De arte gymnastica libri sex…
Hieronymus Mercurialis [Girolamo MERCURIALE]
De arte gymnastica libri sex…
Venice, Apud Juntas [Giunta], 1573
8vo., sympathetically bound in modern vellum with string-tied binding; evidence of a leather label now lacking from backstrip (with impression remaining); red speckled edges; collation *6, A-C8, D10, E-S8, T10, V8, X6 complete with all 20 full-page woodcut illustrations, one in-text, and two full-page plans showing layouts of the Palaestra; all continuous with signatures; along with numerous woodcut initials and title vignette; an excellent, bright example, one or two pages very slightly browned, one or two small holes and closed tears, and wormholes throughout the text, all repaired, for the most part affecting the margins only (occasionally impacting one or two letters); some faded ink annotations to the margin of p. 192; minor tidemark affecting the upper margin of the latter quarter of the text block only; vellum slightly splayed, as is common; a very good example of this scarce work.
Second edition, first illustrated, dedicated to the Emperor Maximillian II. The first edition had appeared in 1569. Several editions followed, duplicating the illustrations which appear here for the first time. The best-known work of the Italian philologist and physician Girolamo Mercuriale (1530-1606), whose early studies into the classical and medical writers of Ancient Greece and Rome culminated in the publication of the present volume.
An extremely significant edition of a work which explores the importance of sports and gymnastics in the Ancient world, as well as one of the earliest books to discuss the impact of movement on general health and fitness. Considered to be one of the first texts in the West to discuss the importance of sports medicine, the plates depict discus throwing, pugilism (one of the first representations of a boxing match), acrobatics, juggling, and swings for women, as as well techniques for the binding of hands to be used in wrestling. Mercuriale was careful to distinguish between three different types of gymnastics; military (pyrrhics), a type of war dance performed in the wrestling grounds as part of gymnasium training (which he considers a necessary evil); competitive gymnastics (of which he disapproves); and medical gymnastics, which he endorses. As well as listing numerous texts by Greek and Latin authors on the subject of sports and gymnastics, Mercuriale also touches on the importance of a healthy balanced diet, bathing naked and general physical hygiene for the importance of a healthy and balanced life.
Following this publication, Mercuriale was appointed chair of practical medicine in Padua in 1569. He continued to write; his treatise on skin disease De morbis cutaneis was published in 1572, and others such as De morbis muliebribus ("On the diseases of women, 1582) and De morbis puerorum ("On the diseases of children, 1583) soon followed. His reputation continued to grow, though his mistreatment of a plague outbreak in Venice in 1575 (in which he ordered quarantine restrictions to be lifted in order to treat the sick) sabotaged this somewhat. Within two years, over one third of the population of Venice succumbed to the disease, partly due to the spread of infection his actions caused.
The illustrations present here are reproduced after designs by Pirro Ligorio (1512-1582), a draftsman, architect, painter, landscaper, and antiquarian who designed the Villa d’Este at Tivoli, famous for its architectural features such as fountains and ornamental basins, as well as its terraced Italian gardens. Ligorio was also responsible for the excavations of Hadrian's villa in Rome.
Scarce in such condition.
Hieronymus Mercurialis [Girolamo MERCURIALE]
De arte gymnastica libri sex…
Venice, Apud Juntas [Giunta], 1573
8vo., sympathetically bound in modern vellum with string-tied binding; evidence of a leather label now lacking from backstrip (with impression remaining); red speckled edges; collation *6, A-C8, D10, E-S8, T10, V8, X6 complete with all 20 full-page woodcut illustrations, one in-text, and two full-page plans showing layouts of the Palaestra; all continuous with signatures; along with numerous woodcut initials and title vignette; an excellent, bright example, one or two pages very slightly browned, one or two small holes and closed tears, and wormholes throughout the text, all repaired, for the most part affecting the margins only (occasionally impacting one or two letters); some faded ink annotations to the margin of p. 192; minor tidemark affecting the upper margin of the latter quarter of the text block only; vellum slightly splayed, as is common; a very good example of this scarce work.
Second edition, first illustrated, dedicated to the Emperor Maximillian II. The first edition had appeared in 1569. Several editions followed, duplicating the illustrations which appear here for the first time. The best-known work of the Italian philologist and physician Girolamo Mercuriale (1530-1606), whose early studies into the classical and medical writers of Ancient Greece and Rome culminated in the publication of the present volume.
