Panacea or Precious Bane; Tobacco in 16th Century Literature by Sarah Augusta Dickson

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good+. 1954. New York Public Library. 1st Edition, thus. Illustrated.

A scholarly survey of tobacco in sixteenth-century literature, written by the curator of the incomparable Tobacco Collection assembled by George Arents and housed in the New York Public Library. Was the leaf balm or bane? cure or curse? a “holy herb” (a term apparently coined by Damião de Góis)? Limited edition (400 unnumbered copies). Originally published in the Bulletin of the New York Public Library, 1953-1954