The Truffles from Maxim's: Raymond Oliver's copy

Vigo, Giambernardo. I tartufi. Poemetto. Tradotto dal latino.

$4,867.00

First Italian edition of one of the earliest works on truffles, also published in Latin ("Tubera terrae") in the same year, with fine provenance. Couched as a learned poem, it discusses all aspects of the gathering of truffles (as shown in the engraving), including soil conditions, weather, and conditions for truffle hunting. Giambernardo Vigo (1719-1805) taught Italian, Latin and Greek rhetorics at the University of Torino and was a member of the Royal Academy of Sciences.

Binding somewhat rubbed; interior brownstained. From the collection of the French cuisinier Raymond Oliver (1909-90), long the legendary chef of Maxim's, with his bookplate ("Rouvier de Vaulgran") on front pastedown. Rare; only eight copies in libraries worldwide outside Italy (via OCLC).