Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo)

The British Library, London




In this remarkable codex, the artistic genius and botanist Gherardo Cibo (1512-1600) compiled a selection of medical and botanical texts from the Discorsi by the famous physician of Siena Pietro Andrea Mattioli (1501-1577), and illustrated them with more than 160 remarkable pictures of plants and landscapes that rank amongst the most beautiful of the Renaissance.

Discorsi is Mattioli’s Italian translation of DioscoridesDe Materia Medica (1st century AD) with the addition of lengthy commentaries based on his personal experience and on popular and learned medicine. Mattioli’s book was extremely useful for physicians and herbalists not familiar with classical languages.

Gherardo Cibo was an avid reader and admirer of this book by Mattioli. He copied entire passages in neat script, adding his own comments, anecdotes and legends and, more importantly, illustrated them with delicate and lifelike botanical images. His splendid miniatures feature different species of plants standing out in the foreground against the brightly coloured landscapes of their natural habitat.

Gherardo Cibo’s manuscript, with its dazzlingly beautiful miniatures, is an unusual and personal version of Mattioli’s printed work and a highly original artistic contribution to both nascent modern science and the history of botanical and landscape illustrations.

Eléboro negro (Helleborus niger), f. 94v-95r

In this remarkable codex, the artistic genius and botanist Gherardo Cibo (1512-1600) compiled a selection of medical and botanical texts from the Discorsi by the famous physician of Siena Pietro Andrea Mattioli (1501-1577), and illustrated them with more than 160 remarkable pictures of plants and landscapes that rank amongst the most beautiful of the Renaissance.

Discorsi is Mattioli’s Italian translation of DioscoridesDe Materia Medica (1st century AD) with the addition of lengthy commentaries based on his personal experience and on popular and learned medicine. Mattioli’s book was extremely useful for physicians and herbalists not familiar with classical languages.

Gherardo Cibo was an avid reader and admirer of this book by Mattioli. He copied entire passages in neat script, adding his own comments, anecdotes and legends and, more importantly, illustrated them with delicate and lifelike botanical images. His splendid miniatures feature different species of plants standing out in the foreground against the brightly coloured landscapes of their natural habitat.

Gherardo Cibo’s manuscript, with its dazzlingly beautiful miniatures, is an unusual and personal version of Mattioli’s printed work and a highly original artistic contribution to both nascent modern science and the history of botanical and landscape illustrations.

Pictures

Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo)
The British Library, London



Commentary volume

Commentary volume

Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo) The British Library, London


Size: 240 mm x 330 mm
Pages: 480
Illustrations: 300 full-colour
Language: English, French, Spanish, Italian
ISBN: 978-84-16509-67-6

Contents:
From the editor to the reader 
Manuel Moleiro 

Plants, landscapes, colours. The life, writings, and works of Gherardo Cibo 
Lucia Tongiorgi Tomasi
Lincean Academy Fellow
Emeritus Professor of Art History
Università di Pisa

Pietro Andrea Mattioli and Medical Botany 
Vivian Nutton
Emeritus Professor of the History of Medicine
University College London

Text and botanical commentary
Elena Artale
Researcher
Istituto Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, National Research Council (CNR) 

Ramón Morales Valverde
Researcher
Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid, Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)

Appendix / The Provenance of the Manuscript 
Peter Kidd
Freelance researcher
Former Curator of Illuminated Manuscripts at the British Library

Indexes 

Bibliography


Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo) The British Library, London




Descripcion

Description

Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo) The British Library, London


✵ Shelf mark: Add. Ms. 22332
✵ Date: c. 1565
✵ Size: 265 x 195 mm
✵ Pages: 370 pages, 168 full-page miniatures
✵ Bound in gold-tooled and stamped black leather
✵ Full-colour commentary volume by Lucia Tongiorgi Tomasi (Università di Pisa), Vivian Nutton (University College London), Ramón Morales Valverde (Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid), Elena Artale (National Research Council, Italy) and Peter Kidd (Freelance researcher of manuscripts) 

Unique and unrepeatable first edition, strictly limited to 987 numbered and authenticated copies


Customer reviews


Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo)
The British Library, London



“Je viens de découvrir Dioscoride : c'est une pure merveille volumineuse. J'ai apprécié un sommaire avec le nom d'espèce par ordre alphabétique : je pense que c'est peu fréquent dans un livre de cette époque. Le collectionneur méditerranéen appréciera l'une des petites scènes qui accompagne le dessin des fleurs : je pense ici à l'olivier avec la scène de ramassage des olives et le transport à dos d'hommes jusqu'au mulet.”.

