“A Monumental Work”
De Monetis et Re Numaria, Libri Duo: quorum primus artem cvdendae monetae, secundus vero qvaestionum monetariarum decisiones continet. His accesserunt tractatus varii atque vutiles, necnon consilia, singularesque additiones tam veterum, quàm neotericorum authorum, qui de monetis…scripserunt…cum Summariis et Indice copioso.
Woodcut printer’s device on title, full-page woodcut heraldic device on recto of leaf preceding text, two divisional titles, & woodcut diagrams in the text. 38 p.l., 269, [3], 343 (i.e., 353)-798 pp. Three parts in one vol. Large thick 4to, cont. vellum over boards, yapp edges, ties gone. Cologne: J. Gymnich, 1591.
First edition, the very fine Bibliotheca Colbertina – Honeyman copy, of this important work on economics, the history of money, and numismatics. Budel (d. 1597), was director of the Bavarian mint.
This massive work is really a collection of texts on economics, money, and the study of coins and paper money by a number of early and contemporary scholars. It “consists of two books by Budel (Budelius), director of the Bavarian mint, and several appended chapters by the following writers: Albertus Brunus (1461-1541), counselor to Louis of France, and ambassador; Johannes Aquila, friend of the astrologer Stöffler who died in 1531; Bilibaldus Pirkheymer (1470-1530), a celebrated humanist; Martinus Garatus Laudensis, who writes a chapter ‘De monetis’; Franciscus Curtius, and Joannes Regnaudus of Avignon, who write on the same topic; Carolus Molinaeus (1500-1566); Didacus Covarrubias (1512-1577), bishop of Ciudad Rodrigo; Henricus Mameranus, a Belgian printer; Henricus Hornmannus; Franciscus de Oretio (1418-1483), a celebrated lawyer of Arezzo; Nicolas Everardus (1473-1532), a celebrated Dutch lawyer, of Middelburg; Jacobus Menochius (1531-1607), an Italian lawyer, and various others. It is a monumental work, and is helpful in the investigation of the history of monetary tables.”–Smith, Rara Arithmetica, p. 396.
PROVENANCE: Bibliotheca Colbertina (with inscription at head of title-page), sale Paris, 1728, lot 11,557 – Marbury Hall (of the Barry family) – Arthur Hugh Smith Barry, 1st Baron Barrymore (1843-1925) – Robert B. Honeyman IV, sale Sotheby’s London, 31 October 1978, lot 540 – Dr. Paul C. Martin, sale Sotheby’s London, 26 November 1987, lot 112.
A fine copy preserved in an uncharacteristic (Mr. Honeyman preferred red) green morocco-backed slipcase.
Price: $6,500.00
Item ID: 6735
