Bidspirit auction | [SCIENCE AND MEDICINE] - MELA

[SCIENCE AND MEDICINE] - MELA Pomponius (1st century AD) - [Classical Geography – Pomponius Mela – Venice 1478] - “Cosmographia sive De situ orbis” Venice, Franciscus Renner, 1478. 4to, Fourth edition; 4to, (20 x 15.3 cm); headings printed in red, white-on-black woodcut initials, text printed on 26 lines, printed marginalia, occasional light dampstaining, some foxing; later full vellum over boards, light wear and soiling to boards, otherwise a good firm copy of a scarce work; collation: a-f8 (a1r author’s preface, text, f8v (colophon), 48 leaves total. ISTC im00450000 Rare edition of the earliest surviving Latin geographical treatise, highly influential throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance. A handsome edition published in Venice. This work exerted a considerable influence on later authors, partly through the extensive citations in Pliny’s Historia naturalis where Mela is cited as an important authority. The publications of Mela and Claudius Ptolemy were incentives for further exploration, and in particular Mela's descriptions of Africa were used by the Portuguese navigators who were venturing far out into the Atlantic for the first time. •⁠⁠⁠> This lot is located in and ships from the UK. No export license is required for values under £65,000; above this threshold, a UK export license will be needed. Import duties and taxes in the destination country are the buyer's responsibility.