LYCOSTHENES, Conrad WOLFFHART, known as (1518-1561).... Lot 40

LYCOSTHENES, Conrad WOLFFHART, known as (1518-1561). Prodigiorum ac ostentorum chronicon... Basel: Henri Petri, 1557. Original edition, in a beautiful embossed binding of the time. We owe this compilation of wonders, monstrosities and supernatural phenomena to Conrad Wolffhart (Hellenized as "Lycosthenes"), professor of dialectics and philosophy in Basel. Wolffhart's work is one of the most successful, not least because of the publicity it received, paradoxically, when it was included in the Index Librorum prohibitorum (1559). Ambroise Paré was largely inspired by it for his book Des monstres et prodiges (1573). Brunet, III, col. 1249 Wellcome, I, no. 3917. In-4 (290 x 200 mm). Printer's mark on the back of the colophon. Richly illustrated with woodcuts, one double-page, two full-page and the others in the text (marginal browning, more marked at the beginning and end of the volume). Fine contemporary German binding in cold-stamped vellum, spine ribbed, old label with manuscript title on first cover (active workshop in Augsburg, see EBDB r003092 and w004236). Provenance: ex-libris from the monastery of Benedictbeuern (near Augsburg, Upper Bavaria) glued on the reverse of the title page. - (USD 1.168 - USD 1.753) To bid, please see the "Auction Information" section.