(Born: c1540; Died: c1589) Italian aristrocat & author.

Biographical references: Dizionario Biografico Italiani: 11, 573-5. • Jöcher, Gelehrten-Lexikon, 1750-51. • Mazzuchelli, Gli Scrittori d'Italia, 1753-63. • Nouvelle Biographie Générale (Hoefer). • WBI.

La Minera, 1585

1. Italian, 1585 [First edition].
La | Minera | Del Mondo | Dell'Illvstre S. Gio. Maria | Bonardo Frattegiano | Conte, e Caualiero, | Nella quale si tratta delle cose più secrete, e più rare de' corpi | semplici nel mondo elementare, e de' corpi composti, | inanimati, & animati d'anima uegetatiua, | sensitiua, e ragioneuole. | Diuisa in Quattro Libri, e per maggior commodità de' | Lettori ogni Capitolo, c'ha potuto riceuerlo, | ordinato, con ordine d'Alfabeto. | Mandato in luce, e dedicato da Luigi Grotto | Cieco d'Hadria. | Con Licentia. | [vignette] | In Venetia, | [rule] | Appresso Fabio, & Agostin Zoppini Fratelli. | M. D. LXXXV.

8°: a⁸ A-O⁸; [8], 112l., no pagination, 2 full page woodcut portraits (the author and the editor).

Very rare. Bondardo's Riches of the World is an interesting mineralogy that deals not only with minerals, metallurgy and related subjects, but with all the natural resources of the earth including plants and animals. It is divided into four books of which the first treats the earth, including the mountains, different kinds of water like rivers and oceans, air and lightning. Book two deals with metals, minerals, mines, etc.; the third book is concerned strictly with botanical issues; and the fourth deals with animals, including snakes, fishes and birds. There is a long passage in the third book on tobacco ("Negotiana") smoked by American Indians with a pipe made from stone. In addition several other references to America are made, but the title is not noticed by Sabin. The work is dedicated to Luigi Groto [1541-1585], who also edited the book. Two woodcut portraits are included, one of the author, the other of the editor. The basic text, apparently with little or no revision, was reissued at least five times until 1669. All editions of this work are rare.

Other editions:

1589: In Venetia, Appresso F. & A. Zoppini Fratelli, 1589. [8], 112l., 2 portraits.

1591: Mantoua, Francesco Osanna, 1591. [8], 178 (i.e., 180), [3] p. Numbers 112 and 127 repeated in pagination. [BL Shelfmark 1568/1831.]

1600: In Venetia, Appresso G. Zoppini, & Fratelli, 1600. [8], 112l. [BL Shelfmark 446.a.44.]

1611: In Venetia, Presso Antonio Turini, 1611. [7], 112l.

1669: In Venetia, Appresso Gio. Battista Cestari, 1669. [10], 264 p.

Bibliographical references: BL [no copy of the 1585 edition is listed]. • Dickson, Panacea-Tobacco in Literature, 1954: p. 93-4 [gives a full account of the book]. • Hurum, J.H. and G. Cortese, "La Minera del Mondo, en steinbok fra 1585," Stein, 1 (1995), 5-30. • Index Aureliensis: 121-668. • Lathrop C. Harper, Bookseller: cat. 219, no. 46. • NUC: 65, 346 [NB 0623250]. • Sabin, Dictionary, 1868-1936 [no copy listed]. • Wellcome Catalog (Books): 1, no. 958.

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