aldus, Ancien ou d'occasion (Plus de 6 900 résultats)

Octavo (156 x 92 mm.), 290 unnumbered leaves. First two pages a little dust soiled, title page with an old restoration and with a collector's signature, head of spine restored, overall a fine copy in XVIII century mottled calf, spine in comparments richly gilt with red lettering piece.First of three Aldine editions of the Planudean Anthology, the only by Aldus the Elder (the others being that of 1521 and 1551), defined by Renouard "the most beautiful for the paper and the impression, and also the rarest one".Aldus realized it ten years after the Florentine editio princeps, given by the famous Byzantine humanist Janus Lascaris in 1494 under the title of Anthologia Graeca. Renouard held in his hands the copy of the Lascaris' edition annotated in Greek and Latin by Aldus himself, which served as the typographic basis for the 1503 edition, and, later on, for the 1521 one. Having decided to follow Lascaris' text, Aldus assembled in the last pages of the seventh book the textual variants recovered by other manuscripts, as well as 19 new epigrams and some other verses; moreover, he joined to the seventh book a short supplement, consisting of 2 other anonymous epigrams, a poem by the 6th century Greek poet Paul the Silentiary, and other minor works.The Planudean Anthology is a 13th century collection of Greek epigrams compiled by the Byzantine polymath Maximus Planudes, consisting of ca. 2,400 texts. It was based on the lost anthology realized in the 10th century by another Byzantine scholar, Constantine Cephalas, which also lay at the basis of a second collection, much more accurate and complete than the Planudean one (3,700 texts instead of 2,400), called the ?Palatine Anthology'. While composing his collection, Cephalas drew chiefly from three older anthologies of widely different date: the Stephanus, or Wreath, of Meleager, collected in the beginning of the first century B.C. and consisting of works of at least forty-seven poets of the seventh to third and second centuries B.C.; the Stephanus of Philip of Thessalonika, dating from the first half of the first century A.D., designed as a supplement to Meleager's anthology and covering the intervening period; the Cycle of Agathias, made in the age of Justinian and comprising strictly contemporary works. Cephalas ordered his collection by distributing the poems of Meleager's, Philip's and Agathias' anthologies under headings by subject, all the erotic poems, all the dedicatory poems, etc., grouped together in separate books.Despite its minor quality, due to a high number of omissions and alterations of Cephalas' text, in many respects the collection of Planudes proved to be a fundamental testimony of classical tradition: first of all, it was the only known anthology of Greek epigrams and poems until 1606, when a richer manuscript was rediscovered in the Count's Palatine library in Heidelberg (hence, the name of ?Palatine Anthology'); moreover, to it alone we owe the preservation of ca. 390 epigrams, which nowadays are included under the title of ?Appendix Planudea' in the corpus of texts known as the Greek Anthology.References: Renouard, 42-43; W.E. Paton (ed.), The Greek Anthology, 1920; P. Jay (ed.), The Greek Anthology, 1973.  .

Hardcover. Etat : Very Good. THE FIRST OLYMPIC ANTHEM EDITIO PRINCEPS. 8vo, pp. (xvi) 373 (iii). Greek letter, woodcut printer s device on t-p. Inoffensive browning to first gathering, small marginal hole to last couple of ll., early ms. marginalia in Greek and Latin mainly to first half. A very good copy in early 19th century calf, covers double gilt ruled and bordered with a blind stamp roll of lozenges, inner dentelles richly gilt, rebacked, spine remounted, gilt casemark at foot, a.e.g. Contemporary ms. Greek inscriptions to fly in three different hands: 2-line quotation from an epigram by Politianus ( Exhaltation of Sophia ), Sapien(tis) Musonii dictum with 3-line quotation from the Roman Stoic philosopher Gaius Musonius Rufus, 1514 mense feb(ruario) and ΦΚ monogram, 4-line quotation from Hesiod s Works and days (Ἔργα καὶ Ἡμέραι, vv. 289-292); later ms. ex libris Caroli Scarellae to verso. Contemporary ms. C.A.D. Bartholomei de Paduanis and C.A.D. Gregorii de Paduanis to t-p, brief ms. list of Greek expressions with Latin translation on verso of last, 8-line quotation from the fifth book of Clement s of Alexandria Stromata , including 4 verses by the stoic philosopher Cleanthes to verso of rear fep. Bookplate of Ampleforth Abbey Library to front pastedown and stamp to fep. A fascinating copy of the important editio princeps of Pindar s victory odes, with contemporary annotations in Greek. This is the basis for most subsequent editions, elegantly printed with a larger Greek type than that usually employed by Aldus. Pindar (c. 518-438 BC), a native of Thebes, was one of the greatest Greek lyric poets. Pindar composed forty-four victory songs to be performed by a choir during the formal celebrations at the four panhellenic athletic festivals. These are here published for the first time, grouped into four books named after the Olympian, Pythian, Isthmian, and