AGRICOLA - Lot 1

AGRICOLA De la generatione de le cose, che sotto la terra sono, e de le cause de'Ioro effetti e nature Venice, Mich. Tramezzino [In the end: in Vinegia per Michele Tramezzino, MDL], 1550 One large volume, small in-8, full vellum, havae morocco title-piece, title in gold, blue painted edges (binding probably 17th century). First Italian edition of this collection of treatises on physical geology, underground waters and their medicinal properties, metals and mines, and the nature of fossils. The translation is attributed to Michel Agnolo Florio or the printer Michele Tramezzino. First published in Basel in 1546, De la natura de cose fossili is the first attempt at modern systematic mineralogy. In it, Agricola proposes a classification of fossil bodies, thus departing from the view inherited from Aristotle, according to which stones, metals and precious stones owed their origin to the influence of celestial bodies, by seeking instead the natural causes of their formation (Dibner, Agricola, p. 18). Good copy in antique binding. Adams A 339. Ferguson I, 9. Hoover 12.