Jean M. – France



“Arrivato il libro, bellissimo, sono felice di averlo ricevuto!!! Una meraviglia. Una grande gioia averlo tra le mani! Vi ringrazio per il vostro straordinario lavoro, grazie per dare la possibilità a tutti noi di ammirare e sfogliare i capolavori del passato. Grazie per la cura e la passione con la quale lavorate. Al prossimo capolavoro”.

Rosi S. – Italy



“Soy clienta de Moleiro desde hace 20 años y estoy contenta con las reproducciones que la editorial Moleiro hace de los códices escogidos. El códice Discórides de Cibo y Mattioli entra perfectamente en mis intereses temáticos de coleccionista por su contenido y por la belleza y fidelidad en la reproducción del original.”

Mª José P. – Spain



“El Códice nos parece extraordinario y cuanto más lo miramos, más orgullosas estamos de haberlo adquirido. Un trabajo exquisito, como siempre, de M. Moleiro.”

Eva D. y Montse A. – Spain



“Para decirlo de principio y fijar una idea: esta obra, a mi entender, es el triunfo de la Modernidad en el campo de la botánica. Destacaría 3 aspectos de la obra:
• El primero y destacado de forma unánime, la precisión y exactitud del dibujo y del color de los ejemplares botánicos dibujados.
• El segundo, la concepción "moderna", o sea racionalista, de los comentarios que son muy descriptivos, con referencias a la utilidad conocida y al autor o autores invocado como autoridad. Se acabó mezclar estas cosas con influencias astrológicas o de carácter, etcétera. Un aspecto no menor de los comentarios es su hermosa letra humanística cursiva, luminosa, de fácil lectura. No es de extrañar que esa letra, la humanística, sea la que acabó imponiéndose en las escrituras con alfabeto latino.
• La tercera, se refiere al paisaje, aspecto que todos los comentarios y opiniones resaltan con justicia. Pero yo destacaría un matiz, el tratamiento del paisaje no es de simple fondo o de marco de la actuación de los herboristas: a mi juicio, el paisaje pictórico tiene un tratamiento poético, el color, la bruma, las pequeñas figuras humanas...todo inspira una concepción de la naturaleza como protectora de los hombres, esa imagen es pura modernidad.”

Jesús R. – Spain



“Es obvio suponer que los calificativos sobre esta obra hayan seguido un curso ejemplar. Afortunadamente no hacen falta muchas palabras. Esta edición es puro arte -no solo para la vista sino también al tacto-, por su depurada elaboración artesanal que hace de ella una auténtica belleza editorial, desprendiéndose, como consecuencia, un goce contemplativo, una agradable sensación explayándose entre la ilustrativa sabiduría y la sensibilidad de las imágenes que contiene. Todo arte, el arte de verdad, el ARTE con mayúsculas, siendo prácticamente inefable, se explica no obstante por sí mismo, y más cuando pretendemos que sea eterno. En este sentido, es loable el esfuerzo que se ha hecho para llevar a buen término su publicación. Reciban, por todo ello, nuestra gratitud por la satisfacción que produce poseer esta maravilla producida por Uds.”

Carlos y Carmen – Spain



“Il volume è davvero bello e pregevole. Le riproduzioni sono stupende, è organizzato bene e arricchito dagli interessanti contenuti di esperti dei vari settori.”