Nemean Games held respectively at Olympia, Delphi, Corinth and Nemea. This edition, dedicated by Aldus to his friend and poet Andrea Navagero (1483-1529), also includes the 1dition princeps of Lycophron s poem Alexandra and the second editions of the hymns of Callimachus (first 1494) and of Dionysius geographical treatise De situ Orbis (first 1512). The earliest annotation is the monogram ΦΚ , composed of the two Greek letters F and K , which usually stands for the name Phocas . The cross between the two letters may indicate a connection with a church or a religious order, and it is possible the monogram belonged to a priest. In Venice, St. Phocas was venerated as patron saint of sailors and he is portrayed in a famous 13th century mosaic in the atrium of St. Mark s Church. A priest and traveller Giovanni da San Foca , native of the town, is known for having written a journal of his journey from Udine to Venice in 1536. The volume was then owned by Bartholomeus and Gregorius de Paduanis, most likely two members of the De Padovani family of Brescia, a noble family of Venetian origins. Carolus Scarella may be the erudite Italian priest and poet Carlo Scarella, also native of Brescia (1705-1769). The ms. inscriptions on the flyleaves of the volume contain erudite quotations from different authors concerning Christian faith and the achievement of knowledge, wisdom and virtue. Noteworthy are the Greek verses by the Italian humanist Politianus (1454-1494) which read: For the powerful jaws of time devour all other things, but wisdom alone is, for us, withwithout decay . Hesiod s famous verses concern the path to virtue, which is long and steep at the beginning, then easy to walk once one reaches its summit The marginalia to Pindar s Greek text include erudite explanations of obscure poetic images and clarifications of difficult aspects of language, for example the poet s use of Doric dialect. USTC 848778; Renouard 64:9: cette edition, qui est belle et rare ; Adams P1218; BM STC It.16th ce.

A very early and rare printing of Castiglione by Aldus in the original folio format mirroring the 1528 printing. Elaborate Aldine device impressed on the title and at the end on the verso of the colophon leaf. Dedication to Michel de Selva, vescovo di Viseo. Folio, handsomely bound in fine Italian vellum. 122 ff. pp. A beautifully preserved copy, handsome and clean. RARE ALDINE EDITION OF THE CLASSIC LANDMARK IL CORTEGIANO. Castiglione s great work is one of the most famous books of the Italian Renaissance and represents the highest level of committment to the prince and the new political and social order. The Courtier is the prototype of the courtesy book, written as conversation between members of the court. At the time of its composition Castiglione was at the court of Guidobaldo de Montefeltre and Elizabetta Gonzaga at Urbino, together with Bembo, Giuliano de' Medici, Federico Fregoso and other Renaissance luminaries; members of that court feature as speakers in the conversation. Castiglione, after serving the Sforzas at Milan and the Gonzagas at Mantua, came to the Court of Urbino in 1504 where de Montefeltre and his consort Elizabetta Gonzaga were the center of the most brilliant court in Italy, which counted among its members Bembo, Bibbiena, G. de Medici and many other eminent men. This brilliant book is based on Castiglione s experience of life among these dazzling figures. The Courtier depicts the ideal aistocrat, and it has remained the perfect definition of a gentleman ever since. It is an epitome of the highest moral and social ideas of the Italian Renaissance and is written in the form of a discussion between members of the court. The fundamental idea that a man should perfect himself by developing all his faculties goes back to Aristotle s ETHICS and many of the Aristotelian virtues reappear---honesty, magnanimity and good manners. The ideal man should also be proficient in arms and games, be a scholar and connoisseur of art; he should develop graceful speech and cherish a sense of honour. Relations between the prince and the courtier, forms of government, and rules for the conduct of a lady are also discussed and the book ends with the celebrated pronouncement on platonic love by Bembo. This Renaissance ideal of the free development of individual faculties and its rules of civilized behaviour formed a new conception of personal rights and obligations in Europe. The book was translated into most European languages and between 1528 and 1616 no less than one hundred and eight editions were published. It had great influence in Spain where traces of it can be found in DON QUIXOTE and in France in Corneille s writings. But its most potent influence was probably in England. Its influence can be seen in Shakepeare, Spenser, Ben Jonson, Sir Philip Sidney, Robert Burton and Shelley. It had a great impact on the development of English drama and comedy. The beautiful and highly important printings of the house of Aldus are exceptional and revered in their own right. This, one of the most exceptional of Italian Renaissance works published by the great Renaissance printer of Italy.

