ANCIENT HERBARIUM "THE OLD HERBARIST"

Medicine properties, culinary and medicinal plants, flowers , herbs and roots , from the most common to the rarest, until the poisonous ones, all in italian language. Each one is accompanied by beautiful reproductions of ancient etchings.
The design on the cardboard cover is a miniature of the internal coloured parchment sheets; for the leather book the external pressing is the frontispiece of the Ancient Recipe Book kept at the Science History Museum in Florence.

In the first part you will find informations about the history of medicine  since prehistoric times: Shamanism, preludes of Hippocrates, Galen, Benedictine Gardens, Salerno School, up to the Giardino dei Semplici.
Information on schools where the doctor was also a half-sorcerer: Esotericism, the Seven Teachings, the Alchemy of the four elements and other news on The Emerald Table, Numerology, Kabbalah, Green Alchemy.
Old recipes and popular treatments: coughs and colds, acetylsalicide acid, long life elixir with minced magic stones and pure gold.

Inside, the coloured parchments  depict some plants in full, with an angel indicating the part of the plant to be used, and at the bottom is the healing purpose of the plant (the Mandragola, for example, hallucinogenic and aphrodisiac plant; but also herbs to treat dog bite, snake bite or chickenpox).

The "Semplicista" of the title was the scholar of medicinal herbs, or rather, of the "simple", the plant varieties with medicinal virtues. In Florence there is the "Giardino dei Semplici" (Simple's Garden), born in 1545 at the will of Cosimo de 'Medici.

Herbarium in Paper Cover

Herbarium in Leather Cover

THE TUSCAN ALMANAC

Reprint of the ancient book published in 1796, all in italian language, originally used by children as a reading text and general culture in the State Middle Schools, also known as the Green Booklet, designed to pass on the traditions of the Tuscan land.

It is a very nice collection of idioms, Tuscan nursery rhymes and refrains: each page is a dip into the wisdom of our grandparents. There are also proverbs , songs ,   riddles of the time and lyrics of the " lullaby " melodies to put the children to sleep.

Each chapter opens with small descriptions of all the cities  of the region, from Florence to Pisa to Livorno, with curiosities and ancient traditions , local festivals, periods of harvesting vegetables, dishes and typical foods, famous local characters among painters, inventors and musicians. It can be said that the Tuscan Almanac was the first " Michelin Guide " in history.

Each page is enriched with beautiful reproductions of original ink drawings  of the book, which make it a timeless piece of ornament.

Thanks to the simple way of writing, it is a perfect gift for those who want to study italian language, or those who want to test or improve it.

See the Tuscan Almanac

A MASQUE OF DAYS

The text of the book is part of Charles Lamb's "Last Essays of Elia" collection, first published in book form in 1823.
Charles first used the pseudonym Elijah for an essay on the South Sea House, where he had worked decades earlier; Elia was the surname of an Italian who worked there at the same time as Charles, and after that essay the name remained.
The American editions of both the Essays and the Last Essays were published in Philadelphia in 1828. At the time, American publishers were not bound by copyright law and often reprinted materials from English books and periodicals; thus the American collection of the Last Essays preceded its British counterpart by five years.
This book which we reprinted at the time was illustrated by the famous British artist Walter Crane, and was printed in 1901 by the British firm Cassell and Company Limited. On the first pages you will find these references.
The reissue was made both in the original English and in Italian.

See the book A Masque of Days