Dominic Winter Auctions
Lot 85
[Gerard, John]. [The Herball Or Generall Historie of Plantes..., 1st edition, Imprinted at London by John Norton, 1597], [18], 1392, [46] pp., woodcut illustrations throughout, lacks final leaf of preliminaries (B6, end of To the Reader, with portrait to verso) and final 13 leaves of indexes (5F4, 5G-5I4), all preliminary leaves present but with significant damage and repairs, several leaves (4F5, 4P5-8, 4Q2-5) cut down and re-hinged with repaired margins, final five leaves of index damaged and repaired with some text loss and reduced margins, old hand colouring of woodcuts on pp. 299, 633, 1165 & 1320, woodcut on p. 1369 excised and repaired with blank paper (and consequent text loss to verso), frequent ink marginalia in several hands, both contemporary and later in English and Latin, some occasional soiling and marks, several neat closed tear repairs, lower blank margin of 2I3 torn with loss, recent antique-style speckled tan calf with five raised bands and old gilt-titled leather spine label in second compartment, folio (33 x 22.5 cm)QTY: (1)NOTE:Henrey 154; Hunt 174; Nissen 698; STC 11750.The first edition includes the first recorded illustration of a potato, plus discussion and illustrations of tobacco and the tomato, which is said to have originated in Italy and Spain.Sold with all faults not subject to return.