119, [1] ll.Second edition of the Greek commentaries and scholia on Demosthenes written by Ulpian of Emesa who taught rhetoric at Antioch in the reign of Constantine (324-337 AD) and wrote a number of declamations and rhetorical works. He is best known as the reputed author of the present scholia on the speeches of the greatest of all ancient Greek orators, Demosthenes (384-322 BC). Demosthenes's orations provide a very interesting insight into the life and culture of Athens during a period when he was attempting to rally the Athenian people against Philippus and Alexander the Great, the rulers of Macedonia, using all his gifts as an orator. The present second edition, printed and published by Aldus Manutius his father-in-law Andrea Torresano d'Asola and his sons, who ran the press until Aldus's son came of age, follows the text of Aldus's first edition. Torresano's presswork is excellent.On leaves 89-119 follows the Dictionarium decem Rhetorum (Lexicon of the ten orators) by Valerius Harpocration of Alexandria. Harpocration's dates are uncertain, but he was probably active in the second century AD. The Dictionarium contains words, including proper names, and phrases, mainly from the orators, in alphabetical order, generally assigned to their sources, with explanations of points of interest or difficulty. Besides stylistic details Harpocration gives valuable notes on architectural, religious, legal, constitutional, social and other antiquities.The title-page and last leaf are slightly browned, the former has a small marginal stain and has been reattached, shifting it about a half centimetre toward the gutter, and a few leaves have small marginal worm holes or minor marginal foxing, but still in very good condition (most leaves fine) and with large margins. An excellent example of Greek printing by the Aldine printing office.l Adams U50 & H69; Ahmanson-Murphy 213; EDIT16, 37751; Renouard, p. 104, no. 4.

Hardcover. Etat : Fine. No Jacket. 2nd Edition. Urania, sive de stellis libri quinque. Meteorum liber unus. De Hortis hesperidum libri duo. Lepidina sive postorales pompeae septem. Item Meliseum Maeon Acon. Hendecasyllaborum libri duo. Tumulorum Liber unus. Neniae duodecim. Epigrammata duodecim. Venice, Aldus & Asulanus, 1513. 8vo (160 x 103mm) 255 + [1]f. Last leaf with Aldine device. Bound in contemporary brown Italian morocco over wooden boards with gilt fillets around a central Star of David and the lettering PONTANI URANIA on sides. Edges gilt and gauffered with a knotwork pattern; two clasps and catches intact; edges gauffered; gilding faded; top of spine skilfully restored. The augmented second Aldine edition of the moral poems, with the text corrected from the first 1505 edition and with an additional 27 pages of text at the end. Pontanus (1426-1503), humanist and politician, a friend of Aldus Manutius, was tutor at the court of Alfonso and Ferdinand of Naples. One of the most typical Latin poets of the Renaissance, he exerted a powerful influence, especially on the poets of the Pléiade. In Urania the author pronounced his immortality as a poet. An exceptionally fine copy preserved in a rare Italian morocco binding of the period decorated with a hexagram including a clover leaf. Provenance: With early ink ownership signature Cesare Serai on title. References: Adams P-1858; Censimento 16; Isaac 12831; Renouard 63/7; Texas 104; UCLA 91.

Hardcover. Etat : Very Good. ALDINE COUNTERFEITS EARLY ENGLISH PROVENANCE [Lyon, Balthasar de Gabiano, c.1502-4; c.1504-5?]. 8vo. 2 works in 1, I: ff. [140], a-r8 s4, last blank; II: ff. [110], [*]4 a-z8 A-B8 C6, last blank. Italic letter, little Roman. Early C17 ms Thomae Turneri , mid-C16 p[re]tium 2d.6 , 1-line inscription rubbed off and 3-line ms Latin verse to first title; 11-line ms note on Philostratus s work to verso of last blank of first work; short ms inscription to verso of last blank of second work; few Latin ms marginalia (occasionally just trimmed by binder), underlining in black ink or red crayon to second work. The odd minor marginal spot or mark, I: light water stain to first gathering, first two ll. a little finger-soiled at margins, traces of ancient bookmarks to outer blank margin of i4 and l1 verso, printer s offsetting to upper blank corner of r1 recto, II: title a bit dusty. Very good copies, on good-quality paper, in C16 Oxford calf, c1800 eps and reback to style, double blind ruled, blind-stamped oval arabesque centerpiece to covers, traces of hatching to edges towards spine, all edges painted yellow, early ms title to fore-edge, spine gilt and gilt-lettered, few extremities expertly repaired, C19 Gaddesden Library bookplate to front pastedown. An interesting combination, with intriguing early English provenance, of scarce Aldine counterfeits . Both feature italic characters devised to resemble Aldus s; the papal privilege protecting Aldine editions was effective only in Italy. Although most of these counterfeits were destined for the Italian market, the present copy was in England by the middle of the C16. The binding is decorated with one of the earliest centerpieces used in Oxford , c.1560-73 and c.1590-97, a variation of xiii in Pearson, Oxford Bookbinding , p.78. The pattern of the edge hatching suggests Pearson s A (c.1565-90), so was probably produced in the early 1570s. Thomas Turner was an early C17 collector of medieval mss. The same autograph Thomae Turneri is found on the 12th-century Cambridge UL, MS Ii.3.20 one of the few extant mss