Chiromantia.

Padua:  Matthaeus Cerdonis, 1484.
4to.   [1-28 310].   [26] leaves;  first four leaves of each of the three quires foliated by printer i-4, 5-8, 9-12 respectively.
With woodcuts and accompanying type from Ratdolt's edition (Goff C463);  woodcut initials.
ISTC ic00464000;  GW 6635;  Goff C464;  BMC VII 922 (IA. 30014);  CIBN C-304;  BSB-Ink C-275. 

GIP number: C34
Shelf-mark: Sp Coll Ferguson An-y.31 (see main library entry for this item)
Variant: 1/1r, line 1:  “Ex diuina ...”, not “Et diuina ...” as in BMC and GW.
Provenance: Mathew Wilson (1730-1802), of Eshton Hall, Yorkshire:  armorial bookplate on front pastedown with motto “Res non verba” (Franks 32115).
John Trotter Brockett (1788-1842), F.S.A., lawyer:  armorial bookplate (Franks 3792) on verso of front free endpaper;  lot 364 in Catalogue of the choice and valuable library of the late John Trotter Brockett, Esq., of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (London:  S. Leigh, Sotheby & Co., 1843);  sold to Emerson Charnley for £0.3.6 according to the annotated British Library copy of the sale catalogue - shelfmark S.C.S. 246(1).
Emerson Charnley (1782-1845), bookseller, Newcastle-upon-Tyne:  see above.
W(?) Boyd (fl. 1843):  inscription on Brockett bookplate “Bought at J.T. Brocketts sale 1843 W(?) Boyd”.
Maggs Brothers Ltd., booksellers, London, established 1855;  sold book to John Ferguson.
John Ferguson (1837-1916), Professor of Chemistry, University of Glasgow:  acquisition note on front pastedown “John Ferguson June 1895” and note of his supplier “Maggs” on rear pastedown.
University of Glasgow:  Ferguson collection purchase, 1921.
Binding: 18th-century, gold-tooled red goatskin over wooden boards;  covers decorated with a two panel design;  the outer frame is formed by a decorative roll with tooth-like edge;  the inner frame is formed from a single fillet with an ornament added to the outer corners;  the inner panel is decorated with separate floral and a drawer-handle tools to form a lozenge shape, the same tools are used to decorate the inner corners;  two brass clasps, catch plates on front board;  rebacked.   Size:  213 x 152 mm.
Leaf size: 204 x 145 mm.
Annotations: Occasional single word marginal annotations in an early hand;  large calligraphic letter “R” in red ink on front free endpaper together with “Liber rariss.” and a 19th-century price code “ah/” - the latter both in black ink;  pencil number “754” on front pastedown together with a note in ink on the printer derived from Samuel Palmer’s History of printing.
Decoration: Woodcut initials “P” and “M” on 1/1r and initial “Q” on 1/2v decorated with red pen-work;  capital strokes supplied in red throughout;  chapter headings and descriptions of woodcuts underlined in red;  occasional paragraph marks supplied in red;  text pages and pages with woodcuts enclosed within red ink rules from 1/1r to 2/5r (ff. 1-13r).
Imperfections: None.

 

Variant reading in Chiromantia