Canepari Pietro Maria - De Atramentis Cuiscunque generis opera sanè novum hactenus à nemine promulgatum in sex Descriptiones - 1619

FIRST EDITION OF THE FIRST BOOK ON INKS, DEALING ALSO WITH ALCHEMYEXTREMELY SCARCE! CANEPARI PIETRO MARIADE ATRAMENTISCuiscunque generis opera sanè novum hactenus à nemine promulgatum in sex Descriptiones digestum. Venice, 1619 – Evangelista Deuchino1 volume in-4° (198 mm x 147 mm i. e. 7. 8 by 5. 8 inches) [16] , 368 p. Printer device representing, inside a simple circle, a scales, the sun, the moon, the bust of man and of a woman and the saying “Aequali lance librata nil clarius chaos”. XVIII full vellum binding. Internal of the book in a very good state of conservation (few old underlining and handwritten notes in the margins) IMPORTANT AND VERY SCARCE BOOK that describes systematically all the types of INKS, providing the composition, the preparation and the use. Canepari, born in Crema (Italy) , was a medician of Venice but, also, a very skilled person in chemistry and in natural sciences. Apparently, THIS IS THE FIRST BOOK DESCRIBING THE TYPOGRAPHICAL INk (“Typographorum, Chalcographorum atramentum”) . The work is divided in three “descriptiones” among them we point out “De lapide pyrite metallorum, & atramentorum stirpe”, “De atramento metallico, præsertim Chalcity”, ”De atramento sutorio, vulgo vetriolo”, “De atramento scriptorio”, etc. Last chapter “De varijs operationibus ex Vetriolo gerendis, ac de multiplici modo eliciendi oleum à Vitriolo” concerns the oil of vitriol (or sulphuric acid) . THE PARTS CONCERING THE INVISIBLE AND SECRET INKS ARE VERY CURIOUS; many considerations feel the effects of the studies of alchemy of the author: for this reason, this work is often found in repertories dealing with alchemy. Luigi Rusconi, in his “Dizionario universale archeologico-artistico-technologico” (1859) , severely criticized Canepari, but granted that he was the only man that treated deeply this subject. THIS FIRST EDITION IS EXTREMELY SCARCE: NO OTHER COPY APPEARED IN THE ANTIQUARIAN MARKET (BOOKSHOPS OR AUCTION HOUSES) IN THE LAST 10 YEARS (and more) !