in the hand of William of Malmesbury. The ms Thomae Turneri semel , in an early C16 hand (now faded), is found on the majestic 8th-century Lindisfarne Gospels (BL, Cotton MS Nero D IV, fol.211) (Thomson, p.94 n.2) perhaps a family connection? The present book is the only trace of Thomas Turner s connection to Oxford. St John s College Library preserves a C14 English medical ms (MS 189) donated by a Thomas Turner, who matriculated in 1610 and was later chaplain to the king and chancellor of St Paul s 1629. The first work is a counterfeit, without Aldus s preface, of the 1502 Aldine edition of Pharsalia , an epic poem by the 1st-century Roman author Lucan on the civil war between Julius Caesar and Pompey, a complex blend of fiction and historical reality. Lucan was not among the canonical authors frequently taught to early Tudor Oxford freshmen (Paleit, pp.38-9). Pharsalia became extremely influential towards the end of the century, inspiring Marlowe (who translated Book I in 1593) and Kyd. This edition of the De vita Apollonii Tyanei , is by the humanist Filippo Beroaldo. It is counted among the Aldine counterfeits for the use of the pseudo-Aldine Italic type. Philostratus (c.170/172 247/250) was a Greek sophist who studied in Athens and later settled in Rome, where he joined the intellectual circle of Julia Domna, wife of Emperor Septimius Severus. De vita narrates the life and travels of the Pythagorean philosopher Apollonius of Tyana (c.40-c.120), with stories of marvellous cities, kings, Brahmins, Gymnosophists, and dragons. In the first half of the C16, Philostratus was regularly taught at Oxford lectures on Greek rhetoric, in conjunction with Isocrates and Lucian. The present Latin translation was probably used to assist students of Greek. The first annotator glossed sections on dragons in India, the 5 elements, pygmies, the nature of stones, a speaking.

Three volumes, folio (341x223mm). Collation: I. A8, <2-3>6, <4-6>6, a-c8, d10, e8, f6, g-h10, i8, k6, l-u8, x-y6. Fol. o3 signed m3. II. A-R8, S10, T-Z8, AA-BB8, CC6, DD-HH8, DDD-EEE8, FFF-HHH6, DDDD-GGGG6, HHHH4, II8, KK-LL6. III. Collation: aa-ff8, ll-ss8, tt10, vv-zz8 (yy8 blank), ee12-1, a8,b-c6, AA6, aAA8 (fol. aAA blank), BBb-PPp8, QQq6. In all 839 of [845] leaves, lacking, as usual, quire BB6, including the registrum. Text in one column, 48-61 lines. Type: 20:170G, 32*:83G, 39:82R. Large woodcut printer's device on fols. PPp8r and QQq6r. White-on-black woodcut candelabra border and fourteen-line animated initial depicting St. Jerome on fol. aAA2r. Woodcut decorated, and animated initials throughout, mostly on black ground. Late nineteenth-century quarter-mottled leather, over pasteboards. Boards covered with marbled paper. Spines with three raised bands, title lettered in gilt. Covers abraded in places; spines lightly damaged at the top. A good copy, some stains, spots, and waterstains. A few fingermarks, old repair to the upper blank leaves of the first leaf of the first volume, without any loss. Contemporary marginalia in the third volume. Modern, pencilled foliation in the upper corner of the leaves, bibliographical notes on the pastedowns and flyleaves.Provenance: Giovanni di Maffio, San Giovanni Valdarno, Arezzo (ownership inscription dated 1532 'Di giouannj di maffio di ualdarno di sopra', on the recto of the first leaf of each volume); from the library of the Franciscan monastery St. Bonaventura al Bosco, Tuscany (ownership inscription, partly erased and dated 1545, 'Della libraria del bosco di mugello [?] da Biagio [?]', on the recto of the second leaf of the first volume, and on the first leaf of the second and third one). This Venetian edition of Jerome – edited for the de Gregoriis brothers by Bernardinus Gadolus – contains on fol. aAA2r, around the first text-page of the Expositio in Psalterium, a re-use of one of the finest woodcut borders of the fifteenth century: the white-on-black woodcut border drawn and cut by Benedetto Bordone (1450/55-1530) for the Herodotus issued by the same printing house in 1494 (see no. 36). The latter publication contained a large woodcut depicting the Greek historian crowned by Apollo, which is replaced here with a fourteen-line animated initial showing St. Jerome at his desk. There are numerous other ornamental initials throughout the text, some of them with paired dolphins and mostly on black ground. The present edition is a handsome example of the extraordinary imagery and inventiveness of Benedetto Bordone. He was a great protagonist of the multi-faceted world of the Venetian book; a skilful miniaturist from Padua, he learned to profit from the Venetian printing industry and was capable of re-defining and developing his artistic talent, adapting it to the newly produced printed books, and becoming, in the early sixteenth century, one of the most esteemed and sought-after designers among all the printers active in the Venetian calli and campi, with a special link to the Aldine Press (see no. 43). An erudite and versatile artist, he shared with Aldus clients, friends, and patrons, but above all a life-long passion for the ancient world and its artful transmission to their contemporaries.H 8581*; GW 12419; BMC V, 350; IGI 4729; Goff H-160; Essling 1170; Sander 3386; L. Armstrong, "Benedetto Bordon, 'Miniator', and Cartography in Early Sixteenth-Century Venice", Eadem, Studies of Renaissance Miniaturists in Venice, London 2003, 2, pp. 591-643; Philobiblon, One Thousand Years of Bibliophily, no. 40. Book.

