1557 De Secreti Del Reverendo Donno Alessio Piemontese... seconda editione

1557 second edition (stated, title page), enlarged, of Alexis de Piemont's book of secrets, sharing medical, cosmetic, metallurgic, etc. recipes that were "secrets" of the time, making this book incredibly popular, generating over one hundred editions in many languages. Most believe Piemont was a pseudonym of Ruscelli (and Ruscelli made mention of this in a later book of secrets he published).

This book was first published in Latin in 1555. The author, in the introduction, states that he'd begun work on a second volume, but when he saw the Italian translation he realized that he needed to edit and increase upon it, producing this second edition. After issuing this work, he did proceed to author and publish further "parts", but despite the title page of this edition stating "prima parte", further parts had not yet been published.

Both the first and second edition(s) are scarce to market. The second edition was produced with other printer's marks as well, but the Venetian second seems most likely the true second as Ruscelli resided there and the first edition was printed there.

This first part is broken into six books:

Book 1, remedies, where about one hundred, of the 350 total, reside. Many of the concoctions rely on distilling, across the books. Remedies include those for rabid dog, elixir of youth, plague, etc.

Book 2, perfumes. Hair oils, odoriferous waters, etc. Includes a recipe for dyeing hair blonde, a fashion among the Venetians of the period.

Book 3, jams and candied fruits. The recipes in this section introduce this book to the gastronomic catalogues.

Book 4, cosmetic products. Lotions, complexion whiteners, etc. Some are quite toxic, including quicksilver and mercury chloride.

Book 5, pigments. The recipe for producing blue paint was rumored to have increased the sales of the book because, at the time, blue paint was very expensive. Inks are also included in the recipes.

Book 6, goldsmithing. Not farcical, some of the descriptions given are "quite instructive on the technical operations of the sixteenth century" (Wiki). Processes given include gilding, counterfeiting precious stones, etc.

Bibliographic Details -

Universal Short Title Catalogue (USTC) number 853885, 10 copies recorded in the world's libraries; libraries include the BNF, Vatican, British Library, among other notable institutions.

Worldcat OCLC catalogue number 8717264

Physical Attributes -

Measures approx. 21 x 15 x 1.5 cm. Gatherings of four (4to). Soft pasteboard boards, covered by decorative paper acts as the binding. Decorative frame surrounds the title page. Some printed inhabited initials, head and tailpieces.

Pages - (xxiv), 191, [1]

Collation - A-C4, A-Z8, AA4. Collates complete.

Condition -

Binding quite worn, with chipping along the edges, joints cracked, paper overlay fraying, etc. Text block has a few proud gatherings. Pastedown has a couple cracks at the gutter. “Branzoli Zappi” is written on the flyleaf. Text block has some moisture marks (especially from the top gutter), fox spots, thumbing, occasional candle ember marks, dog-eared pages, page edge chip, etc. The initials of Comin da Trino are traced on the verso (reverse) of the title page and ghosted the second leaf in the bottom gutter. 1” ink stain on 1st C4 leaf verso, ghosting onto page 1 (A1) recto. Sometimes a little separation at the gutter between gatherings because the binding is so minimal (also why a few gatherings are proud). Page 46 with marginal numbering. Page 62 with three shades of color along the fore-edge. Ink stain that was wiped up, toning a swath of the page, on 181.