Monardes, Nicolás (c. 1512-1588) Ioyfull Newes out of the Newfound World, wherein are Declared the Rare and Singular Vertues of Divers

Description:

Monardes, Nicolás (c. 1512-1588) Ioyfull Newes out of the Newfound World, wherein are Declared the Rare and Singular Vertues of Divers and Sundrie Herbs, Trees, Oyles, Plants, & Stones. London: Imprinted in Paules Churchyard at the signe of the Quenes Armes, by [Thomas Dawson for] William Norton, 1580. English translation of Dos Libros, with additional material appearing for the first time in this edition, quarto, title printed within typographical border incorporating Thomas Dawson's initials, four parts in one volume with some divisional title pages which do not interrupt the collation, lacking *1 ?blank; illustrated with eleven text woodcuts, all but one showing plants, the other depicting an armadillo; bound in later full speckled calf, ruled and tooled in gilt with gilt tooled spine, a.e.g., rebacked, somewhat rubbed, 7 x 5 in.

In this work, Monardes writes about the uses and cultivation of important new world plants with pharmaceutical virtues, including quinine, sassafrass, cassava, rhubarb, ginger, curare, tobacco, and many others. Additional treatises on the medical properties of the bezoar stone, iron and steel, and snow appear for the time in this 1580 edition.

"[Monardes' Dos Libros was] the first treatise on Central and South American medicinal plants, and for many years the most important work on the medicinal plants of the New World. Working from Seville, Spanish doctor Nicolás Monardes managed to compile an impressive catalogue of New World medicinal plants. He bought specimens from merchants and sailors, grew some of them at his own garden, performed therapeutic experiments on his patients, and interviewed many travelers to obtain information about the uses of the plants among American natives." (Jeremy Norman's History of Medicine and the Life Sciences, http://www.historyofmedicine.com/id/2068)

*3 (lacking *1 ?blank),A-Z4, Aa-Ss4, Xx5 (first leaf unsigned) Tt4, Xx1, Yy4, Zz2.
http://estc.bl.uk/S125126
Estimate $8,000-12,000


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