4to (236 x 168 mm). Numerous in-text woodcuts. (Light marginal toning throughout.) Later vellum (extremities soiled, light marginal restoration to concluding leaves).

FIRST ITALIAN EDITION. Cristóbal Acosta was a Portuguese doctor and historian whose pioneering work on Asian plants was originally published in Spain in 1578. It was translated into Italian and published in Italy in 1585 by Francesco Ziletti, who also added additional plates. While considered a seminal botanical work, it is generally acknowledged not to be wholly original, as much of it was derived from Garcia de Orta's Colóquios dos Simples e Drogas da India, published in 1563. The final section of Acosta's work provides the first images of the Asian elephant printed in Europe.