Strabonis Geographicorum lib. XVII. Olim, ut putatur, a Guarino Veronensi ac Gregorio Trifernate latinitate donati, iam denuo a Conrado Heresbachio LL. doctore, Principisque Iuliacensis consiliario ad fidem Graeci exemplaris authorumque, qui huc facere videbantur, recogniti, ac plerisque locis deintegro versi. Item Epitomae eorundem decem & septem de Geographia librorum, nunc primum de Graeco sermone in Latinum conversae, Hieronymo Gemusaeo, D. medico & philosopho interprete.

Basel (Basileae), Apud Ioan. Vualder, 1539. Folio. (LXXXVIII),549,(1 blank),(26 index) p. Calf 33 cm (Ref: VD16 S9347; Griechischer Geist aus Basler Pressen, 288; USTC 694729; Hoffmann 3,457/58; Ebert 21826; Adams S-1904; Graesse 6/1,506; Schweiger 1,304) (Details: Recently and expertly rebacked antique style: back with 6 raised bands & a morocco shield. Title with engraved architectural borders. Johann Walder's printer's mark on the title, it depicts a parrot sitting on an olive branch. On the verso of the last leaf a second version of this printer's mark, but bigger. Big woodcut initials at the beginning of the books) (Condition: Boards scratched and showing some small inkspots. Corners bumped & abraded. A few small wormholes in the leather of the upper board. A small stain on the title. Small wormhole in the blank outer margin of the first 24 leaves. 3 very small ink annotations. First & last leaves with a slight fold lengthwise. Woodcut bookplate the front pastedown. Old inscription on the verso of the front flyleaf) (Note: The Greek historian and geographer Strabo of Amaseia, 63 BC - ca. 20 AD, was like his example Polybius, an admirer of the Romans and their empire. He lived for some time in Rome and travelled over a great part of the known world. His historical work is lost. The greater part of his 17 books on geography however survived. He showed little interest in purely scientific matters, and more in moral lessons. The following table of content is borrowed from the OCD 2nd ed. p. 1017: 'Books 1-2: introductory. 1. Homer; Eratosthenes criticized. 2. Mathematical geography; criticism of Eratosthenes and Polybius, examination of Posidonius (especially zones); Eudoxus' voyages. Strabo's opinions on the earth; cartography on sphere and plane. 3. Spain, Isles of Sicily. 4. Gaul, Britain etc. 5-6. Italy, Sicily; the Roman empire. 7. North and East Europe, north Balkans (some is lost). 8-10. Greece (very antiquarian and mythological). 11. Euxine-Caspian etc., Taurus, Armenia. 12-14. Asia Minor (some mythology and history). 15. India, Persia. 16. Mesopotamia, Palestine, Ethiopian coasts, Arabia, 17. Egypt, Ethiopia, north Africa'. § The 'editio princeps' of the Greek text was published in 1516 by the Venetian printer Aldus Manutius. The first Latin translation, from the press of Schweynheym and Pannartz, dates from much earlier, from 1469. There was apparantly much demand for a Latin translation in the Renaissance. 'Griechischer Geist aus Basler Pressen' records 12 editions of Latin translations till 1539. 1523 saw a new Latin translation made by the German humanist and politician Konrad Heresbach, which was published in Basel. Konrad Heresbach, 1496-1576, was for a short time (1521) thanks to the mediation of his friend Erasmus professor of Greek of the University at Freiburg. Erasmus declared that he had never met a young man with such perfect knowledge of both Greek and Latin. (Basler Geist, p. 55) From 1523 onward Heresbach was involved in the politics of the Duchy of Cleve and Westphalia. From the title we learn, that Heresbach was the 'Geheimrat' of the 'princeps' of the Duchy of 'Juliacensis', and we should add 'Clivensis et Montensis' (Jülich, Kleve, Berg). In politics he tried, like Erasmus, to avoid a schism between the catholics and the protestants, and to reconcile the opposing parties. In his younger years Heresbach produced editions of several Greek authors, among them this translation of Strabo. In the preface of 1523, repeated in the edition of 1539, Heresbach declares that the translators of the earlier published translations were not Guarino Veronensis and Gregorio