verba sequentur', and that an orator is a 'vir bonus dicendi peritus'. 'He distinguished himself for fearless and ruthless attacks on those whose way of life did not agree with his own somewhat old-fashioned and puritanical morality'. (H.J. Rose, 'A Handbook of Latin Literature', London 1967, p. 91) In style and in character he was a typical farmer, shrewd, hardworking, frugal, honest, sincere, but limited. His 'De re rustica', also known as 'De agri cultura' is a kind of commonplace book. It gives us a view of the life of an oldfashioned landowner in that age, and offers information on Roman cult and rustic folklore. The second work was written by possibly the greatest scholar Rome produced, Marcus Terentius Varro, 116-27 B.C. Of the mass of works he wrote only one is preserved to us completely, 'De re rustica', and further more parts and fragments of some others. He was a landowner on a large scale, who wrote 'De re rustica' in his eightieth year (annus octogesimus), he tells us in the beginning, 'ut sarcinas colligam ante quam profiscar e vita'. It is a philosophic dialogue in 3 books, in which he gives sound and practical advice for managing a farm (I), a stock-ranch (II), poultry, aviary and herb-garden (III). 'While giving interesting information on the state of agriculture at that time, it is withal a pleasantly discursive book, the work of a garrulously entertaining old scholar' (H.J. Rose, 'A Handbook of Latin Literature', London 1967, p. 222) Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella was a contemporary of Seneca. He wrote his 'De re rustica', consisting of 12 books, ca. 60-65 A.D. He was a practical farmer on a large scale, who was concerned over the decline of the agriculture in his days. 'Book 1 deals with general matters of buildings and labour, 2 with soils and crops, 3-5 with vines, olives and fruittrees, 6-7 with domestic animals, 8 with poultry and fishponds, 9 with game and bees, 10 (in verse) with gardening, 11 with the bailiff's duties and the farmer's calendar, 12 with the bailiff's wife's duties'. (OCD 2nd ed. p. 268) A separate book on arboriculture, part of a larger work, survives too. His style is straitforward and pleasant. The texts of this trio were edited by Piero Vettori, or Petrus Victorius, 1499-1585, the foremost representative of classical scholarship in Italy during the 16th century, which may well be called the 'Saeculum Victorianum'. (J.E. Sandys, 'A history of classical scholarship', N.Y., 1964, p. 135) With his publication in 1541 begins for the 'Scriptores De re rustica', according to J.M. Gesner in his Biponti-edition of 1787, a new era, the 'Aetas Victoriana'. Vettori, whom Fabricius/Ernsti calls the 'saviour' (sospitator) of the genre, concentrated himself with the help of old manuscripts, and his own wit, especially on Cato and Varro. Vettori produced for Gryphius in 1542 also a separate volume containing the justification of his emendations, which is often joined to the text edition. (Petri Victorii Explicatio suarum in Catonem, Varronem, Columellam castigationum separatim edita) In 1548/49 Gryphius brought a reissue of these editions of Vettori on the market, augmented with a volume with the text of 'De re rustica' of the late antique agriculturalist with estates in Italy and Sardinia, Palladius, and a volume containing the commentary on these texts by the Italian scholars Georgius Merula (Alexandrinus) and Philippus Beroaldus. The set on offer contains the texts of the triumvirate Cato, Varro and Columella only, and is not accompanied by the supplementary volume of Palladius, and the commentary of Alexandrinus and Beroaldus. (A clear survey of the editions can be found in the 'Index Editionum' in Gesner's Biponti-edition of 1787/88) The preface of Pietro Vettori to the first volume, dated Florence 1541, is dedicated to the cardinal Marcello Cervini, the future Pope Marcellus II. In it Vettori tells the reader that he not merely used already published texts, but that he collated for this edition old manuscripts, and that he also was to publish a volume with explanations of all the emendations he made with the help of the manuscripts. (praefatio p. 5) (Provenance: On the lower blank margin of the recto of leaf a-2 of the first volume a stamp of 'Dn. Jph Nicolas de Azara'. Don José Nicolás de Azara, marquis de Nibbiano, 1730-1804, was besides a Spanish civil servant, diplomat and prominent representative of the Spanish Enlightenment, also a famous maecenas and art collector. He achieved international fame as ambassador in Rome, where he remained for more than 30 years, followed by a post in Paris from 1796 to 1803. In Italy Azara became close friends with Johann Joachim Winckelman, the printer Bodoni, and when in France with Napoleon and Talleyrand. But most of all De Azara is known for his friendschip with the German painter Anton Raphael Mengs, 1728-1779, a precursor to Neoclassical painting. Mengs painted the most famous portrait of Winckelmann, and also in the same style a delicate portrait of his patron Azara. This is considered to be one of his finest portraits. When in Rome Azara initiated an excavation project in Tivoli near Rome. After this he began to collect classical portraits and sculptures. By the end of his life he possessed some 70 magnificent masterpieces portraying Homer, Menander Miltiadis et alii. Azara's friendship with Napoleon, which arose from his diplomatic mission of 1796, is proved by a most royal gift to the Frenchman, the socalled 'Azara Herm', the iconic bust of Alexander, attributed to the Greek sculptor Lysippus, 4th century B.C., and now in the Louvre. Azara had unearthed the bust in 1779 at Tivoli, and presented it to Napoleon probably during his time as First Consul, i.e. not before 1803. On the verso of the title a small and old inscription: 'Scriptores Rei Rustic. Cato, Varro et Columella. Lugd. Gryphius, 1549 & 49, fr. 6') (Collation: a-p8 (leaf p8 blank); a-z8, A-I8 (minus the blank leaves I7 & I8)) (Photographs on request)