Pharmacopœa Taurinensis. Turin, 1736.

EXTREMELY RARE ILLUSTRATED FIRST EDITION OF THE RENOWNED "PHARMACOPOEA TAURINENSIS"

MEDICAL/GASTRONOMICAL RECEIPT BOOKS PRINTED IN TORINO CONTAINING NUMEROUS RECIPES OF SPIRITS AND LIQUORS

THE FIRST APPEARANCE OF THE VERMOUTH RECIPE

Pharmacopœa Taurinensis, nunc primum edita jussu augustissimi regis. Augustae Taurinorum : in Aedibus Academicis, apud Joannem-Baptistam Chais typographum regium, 1736.

4to, (238 x 180 mm) contemporary stiff vellum, title on leather label at spine, pp. [8], 246, [16], Coat of arms of the House of Savoy at title page, woodcut head-pieces and head-letters, woodcut cul-de-lampe

TWO LARGE ENGRAVED FOLDING PLATES (46X34 CM) BY THE FRENCH ARTIST GEORGES TASNIERE (ACTIVE IN TORINO AND WIEN), DEPICTING THE DISTILLATORY APPARATUS NECESSARY FOR THE SPIRITUS SULPHURIS (PLATE I) AND THE SPIRITUS VINI (PLATE II). THE PLATE II IS EXYTREMELY RARE, BEING NOT PRESENT IN THE majority of the COPIES OFFERED ON THE MARKET IN THE LAST YEARS.

The two plates were, in fact, meant to be used as project drawings to develop the instruments to perform distillation and so very often detached from the book.

Officially presented in Turin by Antonio Battista Carpano in 1786, and based on the receipt of "Vinum Absinthites" (Absinthe Wine), described for the first time in the present book, the Vermouth quickly become one of the best known liquor in the world, and Vittorio Emanuele III di Savoia (Victor Emmanuel III of Italy) immediately appointed it as the "Official Aperitif" of the Court of Savoy.

The Pharmacopœa Taurinensis is a complete and detailed illustrated spagyrical manual containing the most important and renowned receipts of the Savoy tradition and many spirits, including the first receipt of the Vermouth. Many of the receipts, originally meant to be used a medicine, have also a great interest from a gastronomical point of view.

The manual is formed by two parts; the first contains a list, in alphabetical order, of all the most important medicinal substances known at the time, while the second, composed by 21 chapters contains, a rich and complete list of receipt regarding Essences, Brews, Decoctions, Conserves, Syrups, Powders, Liquors, Oils, Ointments, Poultices

In the second half of the 18th century the town of Torino (Piedmont, Italy) was already the main market in the production of flavored sweet wines to be used use as simple drugs. Pandering this market, the Pharmacopoea Taurinensis gives a large list of recipes recommended for many diseases. It is also described for the first time the original recipe of vermouth, that will have a great spread not only as medicinal elixir, but also as a delicious drink.

Its diffusion was so great, that the Duke Vittorio Amedeo III of Savoy declared the vermouth the "Court's Official Aperitive" preferring it to the "rosolio" the so far favorite liquor of Piedmont aristocracy.

Many local liqueurs makers claimed its making but, as shows its presence in this book, the proceeding was diffusely applied in Torino for many years, before Benedetto Carpano in 1786 claimed its fabrication. Carpano developed his own recipe to face the increasing tax imposed by French and Spain on drugs so far used to produce sweet wines in Italy, followed by all the other vermouth maker, among them Martini e Cinzano.

The most important producers had their shop in the center of Torino where the bourgeoisie of the town went to celebrate the rite of the aperitive. From Torino the vogue of vermouth spread all over Europe as a typical Piedmont drink and contributed to the great industrialization process of Torino.

Provenance: I. Ownership signature Rumianus Michael Antonius Chirurgus 1797 at title page and flyleaf. II. Paper exlibris "Biblioteca di Pier Paolo Vaccarino" pasted at front inside board