Elena Artale – Italy



4.91 (11 total reviews) 5 1 (11)

See more reviews ()

Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo)

Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo) The British Library, London
Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo) The British Library, London
Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo) The British Library, London
Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo) The British Library, London
Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo) The British Library, London
Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo) The British Library, London
Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo) The British Library, London
Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo) The British Library, London
Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo) The British Library, London
Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo) The British Library, London
Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo) The British Library, London
Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo) The British Library, London
Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo) The British Library, London
Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo) The British Library, London
Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo) The British Library, London
Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo) The British Library, London
Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo) The British Library, London
Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo) The British Library, London
Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo) The British Library, London
Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo) The British Library, London
Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo) The British Library, London
Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo) The British Library, London
Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo) The British Library, London
Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo) The British Library, London
Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo) The British Library, London
Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo) The British Library, London
Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo) The British Library, London
Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo) The British Library, London
Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo) The British Library, London
Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo) The British Library, London
Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo) The British Library, London
Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo) The British Library, London
Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo) The British Library, London
Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo) The British Library, London
Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo) The British Library, London
Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo) The British Library, London
Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo) The British Library, London
Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo) The British Library, London
Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo) The British Library, London
Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo) The British Library, London
Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo) The British Library, London
Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo) The British Library, London
Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo) The British Library, London
Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo) The British Library, London
Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo) The British Library, London
Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo) The British Library, London
Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo) The British Library, London
Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo) The British Library, London
Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo) The British Library, London
Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo) The British Library, London
Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo) The British Library, London
The British Library, London

Description

✵ Shelf mark: Add. Ms. 22332
✵ Date: c. 1565
✵ Size: 265 x 195 mm
✵ Pages: 370 pages, 168 full-page miniatures
✵ Bound in gold-tooled and stamped black leather
✵ Full-colour commentary volume by Lucia Tongiorgi Tomasi (Università di Pisa), Vivian Nutton (University College London), Ramón Morales Valverde (Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid), Elena Artale (National Research Council, Italy) and Peter Kidd (Freelance researcher of manuscripts) 

Unique and unrepeatable first edition, strictly limited to 987 numbered and authenticated copies

commentary volume

Mattioli’s Dioscorides illustrated by Cibo (Discorsi by Mattioli and Cibo) The British Library, London

Size: 240 mm x 330 mm
Pages: 480
Illustrations: 300 full-colour
Language: English, French, Spanish, Italian
ISBN: 978-84-16509-67-6

Contents:
From the editor to the reader 
Manuel Moleiro 

Plants, landscapes, colours. The life, writings, and works of Gherardo Cibo 
Lucia Tongiorgi Tomasi
Lincean Academy Fellow
Emeritus Professor of Art History
Università di Pisa

Pietro Andrea Mattioli and Medical Botany 
Vivian Nutton
Emeritus Professor of the History of Medicine
University College London

Text and botanical commentary
Elena Artale
Researcher
Istituto Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, National Research Council (CNR) 

Ramón Morales Valverde
Researcher
Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid, Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)

Appendix / The Provenance of the Manuscript 
Peter Kidd
Freelance researcher
Former Curator of Illuminated Manuscripts at the British Library

Indexes 

Bibliography

Pictures

Details

In this remarkable codex, the artistic genius and botanist Gherardo Cibo (1512-1600) compiled a selection of medical and botanical texts from the Discorsi by the famous physician of Siena Pietro Andrea Mattioli (1501-1577), and illustrated them with more than 160 remarkable pictures of plants and landscapes that rank amongst the most beautiful of the Renaissance.

Discorsi is Mattioli’s Italian translation of DioscoridesDe Materia Medica (1st century AD) with the addition of lengthy commentaries based on his personal experience and on popular and learned medicine. Mattioli’s book was extremely useful for physicians and herbalists not familiar with classical languages.

Gherardo Cibo was an avid reader and admirer of this book by Mattioli. He copied entire passages in neat script, adding his own comments, anecdotes and legends and, more importantly, illustrated them with delicate and lifelike botanical images. His splendid miniatures feature different species of plants standing out in the foreground against the brightly coloured landscapes of their natural habitat.

