Antiquarian Books from the 15th-17th Century from Milou Rare Books
Books and manuscripts from the 15th-17th century are offered by Milou.
By Michael Stillman
This month we review our first catalogue from William S. Cotter's Milou Rare Books of Austin, Texas. The title of this catalogue, which describes completely the material within, is 15th-17th Century Manuscripts and Printed Books. It is a collection of 47 rare European texts, in various languages, and covering a variety of subjects. There is not too much deliberate fiction, although the various 15-17th century medical works have some enormous accuracy problems. Those who fear doctors today should be thankful they did not live in this period.
Before looking inside the pages, we need to comment on the binding. I lack the knowledge to describe matters pertaining to the art of the book, but as you can see from the image of the cover (click on it to enlarge), this is an uncommon style of sewn binding rarely seen today. The pages are of I know not what paper, but again, this is not something often seen. This is one of those rare catalogues that should be collected itself. Perhaps this fine presentation can be explained by Milou's describing the firm as a "rare book and restoration concern." Now for a look inside.
Item 27 is one of the great classics of English history, a 1580 second edition of the three-volume Chronicles by Raphael Holinshed. Holinshed was assigned the task of compiling a complete record of human history, and while he never achieved anything quite so great, he provided one of the better histories of early England, Scotland and Ireland. However, what makes his work even more notable, particularly the second edition, is that it was the history that Shakespeare used as the basis for many of his plays. Priced at $16,000.
Item 7 consists of two books (bound together) from 1693 concerning French diviner Jacques Aymar (generally known as just "Aymar"). Along with some of the more common uses for the divining rod, Aymar claimed he could find murderers and other evidence of crime through his stick. Upon finding the crime scene, it would shake violently in Aymar's hands. These two works are Histoire de la Baguette de Jacques Aimar by Pierre Garnier, and Lettre Touchant L'Assassinat by Monsieur Chauvin. They basically attempt to explain the phenomenon through natural means. The theory was that the criminal's body left behind tiny "corpuscles" when it was in an aroused state caused by his nefarious behavior. When the crime scene was found, these corpuscles entered the diviner's body, fermenting in his bloodstream and causing him to shake violently. The reaction, then, was in the diviner's body, not the rod. While this theory has no followers of which I am aware today, it is interesting to note that crimes are solved today by comparably small, invisible to the naked eye, cells left behind whose DNA reveals the criminal's identity. $5,500.
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Antiquarian Books from the 15th-17th Century from Milou Rare Books
La Chambre explains the nature of emotions.
Item 32 provides a look at inexpensive medicines in 1578. They may not have been worth the savings. The author of Haufsartzney was one Christophe Landre. Rather than buying expensive herbals, Landre recommends using items found around the house, or even in the street. As Milou explains, "Landre suggests uses for spider webs, cabbage stalks, eggshells, swallows' nests, spit, bugs, rotten wood, rotten snails, urine, ashes, the excreta of sundry barnyard animals, and most worrisome, 'shit off the street.'" It all sounded reasonable enough to me until he got to that last one. $2,800.
Robert Lovell was also up on the latest advances in medicine in 1665. His book is Enchiridion Botanicum. Or, a Compleat Herball, and it truly is a complete compendium of all imaginable diseases and their cures. Among the diseases he can cure, and you are unlikely to find cures for some of these anywhere else, are armeholes smell, braines commotion, pissings dropmeale, fundament stupidity, oblivion, and sphincter coldness. Actually, Lovell does not provide cures for all of these illnesses, but makes you buy another book of his to get the rest. He was a better marketer than physician. Item 36. $1,350.
Here is a book which deals with psychological rather than physical issues. It is the first English edition of The Characters of Passions by Marin La Chambre, translated from the original French. Le Chambre's belief was that there were primary emotions, such as grief, love, desire and hate, and all others were combinations of the primary emotions. Jealousy, for example, was a combination of love, hate, fear and despair. I guess it's hard to prove or disprove this theory. Item 31, published in 1650. $1,900.
You may reach Milou Rare Books online at www.miloubooks.net, or by phone at 512-453-1254.
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