De igne

THEOPHRASTUS.

Edité par Pairs, Adrien Turnebe, 1552

A propos de cet article

Two vols. in one, 4to, pp. 24; [4], 25, [3]; occasional foxing, slightly heavier to the Greek title-page; the Latin title and dedication misbound towards end; otherwise a very good copies in 18th-century calf over marbled boards; boards and spine a bit worn; upper joint cracked, but firm. FIRST EDITION OF TURNÈBE S ANNOTATED LATIN TRANSLATION OF THEOPHRASTUS INTERESTING WORK ON FIRE, A WORK SOMETIMES INTERPRETED AS A SERIOUS DEPARTURE FROM ARISTOTLE S PHYSICS, AND HERE BOUND WITH TURNÈBE S PRINTING OF THE ORIGINAL GREEK TEXT OF THE FOLLOWING YEAR. Concerning Theophrastus account of the four elements, it has been debated to what extent this conforms to the Aristotelian doctrine. In particular, it is not clear whether Theophrastus followed Aristotle in holding that the heavens are made of a fifth element, the ether, distinct from the four sublunary elements, or whether he claimed that the heavens are simply made of fire … It has been argued, for instance, that Theophrastus abandoned the fifth element, but used it only in arguments against Plato without endorsing it himself (see Steinmetz 1964). There is no doubt, on the other hand, that he gave prominence to the element of fire. In his short treatise On Fire, Theophrastus distinguished heavenly fire from terrestrial fire, which is always mixed with other elements, and pointed out that, in contrast to the other three elements, terrestrial fire can be generated artificially and constantly requires refuelling. Most importantly, Theophrastus postulated that fire, or heat, is active while the other three elements are passive … In fact, this Theophrastean view has been interpreted as a serious departure from Aristotle s physics, according to which hot and cold are active while moist and dry are passive. Against this interpretation, however, it has been remarked that, since the Aristotelian biology postulates only the hot as active, Theophrastus did nothing but extend Aristotle s view to physics in general (see Longrigg 1975). Furthermore, although some scholars have presented the action of the hot as constituting for Theophrastus the reason for the interchanges between the elements, others have counterclaimed that these should be understood as qualitative and not just due to a mechanical mixture (see Steinmetz 1964; Gottschalk 1967) (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, online). One of the most eminent French humanists of the Renaissance, Adrien Turnèbe was a specialist in Greek textual criticism, and printer. His Greek edition of Theophrastus work on fire is one of the first Greek printings from the Royal Press (1552-1556); the text first appeared in the monumental Greek of Aristotle s Opera printed by Aldus. Turnèbe (1512-1565) was born at Les Andelys, a former province of northwestern France on the English Channel, now Normandy. At the age of twelve he was sent to Paris to study, and attracted great notice by his remarkable abilities. After having held the post of professor of belles-lettres at the University of Toulouse, he returned to Paris as professor, or Royal reader, of Greek at the College Royal in 1547. In 1552 he was entrusted with the printing of the Greek books at the Royal Press, in which he was assisted by his friend Guillaume Morel. He died of tuberculosis on June 12, 1565. Provenance: Dr Askew sale, Baker and Leigh, 4 March 1775, lot 3145 (manuscript auction label to upper cover), and apparently acquired by Michael Wodhull on that day; William O Brian, bequest booklabel dated 1899; stamp of the Jesuit library at Milltown Park on front free endpaper. Adams T 580 & T 581; Neville Historical Chemical Library II, pp. 542-543 (the Latin text only); Partington I, 127; not in Durling, Duveen, Ferguson or Wellcome; with the Greek text apparently decidedly rarer than the Latin, the few copies containing both the Greek and Latin versions located by OCLC are at the University of Firenze Humanities Library, Staatsbibliothek Berlin, British Library, Cambridge, and Manchester; the.

N° de réf. du vendeur ABE-1554394653578

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: De igne
• Éditeur: Pairs, Adrien Turnebe
• Date de parution: 1552
• Reliure: Hardcover
• État de l'article: Very Good