Lot 70: Borel, Pierre

Borel, Pierre
Les antiqvitez, raretez, plantes, mineravx, & autres choses considerables de la ville, & comte de Castres d'Albigeois & avec le roolle des principaux cabinets, & autres raretez de l'Europe. Castres: Arnaud Colomiez, 1649
8vo (6 7/8 x 4 1/4 in.; 175 x 108 mm). Woodcut ornaments; very slight dust-soiling. Eighteenth-century sprinkled calf, spine gilt; rebacked with original spine laid down; minor flaking.
FIRST EDITION. This fascinating volume is best known for Borel's own cabinet of curiosities, which included pieces of an Egyptian mummy, American Indian artifacts, and numerous specimens of plants and shells. In his eight-page catalogue of other European cabinets of wonder, Borel gave their special focus, e.g.: antiquities, a chained library, botanical samples, etc. The volume itself is representative of the seventeenth-century desire to capture the world in a nutshell.
Reference: Cicognara 3962; (the "1645" edition most likely is a ghost)