MERCURIALE, Gerolamo (1530-1606) - Artis gymnasticae apud antiquos celeberrimae, nostris temporibus ignoratae, Libri sex. Venice: Giunti, 1569.   A genuine and well preserved copy of the first edition of the famous treatise in six books on gymnastics by Mercuriale, complete with the folding plate depicting the Gymnasium. The author was a professor of medicine, as well as a humanist and philosopher: this work is the result of years of studies carried out in Rome under the protection of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, to whom the work is dedicated. It is a compendium of ancient gymnastics that examines lighter exercises such as dance and more strenuous activities such as wrestling, emphasizing the benefits that physical exercise brings to health. The work therefore develops on both levels, both the historical and the more strictly medical one.   4to (220 x 160mm). Printer's device on title and colophon, woodcut initials, engraved folding plate (browning, occasional light spotting, light waterstain at margins of the first leaves). Contemporary limp vellum with ties, manuscript title on spine (light rubbing and chipping especially on back cover). Provenance: G. S. Canepa (contemporary ownership inscription on title) - a few contemporary annotations and underlinings by more than one hand.

Estimate € 400 - 600

Sold € 380