THE VERY RARE FIRST EDITION OF HIS FAMOUS TREATISE ON CYPRUS WINE.

8vo, pp. [2] + XVI + 127 + [1]. Engraved title-page, 4 woodcut illustrations in text. A fine crisp copy, uncut in original paper boards.

Giovanni Filippo Mariti (1736–1806) was an Italian antiquarian, scientist, and historian who became famous in Europe mainly for his travels in the East. He lived for seven years in Larnaca, Cyprus, where he served as honorary British vice-consul and became increasingly familiar with the island’s wine-making process. This knowledge of local wine production led him to create this work, which he illustrated with woodcuts relating to the tools for viticulture and wine conservation. Mariti also discusses extensively the types and varieties of the island’s vines, concluding that it might be possible to adopt the same techniques in Italy as well. A shortened version of this treatise was included in the French translation of his “Travels in the Levant”. The work is dedicated to Lord Clavering (pp. I-VIII), whose engraved arms appear on p. I. It also includes a history of the Academy of Georgofili (pp. IX-XIII). Cobham-Jeffery, p. 37; Blackmer, 1076; Ioannou, p. 329; Lastri, p. 82; Bibl. Vinaria, p. 139; Bibl. Gastronomica 1002. Not in Gennadius Library.