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Bacco In Toscana by Redi, Francesco, a rare image from the book of the 1791 - wine book.
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  • Bacco In Toscana by Redi, Francesco, a rare image from the book of the 1791 - wine book.
  • Bacco In Toscana by Redi, Francesco, a rare image from the book of the 1791 - wine book.
  • Bacco In Toscana by Redi, Francesco, a rare interior highlight of the 1791 - wine book.
  • Bacco In Toscana by Redi, Francesco, a rare detail view of the 1791 - wine book.
  • Bacco In Toscana by Redi, Francesco, a rare image from the book of the 1791 - wine book.
  • Bacco In Toscana by Redi, Francesco, a rare interesting detail of the 1791 - wine book.
  • Bacco In Toscana by Redi, Francesco, a rare image from the book of the 1791 - wine book.
  • Bacco In Toscana by Redi, Francesco, a rare image from the book of the 1791 - wine book.
  • Bacco In Toscana by Redi, Francesco, a rare interior highlight of the 1791 - wine book.
  • Bacco In Toscana by Redi, Francesco, a rare detail view of the 1791 - wine book.
  • Bacco In Toscana by Redi, Francesco, a rare image from the book of the 1791 - wine book.
  • Bacco In Toscana by Redi, Francesco, a rare interesting detail of the 1791 - wine book.
Bacco In Toscana

A witty symposium of wine, gossip, and erudition. Redi’s Ode to Tuscan Wine and Its Merry Chorus

Redi, Francesco

Bacco In Toscana
Di Francesco Redi Accademico Della Crusca. Con Le Sue Annotazioni, Con L’Aggiunta Di Centocinquanta Brindisi Di Minto Accademico Filopono E Delle Viti E Del Vino, Traduzione In Ottava Rima Di Tirsi Albeno Accademico Apatista.

1791, Venezia, Stamperia Curti Q. Giacomo

$600 USD

Overview

This 1791 Venetian edition revives Redi’s baroque hymn to Tuscan wines in all its rhetorical splendor. First published in 1685, the dithyrambic verses exalt Moscadello and other local vintages to mythic stature, casting Bacchus himself as a Florentine partisan.

Inside the book

"Poets also sang the wine’s praise, and Francesco Redi’s seventeenth-century dithyrambic ode to the greatest wines in Tuscany, Bacco in Toscana, sealed Moscadello’s celebrity status both in Italy and abroad, resulting in albeit brief popularity at the English royal court, as narratives from the day attest." from Brunello di Montalcino: Understanding and Appreciating One of Italy’s Greatest Wines by Kerin O'Keefe.
The accompanying commentary enriches the text with useful explanations, such as the meaning of claretto (a quality wine) and tools like the pevera (a funnel). It mentions Pisciarello wine from Bracciano, describes coffee as a kind of legume, and omits references to Chianti, Brunello, or Sangiovese. The 150 brindisi are lighthearted, gossipy, and delightfully absurd, each one worthy of a toast. Finally, Albeno’s contribution likely renders Columella’s De Re Rustica, Book III “De vitis,” into verse as a learned exercise in classical imitation.
This edition creates a kind of literary drinking party across the centuries. Bound alla rustica with exposed cords and a handwritten spine title, its untrimmed leaves emphasize the volume’s unfiltered charm. At once patriotic, poetic, and playfully tipsy, the book presents wine as both cultural symbol and linguistic performance.

Why La Fenice chose it

Because Redi’s verses sparkle with wit, and the commentary turns wine into a lively mix of scholarship and gossip. A book that toasts both the learned and the tipsy spirit of Tuscany.
Condition Report

Pp. 192.

Contemporary plain paper-covered boards, exposed cords, manuscript titles on spine with small library label. A genuine, well-preserved copy, uncut and without significant defects. Quitre rare.

Dimensions (inches): 7 x 4 1/4 x 0.5
About the author

Francesco Redi (1626, 1697), physician, naturalist, and poet from Arezzo, was one of the most original scientific minds of seventeenth-century Italy. Trained in Pisa and later court physician to the Medici in Florence, he inherited the Galilean tradition and extended the experimental method to the life sciences. Admiring Galileo yet unafraid to contradict authorities like Kircher, Redi consistently affirmed his guiding principle: only experiment deserves belief. For this combination of rigor, style, and intellectual independence, he has been remembered as one of the key scientific voices of the seventeenth century. Referred to as the founder of experimental biology, and as the father of modern parasitology, he was the first person to challenge the theory of spontaneous generation by demonstrating that maggots come from eggs of flies.

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