Facsimile of Philip II's Atlas of Natural History

Facsimile of the Atlas de Historia Natural de Felipe II ("Códice Pomar").
Vicent Garcia Editores, 1990. Edition of 3000 copies.
Copy number 520/3000.
Parchment binding on board, with gilt engravings.
Includes volume of studies by José María López Piñero.
It was awarded the prize for the best book published in Spain in 1990.
Measurements: 24 x 35 cm; 41 x 32 x 9.5 cm (slipcase).

Vicent García Editores published in 1990 the Atlas de Historia Natural, donated by the monarch Philip II to his doctor, Mr. Jaime Honorato Pomar. The edition consists of three elements: a wooden box lined with blue cloth and two volumes.

The first is the facsimile edition of the gift that the monarch made to his doctor, the original of which is kept in the library of the University of Valencia. The binding is in stiff cardboard covered with leather.

In the second volume, also bound with hard cardboard, but lined with the same blue cloth as the box, different works coordinated by Professor José María López Piñero (professor of History of Medicine and director of the Institute of Documentary and Historical Studies of Science, of the CSIC), explain the origin and characteristics of the codex and comment on its texts and drawings.

The so-called Atlas of Natural History or Codex Pomar is composed of 218 plates, painted on one side only, with botanical and animal elements, carefully described. Depending on the style, the illustrations can be attributed to Jacobo Ligozzi, an important 16th century draughtsman of plants and fauna. The volume also includes American plants and animals, whose drawings must have been made in what is considered the first modern scientific expedition, commissioned by Philip II to "investigate the history of the natural things of our Indies", and directed by Francisco Hernandez between 1571 and 1577. The present compendium of natural history was given by the monarch Philip II to his personal physician, Honorato Pomar, as indicated on the last page, which reads: "The King our Mr. Philip II gave this book to his physician, Dr. Honorato Pomar, Valencian, professor of herbs at the University of Valencia ...".