FERRARI (Giovanni Battista). Hesperides sive de malorum aureorum cultura et usu. Libri Quatuor. Rome, Frères Scheus, 1646. In-folio, 5 ff. n. o. (of 6), 480 pp. and (8) ff. n. o. ; half calf with small corners, spine ribbed and decorated, red title (later binding). Nissen BBI, 621. First edition of the first work on citrus fruits; this is the first and finest scientific publication on the subject, describing oranges, limes, lemons and their varieties. The mythical garden of the Hesperides is compared to the Italian gardens, which were newly embellished with orangeries and whose structures were developed under the reign of Barberini. The illustration includes (95 of) 100 superb in-text plates, etched by Cornelis Bloemaert: allegories of the Hesperides, the Aldrobrandini and Farnese gardens, tools and cultivation, orangeries, and above all numerous and varied citrus trees... Binding rubbed, stained; corners dulled; pale wetness throughout the volume; tiny tear without missing title. Missing 7 allegorical plates: the frontispiece, p. 11, p. 15, p. 19, p. 27, p. 31 and p. 447. On one endpaper, an English hand formerly copied a commentary in French by Dom Bonaventure d'Argonne, known as Vigneul-Marville. And a handwritten note on p. 88.