Gherardo Cibo’s manuscript, with its dazzlingly beautiful miniatures, is an unusual and personal version of Mattioli’s printed work and a highly original artistic contribution to both nascent modern science and the history of botanical and landscape illustrations.

Reviews

“Je viens de découvrir Dioscoride : c'est une pure merveille volumineuse. J'ai apprécié un sommaire avec le nom d'espèce par ordre alphabétique : je pense que c'est peu fréquent dans un livre de cette époque. Le collectionneur méditerranéen appréciera l'une des petites scènes qui accompagne le dessin des fleurs : je pense ici à l'olivier avec la scène de ramassage des olives et le transport à dos d'hommes jusqu'au mulet.”.

Jean M. – France

“Arrivato il libro, bellissimo, sono felice di averlo ricevuto!!! Una meraviglia. Una grande gioia averlo tra le mani! Vi ringrazio per il vostro straordinario lavoro, grazie per dare la possibilità a tutti noi di ammirare e sfogliare i capolavori del passato. Grazie per la cura e la passione con la quale lavorate. Al prossimo capolavoro”.

Rosi S. – Italy

“Soy clienta de Moleiro desde hace 20 años y estoy contenta con las reproducciones que la editorial Moleiro hace de los códices escogidos. El códice Discórides de Cibo y Mattioli entra perfectamente en mis intereses temáticos de coleccionista por su contenido y por la belleza y fidelidad en la reproducción del original.”

Mª José P. – Spain

VIEW ALL
“El Códice nos parece extraordinario y cuanto más lo miramos, más orgullosas estamos de haberlo adquirido. Un trabajo exquisito, como siempre, de M. Moleiro.”

Eva D. y Montse A. – Spain

“Para decirlo de principio y fijar una idea: esta obra, a mi entender, es el triunfo de la Modernidad en el campo de la botánica. Destacaría 3 aspectos de la obra: • El primero y destacado de forma unánime, la precisión y exactitud del dibujo y del color de los ejemplares botánicos dibujados. • El segundo, la concepción "moderna", o sea racionalista, de los comentarios que son muy descriptivos, con referencias a la utilidad conocida y al autor o autores invocado como autoridad. Se acabó mezclar estas cosas con influencias astrológicas o de carácter, etcétera. Un aspecto no menor de los comentarios es su hermosa letra humanística cursiva, luminosa, de fácil lectura. No es de extrañar que esa letra, la humanística, sea la que acabó imponiéndose en las escrituras con alfabeto latino. • La tercera, se refiere al paisaje, aspecto que todos los comentarios y opiniones resaltan con justicia. Pero yo destacaría un matiz, el tratamiento del paisaje no es de simple fondo o de marco de la actuación de los herboristas: a mi juicio, el paisaje pictórico tiene un tratamiento poético, el color, la bruma, las pequeñas figuras humanas...todo inspira una concepción de la naturaleza como protectora de los hombres, esa imagen es pura modernidad.”

Jesús R. – Spain

“Es obvio suponer que los calificativos sobre esta obra hayan seguido un curso ejemplar. Afortunadamente no hacen falta muchas palabras. Esta edición es puro arte -no solo para la vista sino también al tacto-, por su depurada elaboración artesanal que hace de ella una auténtica belleza editorial, desprendiéndose, como consecuencia, un goce contemplativo, una agradable sensación explayándose entre la ilustrativa sabiduría y la sensibilidad de las imágenes que contiene. Todo arte, el arte de verdad, el ARTE con mayúsculas, siendo prácticamente inefable, se explica no obstante por sí mismo, y más cuando pretendemos que sea eterno. En este sentido, es loable el esfuerzo que se ha hecho para llevar a buen término su publicación. Reciban, por todo ello, nuestra gratitud por la satisfacción que produce poseer esta maravilla producida por Uds.”

Carlos y Carmen – Spain

“Il volume è davvero bello e pregevole. Le riproduzioni sono stupende, è organizzato bene e arricchito dagli interessanti contenuti di esperti dei vari settori.”

Elena Artale – Italy

See more reviews ()

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