[Venice, 1570].
4to, (6) ff. including title, dedication and author’s portrait, 369 ff., (7), 28 full-page woodcuts. First 3 leaves reinforced in the margin, outer white margin of the title-page reinforced, wormhole in inner margin of the last 15 ff. without loss, 2 plates slightly trimmed and bound upside down by the binder. Bound in half-calf with the old spine from the 18th century reused, red edges.
195 x 142 mm
Rare first edition of the most interesting illustrated gastronomic book from the Renaissance.
Simon, Bibliotheca Gastronomica, 1356 ; Graesse, Trésor de Livres rares et précieux, 290 ; Vicaire 771-773 ; Brunet, V, 180-181 ; Mortimer, Italian Books, 467; Wellcome 5811 (pour l’édition datée) ; Oberlé, Les Fastes de Bacchus et de Comus, n°75 (for the 1605 edition).
This work was written by the personal cook of Pope Pie IV. It is dedicated to Matteo Barbini, a famous Venetian cook.
It’s the most detailed Italian gastronomic book from the 16th Century.
“Scappi’s book is one of the most interesting of the sixteenth-century cookery books. The [28] plates are so attractive that copies containing them all are extremely rare; they represent all kinds of kitchen utensils, kitchen interiors, furniture, fireplaces, etc., whilst a double-page plate represents the various dishes and wines brought by servants to the examiners before being sent in to the Cardinals sitting in Conclave, in 1549” (Simon).
Scappi’s book is difficult to find complete and in good condition. The illustrations are so interesting that copies still containing the plates have become very rare.
The illustration of the utmost interest is composed of a portrait of the author and 28 detailed plates depicting interiors of kitchens, food being prepared, kitchen utensils and furniture.
A good copy of this rare work, of the highest interest for history of gastronomy, complete with all its plates in the first state.
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