Trifernate, but that that translation tasted of (resipiscere) the Byzantine refugee scholar Theodorus Gazaeus. The reissue of the Latin translation of Heresbach of 1539 is preceded by a Latin translation of a not yet published summary of the 17 books of Strabo, the 'Strabonis Geographicorum Epitomae'. These 'epitomae' were translated by a scholar/medic (medicus et philosophus) from Basel, Hieronymus Gemusaeus, 1505-1543. He was well versed in Greek. In 1534 he was appointed professor of physics of the University at Basel, and from 1537 he was professor of Aristotelian logic. He translated several works of Aristotle, and produced also a commentary on his 'Analytica Posteriora'. (NDB 8,606)) (Provenance: This book has an interesting provenance, the keyword is 'Ducatus Juliacensis', or Duchy of Jülich, a city halfway Cologne and Maastricht. Heresbach, the translator of Strabo, is advertised on the title as being the 'consiliarius' of the 'princeps Juliacensis', that is 'Geheimer Rat' of the Duke of Jülich. He held this office of Councillor from 1535. It is possible that Heresbach gave a copy (this copy?) of his Strabo to the Duke? Now, we find on the verso of the front flyleaf the following inscription: 'Ihro Excellence U. Hofcanzler, Franz Melchior Herr von Wisser, 1703'. The noble family Von Wiser entered into the service of the Duke Palatine of the Pfalz Neuburg in the 17th century. Franz Melchior, born ca. 1645, who was elevated to Imperial Count (Reichsgraf) in 1702, was 'Excellence U. Hofcanzler', i.e. 'Geheimrat und Präsident' of Johann Wilhelm, the Duke Palatine of the Pfalz Neuburg. During the 'Jülich-Klevischen Erbfolgestreit' at the beginning of the 17th century, the region Jülich, Kleve, Berg came into the possession of the Duke Palatine (Pfalzgraf) of Neuburg. Not only the region, but of course also the court library of the princes/dukes of Jülich. Thus this book written by Heresbach, the 'Geheimrat' of the duke of Jülich, may have become the property of the 'Geheimrat' Franz Melchior von Wiser, chancelor of the Duke Palatine of Neuburg, who was also the ruler of Jülich. § On the front pastedown the oval woodcut armorial bookplate of the next owner, the son of Franz Melchior: 'Ferdinand Andreas S(acri) R(omani) I(mperii) Comes de Wiser'. Ferdinand Andreas, 1677-1755, inherited this book, but also the title of 'Reichsgraf', and was like his father an influential diplomat. This book must once have been in the library of the big mansion of the counts of Wiser at Leuterhausen, which was built by Ferdinand Andreas. (The sources for 'Von Wiser' are the informative lemmata 'Ferdinand von Wiser' and 'Pfalz Neuburg' in Wikipedia, and also Zedler Band 57, p. 650) § There is however something strange with the entry concerning Franz Melchior von Wiser. It is dated 1703. Franz Melchior died however, according to Zedler, the earliest source we could find, on the 23rd of November 1702, at 7 o'clock in the evening. It is possible that the person who wrote this inscription in this book made a mistake. It is also possible that Zedler made a mistake, which all later historians seem to repeat. We found on the internet a source, the only one, which seems to indicate that Franz Melchior was still alive in 1704. The source is a manuscript of the 'Sammlung Ludwig', on the front pastedown of which has been pasted the printed bookplate of Ferdinand Andreas, below which has been written: 'Ihro Exellence fl. Hofkanzler Franz Melchior von Wiser, 1704'. In the accompanying note it is explained that Franz Melchior died in 1707. (Die Handschriften der Sammlung Ludwig, Band 2, 272, Köln, 1982) More research is needed here. § In the front flyleaf has been blindstamped: 'Library of Ruth and Walter Middelmann'. On the internet we found only one 'Ruth Middlemann', living in Capetown, South Africa, an expert on the national plant 'Protea', better known as 'suikerbos', or 'suikerbossie'. Since we bought this book in South Africa, this woman must have been the previous owner) (Collation: a4, b-g6, a-z6, A-Z6, Aa-Bb6) (Photographs on request) (Heavy book, may require extra shipping costs)