RÖSSLIN, Eucharius (1470-1526). Der Swangern Frawen und Hebammen Rosengarten. [Cologne, Arnt von Aich, 1518.] An exceptional unpressed and untrimmed copy, in a contemporary binding, of the first vernacular and first illustrated midwifery guide, the third edition. The first three editions are all undated and priority was undetermined for some time. This was the authoritative guide to obstetrics in Europe for nearly two centuries, translated into seven languages and printed in over a hundred editions: "probably no other medical book has been so widely translated and distributed" (Grolier). Its groundbreaking woodcut illustrations are attributed to Albrecht Durer’s pupil Martin Kaldenbach. The full-page dedicatory woodcut shows the author, a Freiburg apothecary who later served as a court Physician, presenting his book to his patron and the dedicatee, Katherine, Duchess of Brunswick and Lüneburg, who is thought to have encouraged him to produce the work—the first ever to be aimed especially at midwives. This same block was used for all three early editions, as were the in-utero cuts. The first edition was granted its privilege on 24 September 1512, and the dedication is dated 20 February 1513. It was followed by two undated editions which employ the original woodcuts but different title-page borders. The first of these has been assigned by Benzing to Heinrich Gran of Hagenau on the basis of type and the title border and dated c.1515. The second, of which the present copy is an example, omits the cut of the delivery room but has a new pictorial title not present in the prior two and is definitively the work of the Cologne printer Arnt von Aich, dated c.1518. Grolier Medicine 13 (all of the first three editions described as issues); Durling 3894 (lacking last four leaves); Waller 8091; Garrison and Morton 6138; VD16 R2851; Stillwell n 507; Wolfenbüttel 1403. See Josef Benzing, "Zu den ersten Ausgaben des 'Rosengarten,' des Eucharius Rösslin," in Das Antiquariat vol 12 (1956), pp 57-58. Quarto (204 x 141mm). Title page with woodcut border and illustration, full-page woodcut of author presenting his book to the dedicatee, woodcut illustrations in text (small dampstain in lower margin, some browning, scattered wormholes at end). Contemporary German stamped half calf over wooden boards, brass catchplates (without straps, top board separating). Custom box (incorrectly labeled "Hagenau 1513"). Provenance: Austrian Federal Monuments office (Bundesdenkmalamt) stamp – Irving Davis, London bookseller and bibliophile (sold Sotheby’s, 2 April, 1985, lot 81) – Jean Blondelet (sold Sotheby’s Paris, 31 May 2016, lot 44, erroneously described as the Hagenau first edition).
RÖSSLIN, Eucharius (1470-1526). Der Swangern Frawen und Hebammen Rosengarten. [Cologne, Arnt von Aich, 1518.] An exceptional unpressed and untrimmed copy, in a contemporary binding, of the first vernacular and first illustrated midwifery guide, the third edition. The first three editions are all undated and priority was undetermined for some time. This was the authoritative guide to obstetrics in Europe for nearly two centuries, translated into seven languages and printed in over a hundred editions: "probably no other medical book has been so widely translated and distributed" (Grolier). Its groundbreaking woodcut illustrations are attributed to Albrecht Durer’s pupil Martin Kaldenbach. The full-page dedicatory woodcut shows the author, a Freiburg apothecary who later served as a court Physician, presenting his book to his patron and the dedicatee, Katherine, Duchess of Brunswick and Lüneburg, who is thought to have encouraged him to produce the work—the first ever to be aimed especially at midwives. This same block was used for all three early editions, as were the in-utero cuts. The first edition was granted its privilege on 24 September 1512, and the dedication is dated 20 February 1513. It was followed by two undated editions which employ the original woodcuts but different title-page borders. The first of these has been assigned by Benzing to Heinrich Gran of Hagenau on the basis of type and the title border and dated c.1515. The second, of which the present copy is an example, omits the cut of the delivery room but has a new pictorial title not present in the prior two and is definitively the work of the Cologne printer Arnt von Aich, dated c.1518. Grolier Medicine 13 (all of the first three editions described as issues); Durling 3894 (lacking last four leaves); Waller 8091; Garrison and Morton 6138; VD16 R2851; Stillwell n 507; Wolfenbüttel 1403. See Josef Benzing, "Zu den ersten Ausgaben des 'Rosengarten,' des Eucharius Rösslin," in Das Antiquariat vol 12 (1956), pp 57-58. Quarto (204 x 141mm). Title page with woodcut border and illustration, full-page woodcut of author presenting his book to the dedicatee, woodcut illustrations in text (small dampstain in lower margin, some browning, scattered wormholes at end). Contemporary German stamped half calf over wooden boards, brass catchplates (without straps, top board separating). Custom box (incorrectly labeled "Hagenau 1513"). Provenance: Austrian Federal Monuments office (Bundesdenkmalamt) stamp – Irving Davis, London bookseller and bibliophile (sold Sotheby’s, 2 April, 1985, lot 81) – Jean Blondelet (sold Sotheby’s Paris, 31 May 2016, lot 44, erroneously described as the Hagenau first edition).
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