Distillierbuch der rechten Kunst, von Kreutern, Wurtzeln, Blumen, Samen, Früchten, unnd Gethier, ware Beschreibung unnd Abconterfaytung, wie man die Wasser davon bren(n)en, distillieren, halten und gebrauchen soll

Frankfurt am Main: H. Gülfferich, 1551. Hardcover. Very Good. Hardcover. Folio - over 12 - 15" tall. Folio (293 x 185 mm). [22], 199, [1] leaves. Title printed in red and black within elaborate woodcut border, large woodcut initials, woodcut illustrations in text (several full page); final leaf verso with printer's full-page armorial vignette. Signatures: A-B4 C6 D-E4, A-Z6 Aa-Ii6 Kk8. Contemporary vellum, spine with 4 raised bands, boards paneled in blind, author and title added in manuscript to upper board, original endpapers (rubbing of spine and extremities, corners bumped, leather straps mostly gone, residue of paper label at foot of spine). Text generally quite crisp and clean with rare spotting in places, light marginal water-staining to final few leaves, first half with small wormhole at lower blank margin. Provenance: illegible ownership inscription at head of upper board; Oettingen-Wallerstein (small stamp on title verso). ----

RARE EDITION of the "Great Distilling Book", appeared also in quarto format the same year. Contrary to Nissen's statement, the woodcuts are not the small-format ones of Gülfferich's Brunfels edition of 1546, but beautiful, mostly almost full-size representations of plants. According to Röttinger, the title border and illustrations of distilling devices are from the so-called "Master of Jacobi".
Hieronymus Brunschwig (c. 1450-1512) was an apothecary who also practiced surgery in Strasbourg. He conceives of distillation as a technique for purifying substances, enabling the pure, therapeutically effective part to be extracted from the impure, toxic part. He advocated the replacement of traditional galenic forms of materia medica with a distilled form. References: VD 16 B 8702; IA 125.975; Benzing, Brunschwig 35; Nissen, BBI 270 (4to edition); H. Röttinger, Der Frankfurter Buchholzschnitt 1530-1550. - Visit our website to see more images!