GASTRONOMY IN RARE BOOKS
On the occasion of the Universal Exposition which will be held in Milan next summer, Bolaffi is pleased to announce an auction of rare and ancient books dedicated to food and gastronomy in all its forms, with a selection of works from various private estates and interesting estimates. The catalogue will offer a wide range of works on agriculture, botany and natural sciences, books about banquets, good manners and table laying, manuals of livestock husbandry and bee breeding, olive oil production, tea and coffee growing, vegetarian cookery and oenology, booklets on healthy eating and hygiene. In short, everything about nutrition. We hope that this extraordinary event will prove of great interest to collectors of this intriguing and fascinating world: as George Bernard Shaw said, “there is no love sincerer than the love of food”!
One of the most valuable books put up for auction is the first revised edition of the masterpiece by Cristoforo Messisbugo, the famous and extremely rare Libro novo nel qual s’insegna à far d’ogni sorte di vivanda secondo la diversità de’ tempi, cosi di carne come di pesci e ‘l modo d’ordinar banchetti, apparecchiar tavole fornir palazzi, printed in Venice in 1552, one of the most soughtafter cookery books of the Renaissance (3,000 €). Among the other highlights of this auction, there are three fine works of the 17th century and one of the 18th century. The first is Lo scalco prattico by Vittorio Lancellotti, printed in Rome in 1627 (2,000 €). The second is Dialogo del Trenciante by Cesare Evitascandalo - 1609 -, one of the first books about “carvers”, i.e. those who, directly reporting to stewards, were in charge of cutting and boning meats and ascertaining their quality (2,000 €). The third is the original edition – printed by Dozza in Bologna in 1647 – of L’Apicio overo il Maestro de’ conviti, by Giovanni Francesco Vasselli (2,000 €). This book was last put up for auction almost 20 years ago. Last but not least among the classics, the rare first edition of Il cuoco galante by Vincenzo Corrado (1734-1836), where, for the first time, Mediterranean cuisine is considered in its modern sense (1,000 €).
The section of books dedicated to wine is remarkable for its quality and quantity. It includes treatises about wine production, preservation and consumption, published from the 18th to the 20th century, in addition to poetry and literary works, e.g. the dithyramb Polifemo briaco by Emanuele Campolongo, printed in Naples in 1815, or the first edition of Il vino by Edmondo De Amicis, richly illustrated by Ferraguti, Nardi and Ximenes (100 €). There will be several international cuisine books (German, Spanish, British and American), but the great French cuisine is especially represented, with rare editions by François Vatel, Antonin Careme, Auguste Escoffier and Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, to mention but a few among the best-known cooks and gourmets.
Besides a sizeable group of volumes about confectionery, among the pleasures of sweet cuisine it is worth mentioning a beautiful uncut copy of Memorie storiche sopra l’uso della cioccolata in tempo di digiuno by Daniele Concina - 1748 (400 €). Volumes about Italian regional cuisines are innumerable, including some rare treatises of Jewish cuisine, and recent culinary tradition, from Il Re dei cuochi, to Talismano della felicità and all works by Petronilla. In an age where the technological development is forever changing our lives and our planet, we hope that this catalogue will not only whet the appetite of gastronomy collectors, but will also, and above all, be the opportunity to reflect on delicate issues, such as nutrition, agriculture and land exploitation, through the thoughts and knowledge of some great masters of the past.
By Cristiano Collari
One of the most valuable books put up for auction is the first revised edition of the masterpiece by Cristoforo Messisbugo, the famous and extremely rare Libro novo nel qual s’insegna à far d’ogni sorte di vivanda secondo la diversità de’ tempi, cosi di carne come di pesci e ‘l modo d’ordinar banchetti, apparecchiar tavole fornir palazzi, printed in Venice in 1552, one of the most soughtafter cookery books of the Renaissance (3,000 €). Among the other highlights of this auction, there are three fine works of the 17th century and one of the 18th century. The first is Lo scalco prattico by Vittorio Lancellotti, printed in Rome in 1627 (2,000 €). The second is Dialogo del Trenciante by Cesare Evitascandalo - 1609 -, one of the first books about “carvers”, i.e. those who, directly reporting to stewards, were in charge of cutting and boning meats and ascertaining their quality (2,000 €). The third is the original edition – printed by Dozza in Bologna in 1647 – of L’Apicio overo il Maestro de’ conviti, by Giovanni Francesco Vasselli (2,000 €). This book was last put up for auction almost 20 years ago. Last but not least among the classics, the rare first edition of Il cuoco galante by Vincenzo Corrado (1734-1836), where, for the first time, Mediterranean cuisine is considered in its modern sense (1,000 €).
The section of books dedicated to wine is remarkable for its quality and quantity. It includes treatises about wine production, preservation and consumption, published from the 18th to the 20th century, in addition to poetry and literary works, e.g. the dithyramb Polifemo briaco by Emanuele Campolongo, printed in Naples in 1815, or the first edition of Il vino by Edmondo De Amicis, richly illustrated by Ferraguti, Nardi and Ximenes (100 €). There will be several international cuisine books (German, Spanish, British and American), but the great French cuisine is especially represented, with rare editions by François Vatel, Antonin Careme, Auguste Escoffier and Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, to mention but a few among the best-known cooks and gourmets.
Besides a sizeable group of volumes about confectionery, among the pleasures of sweet cuisine it is worth mentioning a beautiful uncut copy of Memorie storiche sopra l’uso della cioccolata in tempo di digiuno by Daniele Concina - 1748 (400 €). Volumes about Italian regional cuisines are innumerable, including some rare treatises of Jewish cuisine, and recent culinary tradition, from Il Re dei cuochi, to Talismano della felicità and all works by Petronilla. In an age where the technological development is forever changing our lives and our planet, we hope that this catalogue will not only whet the appetite of gastronomy collectors, but will also, and above all, be the opportunity to reflect on delicate issues, such as nutrition, agriculture and land exploitation, through the thoughts and knowledge of some great masters of the past.
By Cristiano Collari