Girolamo Cardano, 1557

CARDANO, Girolamo (1501-1576). De rerum varietate libri XVII. Basel: Henricus Petrus, 1557.

First octavo edition of the wide-ranging encyclopedic work of the maverick natural philosopher Girolamo Cardano. It was published the same year as Petrus’s folio edition, indicating the expectation of a popular audience, and is a continuation of the author's 1550 work De subtilitate. Cardano is well known for the breadth of his intellectual accomplishments and this book, "On the Variety of Things," well represents them, displaying virtuosic command of a dizzying array of topics and ideas, from demons and dreams to natural history and mathematics. BM/STC German p. 182; Norman 402.

Octavo (174 x 112mm). Woodcut portrait of the author on title verso, two folding diagrams, folding table, woodcut diagrams and illustrations throughout the text (a few stains). Contemporary limp vellum, early manuscript title on spine (front cover and endpaper largely perished). Quarter morocco folding case. Provenance: a few marginal comments trimmed – Charles Lumsden (inscription dated 13 March 1695) – Trotter family (armorial bookplate) – Charles W. Turner (donated in 1968 to:) – University of Keele Lbrary (Turner Collection bookplate; collection deaccessed via the trade in 1998).