Bidspirit auction | M. Vieira Natividade

M. Vieira Natividade - O Culto da Árvore, 1ª Edição - M. Vieira Natividade, 1913. Published in 1913 in Alcobaça, printed at the Alcobaça Printing House. This is the first edition of this erudite, curious, and unusual monograph on dendrolatry (the cult, myths, legends, and religious and traditional symbolism associated with trees) in Portuguese popular culture, written by the eminent archaeologist and researcher Manuel Vieira Natividade (1860-1918). The work constitutes a reference study for national ethnography. The copy features a magnificent and luxurious period binding in dark green sheepskin with corners, with plates covered in marbled paper of great aesthetic effect, a five-rib spine richly decorated in gold with exquisite vegetal/leaf-inspired tooling (in perfect harmony with the dendrological theme of the work), and a red leather label. This copy boasts an exceptional bibliographic pedigree: it features the elegant ex-libris of J. G. Mazziotti Salema Garção affixed to the marbled endpapers, the corresponding dry embossed mark (blind stamp) on the frontispiece, and a provenance note from Auction No. 41 of Soares & Mendonça (Porto, Lot No. 1391). The text block is very clean, sound, and in superb mechanical and aesthetic condition.