4° (216x155 mm). Collation: a8, b4, c-g8, h4, i-p8. [112] leaves. Text in one column, 29 lines. Type: 5:110R. White on-black woodcut candelabra border on fol. a2r, by Benedetto Bordone. Blank spaces for capitals, with no guide letters. Later vellum over pasteboards. Smooth spine, title written vertically 'Lucianus Venice Woodcut title-border'. Binding somewhat bumped. A good copy, first leaf lightly soiled, with old repair to the outer blank margin, without any loss. A few small stains, some spots and fingermarks. The lower blank margin of fol. g7 slightly trimmed. A few early marginal and interlinear notes. On the rear pastedown, a cutting taken from an old sale catalogue describing this copy: "Fol. a2 is surrounded by a magnificent woodcut border [.] Such borders are very rare in books of small format. A very fine copy of a rare book, save for the first page, skilfully repaired". Bibliographical notes on the front pastedown (among these '217x153. BM copy only 204x143'), and on the recto of the front flyleaf. On the rear pastedown, pencilled collation by Bernard Quaritch.Provenance: the bibliographer Gilbert Richard Redgrave (1844-1941; ex-libris on the front pastedown, and the inscription on the recto of the front flyleaf "Ex libris. Gilbert R. Redgrave Thriffwood, Sydenham, London. Sept. 9th. 1914'); Wynne Rice Hugh Jeudwine (1920-1984; ex-libris on the front pastedown; see sale Bloomsbury London, 18 September 1984 Catalogue of the Important Collection of Printed Books formed by the Late W. R. Jeudwine, lot 18); Kenneth Rapoport (ex-libris on the front pastedown). A fine copy of the rare first book edited by famous Paduan artist Benedetto Bordone (1450/55-1530). This edition represents the first official appearance of Bordone's name in Venice. On 3 May 1494, Benedictus miniator applied for permission to print a book edited by himself, a Latin translation of Lucian's dialogues. The book was published on 25 August by Simone Bevilaqua (active in Venice between 1492 and 1506) at Bordone's expense, and his name is mentioned in a final address, composed in verse, on fol. p6r, and in the statement of privilege printed on the verso of the same leaf. In the four-verse address, Bordone invites the reader to take this book and relax among the collected stories of Lucian. It is indeed an enjoyable book, featuring widespread texts without scholarly commentaries or notes, printed in a roman type that is easy to read, and in a small quarto format, a practical prelude to the well-known Aldine octavos. The title page is framed within an exquisite woodcut all'antica border on black ground whose design is attributed to Bordone himself. This delicately refined candelabra border is a compendium of decorative motifs from classical antiquity: vases, vine leaves, and foliate branches, with the head of a 'leafy old man' at top and a Roman eagle, horns, and winged animals down below. This woodcut border was first used, with some variants, in the 1494 Herodotus (see no. 36), and later in the Commentaria in Bibliam by Hieronymus (see no. 40). Single elements of Bordone's decorative vocabulary also find close parallel in headpieces and initials used by Aldus in the years 1495-1498. This copy was bought in 1914 by Gilbert Richard Redgrave, son of the famous British artist Richard Redgrave and president of the Bibliographical Society of London, as well as co-editor, with Alfred W. Pollard, of A Short-Title Catalogue of Books Printed in England, Scotland, e Ireland and of English Books Printed Abroad, 1475-1640. A note on the front flyleaf written in his own hand states: 'All writers on book ornament agree in attributing the splendid border on f. a2 to the same designer as the border of the Herodotus of 1494. These two borders are the most splendid works on the early Venetian press'.HC 1026; GW M19059; BMC V, 519; IGI 5842; Goff L-329; Flodr Lucianus, 4; Essling 747; Sander 4037; L. Armstrong, "Benedetto Bordon, 'Miniator', and Cartography in Early Sixtee. Book.

