The first Italian scientifc treaty on pruning One of the first – if not the first – books printed in Ravenna
BUSSATTI, Marco
Prattica historiata del l’inestare gli arbori in diversi modi, in varij tempi dell’anno, e conservarli in piu maniere.
Ravenne, Cesare Cavazza, 1578.
Small 4to (182 x 122 mm) 42 pp., 1 unn.l. 19th century light brown morocco, spine with raised bands, gilt turn-ins, gilt edges.
30 000 
Not in Nissen, Stafleu, Pritzel, Adams, and other specialized bibliographies

In stock

First edition of one of the first works (or the first) printed in Ravenna.

It was produced by Cesare Cavazza, the first printer established in Ravenna. Only 4 works came off his press in the first year of his activity in 1578 (Onofrio Zarabbini, Rime; Terminus Firmani, Oratio in rhetorica; Bussatti, Pratica; Lunardi, Rime). All the editions given by Cavazza are very rare and they are almost absent from all institutional collections.

This is not only one of the first books printed in Ravenna but also the first Italian work exclusively dedicated to the art of pruning.

The illustration of this delightful work consists of a title printed within a decorative typographical border and ornated with the printer’s mark, followed by 14 full-page woodcuts.

The suite of engravings shows the different techniques of pruning engraving, as well as the tools used for the delicate operations.

Of this extremely rare edition USTC locates only 6 institutional copies: 5 in Italy (Bologna, Macerata, Milano, Rome, and Turin) and only 1 in the United Kingdom (London).

Carefully washed copy, title and first leaf reinforced and with small restorations in the blank.

Provenance: Luigi and Sandra Morandi (bookplate).