GEOPONICA. - CASSIANUS BASSUS]. Le Grand et bon mesnager compose en latin par Constantin Cesar de Constantinople et traduit en françoys par maistre Anthoine Pierre licencié en droit. Lequel traicte de toute agriculture, de tous batimens, lieux & edifices (...). S.l., s.n, 1544. In-8, brown calf, cold decoration: striated border roulette, in a central rectangle, roulette composed of a floral trellis, fleuron at the corners, spine with cold decorated nerves (Modern pastiche binding). (16) ff. including the title in red and black, 224 ff., 112 ff. numbered i to cxii, and 112 ff. numbered i to cxii]. One of the most famous ancient treatises on agriculture and food, whose editio princeps appeared in Basel in 1539. Second edition of the French translation by Anthoine Pierre (or Pierre de Rieux), resident in Poitiers; the first had been printed in 1543 in Poitiers by Jehan and Enguilbert de Marnef (in-folio, italic type). According to Brunet, this second edition is even rarer than the first one. The place of printing remains unknown to this day: perhaps it is still Poitiers, but the book obviously did not leave the presses of the Marnef brothers. Long attributed to the emperor Constantine VII himself, this collection is in fact a compilation made by Cassianus Bassus at the emperor's request. It gathers a large number of extracts from Byzantine authors. The treatise, divided into 20 books, deals with most aspects of agriculture and rural economy: plants, herbs, gardening, livestock, poultry, game, dairy products, etc. "In this book] one finds a great deal of advice on food, among other things: how to make very good unleavened bread; how to preserve and prepare all kinds of vegetables and fruits, how to take care of one's cellar, how to manage wines; there are also recipes for making olive jam, honey, etc. The last book deals with fishing and fish" (Vicaire). But the Great and Good Mesnager (or Geoponica) remains above all one of the best Greek sources concerning viticulture and oenology. Book III contains advice for the preparation of the soil and the work of the vineyard, month by month. Books IV and V analyze the different grape varieties and explain the care to be taken in cultivating the vine, with chapters on the protection of the grapes and the extermination of parasites. Book VI is devoted to the harvest, the work of the cellar, the manufacture of barrels and corks. Book VII deals with vinification, the different types of wine, how to taste and distinguish them, how to avoid their natural deterioration, how to prepare them for long sea voyages, etc... Not forgetting the art of tasting them while avoiding inebriation! Ars longa, vita brevis... Finally, book VIII gives a list of medicinal wines with their applications, and devotes a few chapters to vinegar. Some pagination errors (without missing). Small stains and wetness. Repaired tears to a few leaves. Some marginal notes and redacted lines. Brunet II, 540: "Edition even rarer than the previous one, of which it has not kept the title". Vicar 204.