This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 2/25/2023
LICETI, Fortunio (1577 – 1657). De Monstris. Padua: Pauli Frambotti, 1668. New edition, edited by Gerard Blasii. Contemporary sprinkled calf, rebacked with gilt-titled spine in six compartments. Engraved title page, half-page engravings throughout. [6], 1 – 316 (with several mis-numbered pages), [14]; 4to. Chipped corners, scattered foxing and soiling, contemporary signature on title page, but overall sturdy and clean. An early and influential work on human, animal, and vegetable “monsters,” being the deformities that would later be exhibited in sideshows and museums. Unlike other works of a similar nature, Liceti casts regards these anatomical anomalies in a positive light, stating: “It is said that I see the convergence of both nature and art, because one or the other not being able to make what they want, they at least make what they can.”