BARTHOLOMAEUS ANGLICUS (fl. 1230–1250). De proprietatibus rerum. Nuremberg: Anton Koberger, 30 May 1483.

Early printed edition of the greatest medieval encyclopaedia. The 12th and 13th centuries have been named The Age of Encyclopaedias due to the increased endeavours to compile large amounts of information in disseminative text forms. Bartholomaeus Anglicus’s De proprietatibus rerum is the single most significant contribution to this ambition. The work aims to address all fields of science, and its comprehensiveness made the work widely successful at the dawn of printing, receiving many Latin and vernacular editions across Europe. Notably, Bartholomaeus cites his diverse sources who range from Aristotle and Cicero to Bede and Rhasis to his own coeval Albertus Magnus. Bartholomaeus also discusses the brain, its attributes and disorders in broad terms, thus providing an early introduction to its study. Rare at auction. H *2505; BMC II, 425; BSB-Ink B-95; Bod-inc B-064l; GW 3409; Goff B-137; Klebs 149.8; ISTC ib00137000.

Chancery folio (307 × 218mm). 268 leaves, with the blank first and last leaf. Partly rubricated in red or blue (neat fore-edge tear in first quire, occasional light dampstain or light spotting, very occasional marginal repair, a few small wormholes at end). Contemporary half blindstamped pigskin over wooden boards, tooled with trellises and floral sprays, remains of two fore-edge clasps, lower spine compartment painted red (a little rubbed, a few wormholes, pastedowns renewed). Provenance: Vienna, Jesuits (17–18th-century inscription).