Soft cover. Etat : Very Good. 1st Edition. 8vo, two parts in one, FIRST EDITION of second, separate t-p to second, ff. (i) CCLXVII (l). Elegant italic letter, printer s device to t-ps and versos of last. First t-p slightly dusty, minor tear from one lower outer blank corner, tiny wormtrail to upper blank margin of one gathering, intermittent extremely light waterstain to lower outer corner of a couple of final gatherings. A very good, clean copy in contemporary dark calf, covers triple blind ruled to a panel design, blind stamp roll of flowers and stars to inner border, early C17 Epi(stolae) Fa(miliares) gilt to upper cover and initials T.F gilt to lower, spine with blind-ruled raised bands, crack to upper joint and head of spine repaired, missing ties, all edges gilt and gauffered with an intricate ropework pattern. Rare contemporary Latin marginalia and underlinings, occasional later marginalia (one in English). Attractive and important Aldine edition of Cicero s Epistolae familiares , the first to include Paulus Manutius scholia, in a contemporary probably French binding. Although the design of the blind stamped covers and the type of calf suggests an English or Flemish manufacture, the fine blind stamped roll and its numerous variations appear on bindings realised in Paris and the regions of eastern France during the first half of the 16th century (roll: see Gid., Catalogue des reliures françaises Vol II, pl. 64-66; French bindings with the roll: Gid, Vol. I, no. 136-183, atelier: Paris; no. 61, atelier: Lyon; n. 178-179, atelier: Eastern France). The roll is not recorded by Oldham. Similar richly gilt and gauffered edges are found on southern European luxury volumes. The gilt title and the initials T.F. are English in style; unfortunately, we were unable to uncover the identity of this early owner. This edition of the epistles is the second by Paulus (first 1533), and it includes an entirely revised and improved text, new title, preface and a new remarkable 50-page detailed commentary (scholia). The youngest son of Aldus, Paulus (1512-1574) was an influential publisher and one of the most prominent humanists of the Late Italian Renaissance. He was especially engaged in Latin literature and his outstanding reputation as a scholar was built upon his editions and commentaries on the works of Cicero: no man had a juster conception of the beauties of this great Roman orator and philosopher, and no man has more successfully imitated his style (Dibdin). Ad familiares (Letters to friends), in 16 books, is one of four collections of Cicero s correspondence, first compiled and published by Cicero s personal secretary Marcus Tullius Tiro. It includes letters between the celebrated orator and series of public (e.g. Pompey and Cesar) and private figures (e.g. Cicero s wife Terentia). Among them is the famous letter of consolation from the consul Servius Sulpicius Rufus on the death of the orator s daughter Tullia (Fam. IV, 5). Another one is from Cicero to Lucius Minucius Basilus, a conspirator in Caesar s murder: I congratulate you. I rejoice for myself. I love you. I watch your interests. I wish for your love and to be informed of what you are doing and what is being done (Fam. VI. 15). Ad familiares together with Ad Atticum , Ad Brutum and At Quintum Fratrem is among the most valuable sources of historical information on the years 68-43 BC, and there is no other period of antiquity for which we still possess such an immediate and intimate record and in such domestic detail. The vast corpus of Ciceronian Epistolae and Orationes was for a long time used as foundation texts in early modern schools. The greatest orator of the Late Republic, Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer and scholar. Although he was a homo novus , namely the first in his family to achieve public office, he soon became one of the leading political figures of the era of Julius Caesar, Pompey, Marc Antony and Octavian.

