Epiphanius of Salamis, Saint, Bishop of Constantia. Peri ton physiologon [graece]…Ad physiologum, collation: a-b4A-Q4R2, Greek & Latin text, woodcut device on title, woodcut initials, full-page engraved portrait (printed upside down), 25 woodcut emblems within decorative borders, some with partial hand-colouring, contemporary ink inscription to title erased causing tears (repaired), I1 torn and repaired, occasional light spotting, modern half crimson morocco over boards drawn with title within ornate border in pen & ink, another old ink inscription preserved on front pastedown, preserved in modern cloth drop-back box, [Mortimer-Italian 171; Nissen ZBI 1301], 4to (215 x 155mm.), Rome, Zanetti & Rufionelli, 1587.
⁂ Rare first edition of a bestiary often attributed to the 4th century Bishop of Constantia, but probably earlier. A very popular medieval text, it was greatly influential on the emblematic literature of the 16th and 17th centuries.
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