EPIPHANIUS Saint Ad physiologum Eiusdem in die festo Palm

Sale 2176 - Lot 50

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EPIPHANIUS, Saint. Ad physiologum . . . Eiusdem in die festo Palmarum sermo. Greek text and Latin translation by Gonzalo Ponce de León in parallel columns. Full-page engraved portrait of the author on b4v; 25 text woodcuts of animals, serpents, insects, and birds. [16], 122, [6] (of [10]) pages; lacks last two leaves (end of index and errata). 4to, old vellum with thong clasps and catches, recased; scattered light foxing, conspicuous stains in lower margin of opening leaves, title soiled, repaired clean tear in upper margin of H3, full-page description from bookseller's catalogue mounted on front pastedown. Rome: apud Zannettum & Ruffinellum, 1587

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first edition of a bestiary probably dating to the 2nd century A.D., but sometimes ascribed to Epiphanius, the 4th-century Bishop of Constantia. One of the most popular natural history texts of the Middle Ages, the Physiologus influenced the iconography of 16th- and 17th-century emblem literature through its specifically Christian interpretation of the marvelous characteristics of various animals. Harvard/Mortimer-Italian 171; Hoffmann II, 27; Nissen ZBI 1301; Praz, page 328; Sarton I, 300; Thorndike I, 497-503.