Venice, Jacobus à Burgifrancho, 1537. 8vo. Bound in two nice later (18th century) half vellum bindings with gilt leather title-labels to spine. Lovely 18th century patterned paper over boards. a bit of overall wear, but generally very nice. Internally very nice and clean, with only very light occasional dampstaining. Small wormholes to blank margins, some neatly restored. Overall a very nice, clean, and fresh set indeed. Fully complete (possibly with the exception of blanks in the Odyssey). Iliad: (22), 277, (1, colophon) ff. + two blank leaves. Title within woodcut ornamental border, woodcut initials, large woodcut printer's device to verso of colophon-leaf. Odyssey: 251, (8, -index), (1, -colophon) ff. Title within woodcut ornamental border, woodcut initials, large woodcut printer's device to verso of colophon-leaf. The 8-leaf index has been misbound and is placed between ff. 184 and 185. Scarce first printing of the first Divo-editions of The Iliad and The Odyssey, the first printed official "Versio Latina" of Homer, being the first complete Latin text of the Iliad and Odyssey available in print and one of the most influential versions of these two masterpieces ever to appear. "The Versio Latina, or Latin translation of the works of Homer, has existed since the 14th century, but was first printed, under the name of Andreas Divus, in 1537. It is a crib, to give it no finer name, but a crib which had immense influence, being the first introduction to Homer for generations of mediaeval and early modern scholars." (Introduction by Hefyd to the Libri Vox-version of Book 6 of the Odyssey). While several other versions of the Iliad and the Odyssey had appeared earlier, Divo's Latin translation of both works together, with life of Homer by Herodotus in Latin version by Konrad Heresbach, and with the Batrachomyomachia and Homeric hymns in Latin versions by Aldus Manutius and Georgius Dartona, came to greatly dominate Homeric reading in the 16th century and became one of the very most influential versions of the Homeric corpus ever to appear. This came to be the standard Latin version of Homer for centuries to come. It was this version of the texts that Chapman for his translation into English in 1598, and it was used directly by Ezra Pound in his long poem "The Cantos" more than three centuries later. "The first half of the sixteenth century witnessed an explosion of Homeric texts in print, including the influential Hervagius editions by Joachim Camerarius and Jacobus Micyllus (Basel, 1535 and 1541) and four Strasbourg editions (by Johannes Lonitzer and Wolfgang Capito) between 1525 and 1550 alone. But it was the production of Latin, as well as bilingual Greek-Latin, editions during this period that helped to broaden familiarity with Homer among learned humanists and lay readers alike. [.) Sebastian Castellio' s 1561 Greek-Latin edition of Homer was clearly intended for educational purposes, as were Crispinus' s editions (Geneva, 1560 ? 1567), which advertise on their title pages that they contain a " literal Latin version set against [the Greek]" (Latina versione ad verbum e regione apposita). Yet it was another ad verbum Latin translation of the Iliad and Odyssey, by Andreas Divus, that came to dominate during the sixteenth century. First printed in two Venice editions of 1537, one by Melchior Sessa and the other by Jacobo Burgofranco, both with a preface by Divus' s fellow Capodistrian humanist Pier Paolo Vergerio, this Latin crib was later reprinted by the jurist Obertus Giphanius (Hubert van Giffen, 1534 ? 1604) and then used (via Crispinus' s 1570 Geneva edition) as the foundation for Johannes Spondanus' s (Sponde, Jean de, 1557 ? 1595) Latin text in his 1583 Homeri Quae Extant Omnia, a bilingual edition with extensive commentary whose Greek text was the 1572 Strasbourg edition of Giphanius (Sowerby 1996). Although Divus' s translation was the first complete Latin text of the Iliad and Odyssey available in print, its originality has been questioned, given the many close parallels it shares with the much earlier translation by Leontius Pilatus (d. 1366), a translation produced at Boccaccio' s request and subsequently sent to Petrarch." (Pache, edt.: The Cambridge Guide to Homer, 2020, p. 495). Each volume is scarce in itself, but it is extremely rare to find both volumes together and fully complete. Adams H770 Hoffmann II: 333 Graesse III:332.

[Venetiis, in aedib Aldi et Andreae, 1516]. 282 pp. 18th century h.calf, gilt tooled. 4to. - First three pages, incl. the title-page with printer's device, in manuscript on early 20th century paper; last leaf with colophon and anchor missing; spine and leather corner pieces neatly restored; some pages with contemporary annotations in the margins. * Adams II, 521; Ahmansson-Murphy 146; Brunet IV, 454; Dibdin II, 271; Renouard, Aldus, 76/ 3; Short-Title Cat. Italy II, 535. - Extremely rare post-incunable. The first printed edition of Pausanias' Description of Greece, printed by the Aldine Press. This edition was established by Marcus Musurus from the fifteenth century manuscript, which is now in Florence. It is described by N.G. Wilson as "one of the best of the editiones principles" (From Byzantium to Italy, p.155). Pausanias (ca. 115, Lydia - 180, Rome) was a renowned writer and geographer from Greek Asia Minor who devoted ten or twenty years to travelling in mainland Greece during and after the reign of Hadrian, in the brief golden age of the Roman Empire (2nd century A.D.). He is famous for his Discription of Greece, a comprehensive travel guide that describes ancient Greece from firsthand observations. A crucial link between classical literature and modern archaeology and very valuable for the study of the topography, mythology and archeology. Kühnius adopted the text of this Aldine edition. - - THIS BOOK IS NOT AVAILABLE IN OUR SHOP IN THE OUDE HOOGSTRAAT. PLEASE MAKE AN APPOINTMENT IF YOU WANT TO SEE THE BOOK. - -.