An extremely significant edition of a work which explores the importance of sports and gymnastics in the Ancient world, as well as one of the earliest books to discuss the impact of movement on general health and fitness. Considered to be one of the first texts in the West to discuss the importance of sports medicine, the plates depict discus throwing, pugilism (one of the first representations of a boxing match), acrobatics, juggling, and swings for women, as as well techniques for the binding of hands to be used in wrestling. Mercuriale was careful to distinguish between three different types of gymnastics; military (pyrrhics), a type of war dance performed in the wrestling grounds as part of gymnasium training (which he considers a necessary evil); competitive gymnastics (of which he disapproves); and medical gymnastics, which he endorses. As well as listing numerous texts by Greek and Latin authors on the subject of sports and gymnastics, Mercuriale also touches on the importance of a healthy balanced diet, bathing naked and general physical hygiene for the importance of a healthy and balanced life.
Following this publication, Mercuriale was appointed chair of practical medicine in Padua in 1569. He continued to write; his treatise on skin disease De morbis cutaneis was published in 1572, and others such as De morbis muliebribus ("On the diseases of women, 1582) and De morbis puerorum ("On the diseases of children, 1583) soon followed. His reputation continued to grow, though his mistreatment of a plague outbreak in Venice in 1575 (in which he ordered quarantine restrictions to be lifted in order to treat the sick) sabotaged this somewhat. Within two years, over one third of the population of Venice succumbed to the disease, partly due to the spread of infection his actions caused.
The illustrations present here are reproduced after designs by Pirro Ligorio (1512-1582), a draftsman, architect, painter, landscaper, and antiquarian who designed the Villa d’Este at Tivoli, famous for its architectural features such as fountains and ornamental basins, as well as its terraced Italian gardens. Ligorio was also responsible for the excavations of Hadrian's villa in Rome.
Scarce in such condition.
Hieronymus Mercurialis [Girolamo MERCURIALE]
De arte gymnastica libri sex…
Venice, Apud Juntas [Giunta], 1573
8vo., sympathetically bound in modern vellum with string-tied binding; evidence of a leather label now lacking from backstrip (with impression remaining); red speckled edges; collation *6, A-C8, D10, E-S8, T10, V8, X6 complete with all 20 full-page woodcut illustrations, one in-text, and two full-page plans showing layouts of the Palaestra; all continuous with signatures; along with numerous woodcut initials and title vignette; an excellent, bright example, one or two pages very slightly browned, one or two small holes and closed tears, and wormholes throughout the text, all repaired, for the most part affecting the margins only (occasionally impacting one or two letters); some faded ink annotations to the margin of p. 192; minor tidemark affecting the upper margin of the latter quarter of the text block only; vellum slightly splayed, as is common; a very good example of this scarce work.
Second edition, first illustrated, dedicated to the Emperor Maximillian II. The first edition had appeared in 1569. Several editions followed, duplicating the illustrations which appear here for the first time. The best-known work of the Italian philologist and physician Girolamo Mercuriale (1530-1606), whose early studies into the classical and medical writers of Ancient Greece and Rome culminated in the publication of the present volume.
An extremely significant edition of a work which explores the importance of sports and gymnastics in the Ancient world, as well as one of the earliest books to discuss the impact of movement on general health and fitness. Considered to be one of the first texts in the West to discuss the importance of sports medicine, the plates depict discus throwing, pugilism (one of the first representations of a boxing match), acrobatics, juggling, and swings for women, as as well techniques for the binding of hands to be used in wrestling. Mercuriale was careful to distinguish between three different types of gymnastics; military (pyrrhics), a type of war dance performed in the wrestling grounds as part of gymnasium training (which he considers a necessary evil); competitive gymnastics (of which he disapproves); and medical gymnastics, which he endorses. As well as listing numerous texts by Greek and Latin authors on the subject of sports and gymnastics, Mercuriale also touches on the importance of a healthy balanced diet, bathing naked and general physical hygiene for the importance of a healthy and balanced life.
Following this publication, Mercuriale was appointed chair of practical medicine in Padua in 1569. He continued to write; his treatise on skin disease De morbis cutaneis was published in 1572, and others such as De morbis muliebribus ("On the diseases of women, 1582) and De morbis puerorum ("On the diseases of children, 1583) soon followed. His reputation continued to grow, though his mistreatment of a plague outbreak in Venice in 1575 (in which he ordered quarantine restrictions to be lifted in order to treat the sick) sabotaged this somewhat. Within two years, over one third of the population of Venice succumbed to the disease, partly due to the spread of infection his actions caused.
The illustrations present here are reproduced after designs by Pirro Ligorio (1512-1582), a draftsman, architect, painter, landscaper, and antiquarian who designed the Villa d’Este at Tivoli, famous for its architectural features such as fountains and ornamental basins, as well as its terraced Italian gardens. Ligorio was also responsible for the excavations of Hadrian's villa in Rome.
Scarce in such condition.