Stephen Sinon is the William B. O’Connor Curator of Special Collections, Research and Archives

From the treasure trove of the LuEsther T. Mertz Library, Aristotelis philosophorum principis de natura stirpium liber unus & alter exigui quidem, si chartas numeres, cæterùm multis gemmis ornati published in Cologne in 1543 is the subject of this piece.

The book’s author, Nicholaus of Damascus, was a prolific first century B.C. Greek historian who was a friend of both Herod the Great and Roman Emperor Augustus and tutor to the children of Mark Antony and Cleopatra. He is known to have composed commentaries on the philosophical works of Aristotle of which this volume is one. Only two other copies of this work are recorded in North America but what makes this copy particularly noteworthy are the illuminated pages found at the beginning.

The title page of the work sports a decorative border with violets, strawberries and acorns influenced by the preference for naturalism which appeared in northern German painting of the late Renaissance. The frontispiece of the work displays the arms of the city of Cologne in their heraldic glory.

The Mertz Library acquired this volume in the late 1960’s through the dispersal of the library of Czech chemist and pharmacologist Emil Starkenstein (1884-1942). Another interesting aspect of this work is the fact that it is printed on vellum rather than paper. This, along with its illumination, indicates that this work was intended for the luxury market, perhaps meant as a presentation copy.