GEOPONICA. Constantini Caesaris selectarum praeceptionum de agricultura libri viginti. Iano Cornario Medico interprete. Lyon, (Lugduni), Apud Seb. Gryphium, 1541. 8vo. 349;(15 index),(2 blank) p. 18th century calf 16 cm (Ref: Hoffmann 1,422; Graesse 3,53; Ebert 8337; Not in Brunet) (Details: Back gilt, and with 3 raised bands. Boards with tripple fillet borders, and gilt floral ornaments at the corners. Woodcut printer's mark of Sebastianus Gryphius on the title, depicting a griffin, which mythological animal symbolizes courage, diligence, watchfulness, and rapidity of execution, used as a pun of his family name Gryph or Greif. From the claws of this creature hangs a big rectangular stone, symbolizing Constancy, beneath which hangs a winged globe, symbolizing Fortune. The motto is 'Virtute duce / comite fortuna', 'Virtue thy leader, fortune thy comrade', is a quote from a letter of Cicero to Plancus (Epistulae ad Familiares, liber X,3). Printed completely in italics) (Condition: Binding worn at the extremes. Boards slightly and superficially damaged. The right upper corner of the first 27 and the last 12 leaves repaired. A tear in the margin of the second leaf has been repaired skilfully and almost invisibly. Stains at the upper margin in the beginning, right margin slightly waterstained throughout. Name on the title) (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 was critical to maintaining the momentum of the burgeoning manufacturing sector of the economy. Sustaining profit margins in industry depended on controlling wages. Relatively low wages were only possible if the costs of grain (...) could be contained. As a result, one notes a growing preoccupation with agriculture among humanist authors'. (H. Heller, p. 65) § The basis for the reform of European agriculture was laid by the works of three Roman gentlemen-farmers and landowners Cato, Varro and Columella, and Constantinus Caesar's Geoponica. 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 first Latin translation of the Geoponica was published in Basel by Froben & Episcopius in 1538, one year before the Greek 'editio princeps'. Hoffmann records between 1538 and 1550 six issues of the Latin translation, four or more of French translations, and three of Italian translations. The first Latin translation of the Geoponica was made from the same manuscript as the Greek 'editio princeps' by the German 'medicus physicus' Janus Cornar(i)us, or 'Johann Haynpol', 'Hagenbut' or 'Hanbut', 1500-1558. In the 'Praefatio' Cornarius remarks concerning the importance of his translation that it helps to understand and restore innumerable passages in Cato, Varro, Columella, Palladius, and even Pliny Maior, that are obscure or incomprehensible. (innumerabiles loci aut omnino luxati reponi possunt, aut obscurati intellegi'. (Praefatio p. 7) He also stresses that it is shameful and harmful for medicins to be ignorant of agriculture. (Idem p. 5) The study of agriculture (studium agriculturae) is most useful (utilissimum) and most necessary (necessarium). (Idem p. 3) § After completing his medical studies in Wittenberg he travelled through Europe to gain possession of the original works of the ancient Greek physicians. He stayed for a long time in Basel, where he became an intimate friend of Erasmus. In 1542 he was appointed professor of medicine in Marburg, in 1557 he followed a call to Jena, but died there the following year. He published works of several Greek medical authors, as well as Latin translations, works that contributed substantially to the spiritual enlightenment of his age. He was admired for the reliability and exactness of his translations, and his pure Latinity. These translations are now considered to be Cornarius' most valued works. (Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie 4 (1876), p. 481) (See for the editions of 1538 and 1539, 'Griechischer Geist aus Basler Pressen', no's 364 and 365) The result of this abundance of editions and translations was a flood of other publications on food and crops, and suggestions for the development of agriculture on a more rational basis. § The Geoponica or Geoponika, (agricultural pursuits), a collection of 20 books filled with agricultural information, was commissioned by the Byzantine emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus, who reigned from 913 to 959. His aim was to bring Byzantine farming on a higher level. This '10th century collection is sometimes (wrongly) ascribed to the 7th century author Cassianus Bassus, whose collection, also titled Geoponica, was integrated into the extant work. Bassus drew heavily on the work of another agricultural compiler, Vindonius Anatolius (4th century). The ultimate sources of the Geoponica include Pliny, various lost Hellenistic and Roman-period Greek agriculture and veterinary authors.(...) 1, Of the atmosphere, and of the rising and setting of the stars. 2, Of general matters appertaining to agriculture, and of the different kinds of corn. 3, Of the various agricultural duties suitable to each month. 4-5, Of the cultivation of the vine. 6-8, Of the making of wine. 9, Of the cultivation of the olive and the making of oil. 10-12, Of horticulture. 13, Of the animals and insects injurious to plants. 14, Of pigeons and other birds. 15, Of natural sympathies and antipathies, and of the management of bees. 16, Of horses, donkeys and camels. 17, Of the breeding of cattle. 18, Of the breeding of sheep. 19, Of dogs, hares, deer, pigs, and of salting meat. 20, Of fishes'. (Source for the contents of the books: Wikipedia, s.v. Geoponica) § Constantine VII was an excellent Emperor according to Norwich in his 'A Short History of Byzantium'. He calls him 'a competent, conscientious and hard-working administrator and an inspired picker of men, whose appointments to military, naval, ecclesiastical, civil and academic posts were both imaginative and successful'. Not only did he much to develop higher education, but he improved also the economic and military strength of the weakening Byzantine Empire. An important step was made, when Constantine ordered in 947 the immediate restitution, without compensation, of all peasant lands) (Provenance: On the title the name of: 'De la Croiserie Grimaudet, 1596') (Collation: a-y8, z8 (leaf z7 blank, minus leaf z8) (Photographs on request)
Book number: 120229 Euro 1100.00

Keywords: (Oude Druk), (Rare Books), Byzantium, Byzanz, Landwirtschaft, Latin translation only, agriculture, byzantine literature, byzantinische Literatur