Michael Scotus: Liber physiognomiae.
[Basel: Michael Wenssler, ca. 1485]
4to. a-b8 c-e6. [34] leaves.
ISTC im00554000; GW M23281; Goff M554; BSB-Ink M-383; HR(Suppl) 14543; Mitchell(Aberdeen) 169.
Date from ISTC; BSB-Ink dates [ca. 1486-87]; Hubay(Augsburg) 1425 dates [ca. 1487].
Mitchell and BSB-Ink correct Reichling’s transcription.
Two copies held by the University of Glasgow.
Copy 1
| GIP number: | M36/2 |
| Shelf-mark: | Sp Coll Ferguson Al-a.76 (see main library entry for this item) |
| Variant: | a3r, col. 1, lines 3 and 4: “ber phiſi=||onomię:” not as in Mitchell and Reichling “ber phisi||onomie:”. |
| Note: | In this copy leaf b3 missigned “b2”. |
| Bound with: | See Binding. |
| Provenance: | Prince Baldassarre Ludovisi Boncompagni (1821-1894), historian of mathematics and Italian aristocrat: item 145 ("Senz’ alcuna copertura. Iniziali in rosso.") in Enrico Narducci, Catalogo di edizioni del secolo XV le quali fanno parte dell' insigne biblioteca appartenuta alla chiara memoria del Principe D. Baldassarre Boncompagni (Roma: 1896); pencil note by John Ferguson on e6v "Boncompagni sale 1380". John Ferguson (1837-1916), Professor of Chemistry, University of Glasgow: purchased 22 Nov. 1898 according to Ferguson’s note in his duplicate copy of this edition (M36/1, shelfmark Al-a.23). University of Glasgow: Ferguson collection purchase, 1921. |
| Binding: | Scotland, 20th-century dark green cloth; oval stamp of Glasgow College Library on spine; parchment manuscript strip originally used as a guard now loosely inserted between e3 and e4; parchment tab on a1, probably indicating that this tract had once been bound with another or other works. Size: 212 x 154 mm. |
| Leaf size: | 207 x 148 mm. |
| Annotations: | Frequent marginal annotations in a 16th-century hand; later nota marks in a different hand; pencil numbers in a 19th-century hand on a1r “9159” and “4079” (the latter lightly scored through). |
| Decoration: | Initials supplied in red or in red and reserved white; capital strokes supplied in red. |
| Imperfections: | None. |
Copy 2
| GIP number: | M36/1 |
| Shelf-mark: | Sp Coll Ferguson Al-a.23 (see main library entry for this item) |
| Variant: | a3r, col. 1, lines 3 and 4: “ber phiſi=||onomię:” not as in Mitchell and Reichling “ber phisi||onomie:”. |
| Note: | In this copy leaf b3 correctly signed “b3”. |
| Provenance: | William Ridler (fl. 1877-1904), bookseller, London: sold book to John Ferguson. John Ferguson (1837-1916), Professor of Chemistry, University of Glasgow: pencil acquisition note on front pastedown “W. Ridler” and “John Ferguson Glasgow Oct. 28. 1880”; added later on the rear pastedown is a pencil note by Ferguson relating to his acquisition of a duplicate copy on 22 Nov. 1898 (M36/2, shelfmark Al-a.76). University of Glasgow: Ferguson collection purchase, 1921. |
| Binding: | 19th-century dark blue paper-covered boards and spine; spine not titled; binding uniform with that on another incunable edition of the Liber physiognomiae [Venice: Joannes Baptista Sessa, 1490] in the Ferguson collection (M43, shelfmark Al-a.71). Size: 211 x 150 mm. |
| Leaf size: | 205 x 139 mm. |
| Annotations: | Early annotations on a1r (title-page) in Latin in two different hands, together with an annotation in German; occasional marginal annotations in Latin in the text, occasional corrections, nota marks, underlining and manicules. |
| Decoration: | None. |
| Imperfections: | None. |
