De arte gymnastica libri sex : in quibus exercitationum omnium vetustarum genera, loca, modi, facultates, & quidquid denique ad corporis humani exercitationes pertinet diligenter explicatur.
Likley, England: Scholar Press, 1978. Thick Small Quarto. Item #027810
Limited to 2800 copies. The present copy is #1171. In facsimile. Editio novissima, aucta, emendata, & figuris authenticis Christophori Coriolani exornata. Latin text. Book 4 preliminary leaves, 387, [43] pages, 7 unnumbered leaves of plates, some folding : illustrations. Jeremy Norman notes the importance of this: " was the first illustrated book on gymnastics. It contains 20 unsigned woodcuts usually attributed to Christoph Lederer of Nuremberg, who assumed the name of Coriolanus after moving to Italy. These illustrations drawn by Pirro Ligorio "can now be shown to be the result of imaginative reconstruction, or straightforward forgery...unknown to his [Mercuriale's] readers, who assumed that images confirmed the truth of what Mercuriale had deduced from the evidence of texts.... The argument and illustrations in De arte gymnastica demonstrated the prime place of gymnastics in Greece and Rome, and later, convinced Winckelmann of the importance of nudity in Greek civilization and art" (Vivian Nutton, "Mercurale, Girolamo", Grafton et al (eds.) Added title page./ Title vignette: device of A. Frisius./ Facsimile of the edition, published at Amsterdam in 1672 by A. Frisius, in the University Library, Tubingen, West Germany./ Accompanied by Introduction by C. Nutton (26 p. 27 cm.). Bound in 1/4 leather over marbled paper covered boards, raised bands with compartments fully lettered and decorated in gilt, housed in publisher's slipcase.
Price: $115.00