Theophilus
On Divers Arts: The Treatise of Theophilus.
The University of Chicago Press, 1963. First edition. Translated, with introduction and notes, by John G. Hawthorne and Cyril Stanley Smith. xxxv/216 pages.
Volume, measuring approximately 7.5" x 10", is bound in gilt-lettered black cloth spine and red cloth boards, with title stamped in gold on front cover. Book is in fine condition. Binding is firm. Name of previous owner, and date of December 1973, appear on front flyleaf. Interior is otherwise clean and bright. Illustrated with plates. Dust jacket, with price of $8.50 on front flap, exhibits moderate wear at edges. Jacket is preserved in mylar cover.
"Theophilus' work has long been familiar to art historians for the light it throws on medieval painting, glassmaking, and metalwork. Essentially a practical manual of instruction, it far excels other medieval literary sources for these techniques. The translators of this new edition - a classicist and a metallurgist in collaboration - have paid special attention to the detailed technology, the tools, materials and processes of Theophilus and have included many drawings of devices used by him and photographs of pertinent twelfth-century craftsmanship."