Giardino di Agricoltura di Marco Bussato da Ravenna. Nel quale con bellisimo ordine si tratta di tutto quello, che s'appartiene à sapere a un perfetto giardiniero. ** A rare, illustrated, sixteenth century Italian classic on the care of fruiting and flowering trees and viticulture**

Venetia: [Domenico Nicolini da Sabbio], Appresso Giovanni Fiorina, 1592 Hard cover, in contemporary, in professionally repaired vellum, complete with new endpapers, the title handwritten to spine, small 4to, (measuring 5 ½ x 8 1/16 inches), First Edition, 111pp. In Italian. Italic and Roman print. COLLATION: pp [4] 1-53 [3] where pages are numbered on recto only. a4 A4 B4 C8-H8. (Page 23 is mis-numbered page 21.) CONDITION: Very Good antiquarian condition. The vellum binding has been professionally mended in the past, and is firm. There is a bit of "graffiti "in old ink in a few places. Title page shows an old ink spill, and there is some water staining and edge soiling in the first signature. A small hole on B2 does not affect text. More ink spatter appears on D2, and a bit of old ink graffiti is on p. 43 and affects the final illustration on p.53, with offset to the prior page. However, this does not detract from the beauty of the printing, illustrations or text. **A woodcut printer's device, depicting Flora, adorns the title page. There are many charming print elements, including woodcut initial capitals, some historiated, and other decorative woodcuts as headers. Most striking are the twenty large woodcut illustrations in floral frames which float on a full page. Some of the illustrations are included from an earlier work of Bussato's entitled, " Prattica historiata dell' iinestare gli arbori," of 1578. (This work only addressed the grafting procedures for fruit trees.) This volume, however, produced in 1592, was newly titled," Giardino di Agricoltura", and features additional content from its predecessor. There are new chapters on the creation of fertilizer, the growth of grains and vines; there are also additional illustrations, a preface by the author, and an Appendix outlining the year's agricultural work by calendar, each month also illustrated with a unique woodcut decoration. The sixty-four chapters concern the practical care of fruit-bearing trees, their pests, the dangers of cold weather, various specific grafting instructions for different situations, the tools required, the care of palms, figs, mulberry, elm and willow, in addition to vines of the wine-making variety. Fertilization, travel and transplantation, cultivation and choosing terrain are all topics discussed. A number of reprints and reiterations (by different printers) ensued in 1593, 1599,1612, and 1808, marking the work as popular and useful manual. Indeed, A. Bignardi says it reflects the development of landscaping principles; to decorate what are essentially urban spaces where trees are meant to be "delightful to the eye" and to have "grate odor." **The Author, Marco Bussato, came from a well-to-do family of Ravenna in the first half of the sixteenth century. Upon the death of his father, a doctor of law and judge, Bussato found himself in much reduced circumstances and responsible for the upkeep of his siblings. He began an itinerant career grafting fruit trees, making forays to Rome. He also wrote a work on the Gregorian reform of the calendar and a study of the lunar phases, entitled "Regola per quale Brevemante s'Insegna di Travare l'Espatta" (Ravenna, 1583.)** The Venetian printer of this work was Giovanni Fiorina. His dedication of the "Giardino" to M. Pietro Busello, a "Venetian merchant of drugs and sugar," speaks of the difficulties and challenges of raising trees and vines on the narrow plots available in Venice, so close to the incursion of salt water. To provide rare fruits and flowers for the landlocked inhabitants accords Busello "much admiration and civic honor. " His famous garden is assumed to have been in Venice's Calle Busello, in the Cannaregio district. **LITERATURE: Marco Bussato CERL cnp1232165 . EDIT16: CNCA 2145. OCLC No. 1099304880 et al. USTC: 817291 (32 copies worldwide: Very Rare.) Aslin, Mary S., "Library Catalogue of Printed Books and Pamphlets on Agriculture Published Between 1471 and 1840, Rothamsted Experimental Station, Harpenden, England, Univ. Aberdeen Press (1940) pp. 262, 177. British Museum Short Title Catalogue of Italian Books 1465-1600 (1958) p. 132. Tucci, Ugo, BDI, Vol. 15, 1972. PROVENANCE: Lawes Agricultural Library, Rothamsted Agricultural Station, (with their stamp on pastedown.) No. 842. There is no acquisition date listed in the catalogue. . First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good antiquarian condition.