CATO, Marcus Porcius, VARRO, Marcus Terentius, COLUMELLA, Junius Moderatus, PALLADIUS, Rutilius Taurus

Bel exemplaire de cette édition, extrêmement rare’ (‘Catalogue des livres…de la bibliothèque de feu M. le marquis De Terzi’, this copy, 1861, lot 195). The earliest recorded private owner of this copy was a priest in Bergamo, and the last the Bergamese Marquis de Terzi. It was the second edition issued in northern Italy, and one of only three works printed by the de Bruschis—the first printers in Reggio Emilia. ‘This is a good example of the rivalry between the prototypographers, five Italian incunabula of the “Scriptores rei rusticae”, by five different printers, in three cities; three editions by three different printers in one of them, Reggio Emilia […] After that the tradition of the four “Scriptores” was common’ (Sarton, ‘Hellenistic Science and Culture’, 388). This florilegium of agricultural works was devised for a readership interested in the classical rustic virtues of landownership and the practical aspects of country life, with topics as varied as the best place to set up a beehive, horticulture, remedies for dogs with flees and sick horses, ways to scare snakes off stables and regulations for workers. Marcus Porcius Cato (234-149 BC) was a Roman statesman, military officer and author. His only complete, extant work, ‘De Agri Cultura’ (c.160 BC) is a manual on the management of a country estate reliant on slaves, with a special interest in the cultivation of vines. A prolific writer patronised by Augustus, Marcus Terentius Varro (116-107BC) based his ‘Rerum rusticarum libri tres’ on his direct experience of farming. He notably warns his readers to avoid marshlands, where ‘animalia minuta’ that cannot be seen by the human eye may be breathed in or swallowed and cause illnesses. A soldier and farmer, Lucius Moderatus Columella (4-70AD) is best known for his ‘Res rustica’—in this edition with a commentary by Pomponius Laetus—which deals with a wealth of activities including the cultivation of vines and olives, the farming and treatment of animals, and the management of workers. Inspired by Columella and much admired in the medieval period, Palladius’s (C4-5AD) ‘Opus agriculturae’ (or ‘De re rustica’) provides an account of the typical monthly activities of a Roman farm, and mentions the utility of building mills over abundant waterways to grind wheat. A well-margined copy with very practical marginalia—highlighting sections on castrating chickens—suggesting a landowner’s everyday use.