Palladius (Rutilius Taurus) Della Agricultura traducto vulgare, first edition in Italian, collation: ?⁸ ??⁴ A-K⁸ L⁴, large woodcut printer's device at end, woodcut decorated initials, that on fol. ?2r over 13 lines, title rather spotted and browned and with old repair to blank inner corner, foxing, some water-stains, a few annotations in two different hands,18th-century vellum, red edges, covers slightly browned and corner of lower cover slightly abraded, 4to (201 x 136mm.), Siena, Simone Nardi, 1526.

⁂ Very rare first Italian vernacular edition, issued by the bookseller Nardi in Siena in Tuscany, the Italian region which in the 14th century had produced three different volgarizzamenti of the celebrated Opus agriculturae. Pietro Marino from Foligno was responsible for the translation, which is different from those from the manuscript tradition, and shows his skills in farming and gardening. On the rear pastedown is a note written in Italian which reads 'Procuratomi da Roma nel 1806. Libro raro', i.e. 'Bought in Rome in 1806. A rare book'.

Provenance: Leo S. Olschki (ex libris on front pastedown).

Rothamsted acquisition date ?1926.

Literature: M. Ambrosoli, "L'Opus Agriculturae di Palladio. Volgarizzamenti e identificazione dell'ambiente naturae tra Tre e Cinquecento", Quaderni Storici 18 (1983), pp. 227-254.