On the verso of the title page there is the printed note in Latin to the effect that 120 copies of this edition have been printed at the expense of eighteen entlemen whose names are given, among them “Isaac Newton, Esq.” and other famous men.
TITLE PAGE, LISTER EDITION, LONDON, 1705
The first Apicius edition by Martin Lister, Court Physician to Queen Anne. Printed in London in 1705 by the famous printer, William Bowyer. This is one of the rarest of the Apician books, the edition being limited to 120 copies. It has been said that the second edition (Amsterdam, 1709) was limited to 100 copies, but there is no evidence to that effect.
Lister’s preface to the reader occupies pp. I-XIV; the same appears in the 1709 (2nd) edition. The ten books of Apicius occupy pp. 1-231; the index comprises 11 unnumbered leaves; on the verso of the 11th leaf, the errata. One leaf for the “Catalogus” (not mentioned by Vicaire) a bibliography of the editor’s extensive writings, and works used in this edition principally upon nature and medical subjects. This list was ridiculed by Dr. King. Cf. [Introduction] by Frederick Starr to this present work. The last leaf blank. Our copy is in the original binding, and perfect in every respect.
