35

Cornelius Gemma (1535-1578)

De Naturae Divinis Characterismis.

Antwerp: Ex officina Christophori Plantini, 1575.
First edition, octavo, nicely preserved in contemporary limp parchment; illustrated with fascinating text woodcuts throughout; ex libris professor of anatomy and surgery at Ingolstadt University, Anthony Jonas Kilianstein (d. 1638) with printed bookplate and signature inside front cover; bound in full contemporary limp parchment, nicely preserved, lacking ties; spine painted white long ago; from the Munich Library with stamps on verso of title, including release stamps when it was sold as a duplicate; 6 3/4 x 4 1/4 in.

"The present work is a disquisition on portents and prodigies in nature of every description, with their supposed connection with human affairs. Monsters, of which he gives curious pictures, which occur in other books on the same subject, were viewed as special works of the Creator intended to foretell or indicate coming events." (Quoted from Ferguson I, 309.)

  • Condition: A-P8; a-s8, A-B8.

    Ex libris Professor, Astronomer, Historian & Bibliophile Owen Gingerich.

    Please contact us to request a condition report:
    Devon Eastland, Senior Specialist: [email protected]
    Grace Meschery-McCormack, Cataloguer: [email protected]


    Please contact the Specialist for the auction to request a condition report.

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April 23, 2026 10:30 AM EDT
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