DRAUD, Georg.
Bibliotheca exotica.
Frankfurt, Pierre Kopf, 1610£4,750.00
FIRST EDITION. 4to, pp. (ii), 219, (i). Roman letter, some Italic and Gothic. Detailed woodcut cartouche depicting abduction of Ganymede by Zeus in the form of an eagle on title page. Decorative initials and borders throughout. Good, wide-margined copy. Usual paper browning. Occasional early ink underlining. (with) Bibliotheca librorum germanicorum classica, Frankfurt, Johann Saurn, 1611. FIRST EDITION. 4to, pp. (viii), 563, (xxxi). Gothic letter, some Roman. Rough vignette of the abduction of Ganymede on title-page, elaborate illustration of same on p.563. Good, wide-margined copy. Usual paper browning. Occasional early ink underlining and minor water stains.
Contemporary vellum, blind ruled borders, stamped 1618 and I P D on upper cover, lacking ties. Armorial library stamp of Franz von Hauslab (1798-1883), Austrian general and cartographer, on first T.p. ‘E.V. ZENKER’ stamped on second free endpaper and first T.p., probably Ernst Viktor Zenker (1865-1946), Austrian journalist and politician. Late eighteenth-century German cursive (Kurrentschrift) inscription to inside front cover and second free endpaper (date 9th August 1792).
Georg Draud (1573-1635) was a printer and writer in Frankfurt am Main. A follower of Conrad Gessner’s universal approach to bibliography, Draud published a number of compendious bibliographies intended to bring together all books printed since 1500 up to his own day (McLean 2009, 345). While Gessner’s Bibliotheca universalis (Zurich, 1545) attempted to list all known printed books in Latin, Greek and Hebrew, Draud attempted to bring together all works printed in the major vernaculars. The Bibliotheca exotica contains lists of books printed in France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, England, Denmark, Bohemia and Hungary, while the Bibliotheca librorum germanicorum classica is devoted to German books; the latter is more voluminous than those of all the other languages combined. The books are arranged under subject headings, such as theology, jurisprudence, history, geography, medicine and poetry.
Bibliotheca exotica, Besterman 331; Bibliotheca librorum germanicorum classica, Besterman 1177-78