Bibliographical notes on histories of inventions and books of secrets. Pt. III / by John Ferguson.

  • Ferguson, John, 1838-1916.
Date:
1885
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Bibliographical notes on histories of inventions and books of secrets. Pt. III / by John Ferguson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

    37/49 (page 33)
    In addition to the copy of the Lyons edition of 1555 bearing the name Balthazar Arnollet, I have got an exactly similar copy of the same date, with the name of Antoine Vincent, who, as was formerly pointed out, published a French translation in 1559. There must have been some curious arrange- ments among the Lyons printers in the i6th century. I have already referred to two quite different issues of Albertus Magnus at Lyons in 1566, and now here are two identical copies with different publishers. Was it the habit to divide an edition among several publishers, and to let each have a title-page for himself—just as now-a-days manufacturers put on their goods the names of the different dealers, who are to retail them? The printer’s name, however, at the end is ArnoUet’s, so that Vincent must have cancelled the other title- page, or else had one specially printed for himself, not caring whether the colophon agreed with it or not. In attempting to ascertain when the first edition of the Secrets of Alexis, or Alessio of Piedmont, appeared, I have encountered a difficulty. This standard collection is in four parts, which came out in different years. Brunet' makes a decided statement: “De’ secrecti (sic) del reverendo Donno Alessio Piemontese sei libri. In Venezia, per Sigismondo Bordogna, 1555, in-8.” From the statement of the author, or nominal author, we seem warranted in drawing a different conclusion as to the language and date of the first edition. In his general preface, Alexis recounts what led to his committing his secrets to writing. He had laboured long and eagerly to acquire knowledge, especially of the secrets of nature and of medicine; he knew many languages, had travelled incessantly, like Paracelsus had consorted with all kinds of people— scholars and artizans, rich and poor—and had amassed learning till he had become vain of his acquirements, a miser of his skill, and jealous of any one ^ Manuel, Paris, i860, I. col. 159. This is considered the first edition. Watt Brit., I. 20/«.) must have made an error when he says the first edition appeared at Basel in 1536, which place and date I repeated without knowing any better Archaol. Sac. Glasg., 1882, II. p. 190). The place is wrong, and the date is plainly impossible; for if Alexis was in his 83rd year before he began his compilations at all, and the first part appeared in 1536, then he must have been in his 104th year when he revised the second Italian edition in 1557! But the preface to this edition disposes of such an absurdity as that, and shows that this must have been a mere misprint in Watt’s list, though a misleading one.