Fine Binding. Etat : Very Good Indeed. None (illustrateur). First edition. A very scarce early Aldine work regarding Greek allegorical techniques. A highly sought after first edition printing from the famous Aldine Press. Rebound, in a lovely morocco binding by C and C McLeish. McLeish started his binding career at the Doves Bindery before starting a partnership with his sons as C & C Mcleish from 1909 to 1949. This book is from the Spencer library at Althorp Northamptonshire. With the bookplate of the Earl of Spencer's arms and pressmark B65. The Aldine Press was the printing office started by Aldus Manutius in 1494 in Venice. The first book appearing under his name was published in 1495. The press was the first to issue printed books in octavo and is also famous for introducing italics. In Greek. Adams A278; Ahmanson-Murphy 93; Renouard 49:6. Early manuscript title to the second blank, with original woodcut Aldine printer's device laid down. Marginalia in Greek and Latin by an early hand throughout. This work contains 85 leaves only, and therefore is lacking the first sixty-five leaves. Lacking the fables and life of Aesop. Retaining leaves d6-o4. This work retains the accompanying text including the 'editiones principes' of Cornutus/Phurnutus, 'De Natura Deorum' by Cicero, 'Palaephatus' on disbelieving histories,'De Non Credendis Historiis', Heraclitus Ponticus' 'De Allegoriis Apud Homerum and Horapollon', 'Hieroglyphica' as well as a collection of proverbs. Many of the works to this volume appear in their first edition here. A very scarce work, beautifully produced by the Aldine Press and with fascinating provenance. In a full morocco binding. Externally, very smart with light rubbing to the joints. Internally, firmly bound. Front endpaper is chipped to the edges with handling marks, and prior owner's notes as well as bookplate. Second blank has a manuscript title with the Aldine Press printer's device pasted. Pages are bright. Occasional ink inscriptions to the margins in Greek and Latin. Very Good Indeed. book.

FIRST EDITION. 225 x 152 mm. (9 x 6"). Complete. [1], 2-191, [1] leaves (first and last blank). Double column, 49 lines, gothic type. Contemporary blind-stamped calf, covers with multiple frames formed by thick and thin blind rules, central panel framed by ropework design highlighted with fleur-de-lys stamps and containing three large rosettes, raised bands, remnants of two clasps, pastedowns of repurposed earlier manuscript. Front pastedown with donation bookplate of Manhattan College (the Brother Julian F. S. C. Collection) and with book label of Kenneth Rappaport. Goff C-160; BMC V, 309; ISTC ic00160000. â One-inch triangular chip to head of spine, front joint cracked (but nothing loose), other minor signs of wear to the leather, but the binding still sound and not displeasing. Offsetting from binder's glue to first and last few leaves, small cluster of wormholes to text of first gathering affecting a few single letters, additional trivial imperfections, otherwise A FINE COPY INTERNALLY, especially clean and fresh. In a pleasing Italian period binding and with connections to two famed printing houses, this attractive specimen of Venetian printing contains a collection of sermons from the most celebrated preacher in Italy during the last half of the 15th century. Called a "second Paul," the "new Paul," and the "prince of preachers," Caracciolo (d. 1475) was able to arouse his listeners to sometimes unseemly levels of emotion, and partly for that reason, he was a controversial figure among the Franciscans of his time. He was one of the first authors in history to see his printed writings become bestsellers. This compendium of his preachings includes Lenten sermons on sin, sermons on Saints Bonaventure and Bernardino, a sermon for the feast of the Annunciation and another in praise of the saints, and Caracciolo's letter to John of Aragon. A former student of the great Nicolaus Jenson, Andreas de Torresanus de Asula (1451-1529) inherited some of the master's types following his death in 1480. Torresanus' daughter married fellow printer Aldus Manutius in 1500, and Andreas took over operation of the Aldine Press after his son-in-law's death in 1515.

First edition. Pollux, Julius [Poludeukes, Ioulios] (fl. 2nd cent. A.D.). [Onomasticon] Pollucis vocabularii index in latinum tralatus, ut vel graece nescientibus nota sint . . . Folio. [104]ff. Venice: apud Aldum, April 1502. 296 x 201 mm. 18th or early 19th cent. gilt-ruled calf, a little rubbed, rebacked preserving original gilt spine. Fine copy. Editio princeps. Pollux, a Greek grammarian and sophist from Alexandria, was appointed professor of rhetoric at the Academy in Athens by the Roman Emperor Commodus (son of Marcus Aurelius). According to Philostratus's Lives of the Sophists, Pollux was given this post on account of his melodious voice. Pollux was the author of numerous rhetorical works, of which only a few titles survive, and the Onomasticon, a thesaurus of Attic Greek synonyms and phrases arranged thematically in ten books. "It supplies in passing much rare and valuable information on many points of classical antiquity- objects in daily life, the theater, politics- and quotes numerous fragments of lost works. Pollux was probably the person satirized by Lucian as a worthless and ignorant person who gains a reputation as an orator by sheer effrontery, and pilloried in his Lexiphanes, a satire upon the affectation of obscure and obsolete words" (Encyclopaedia Britannica [1999]). The editio princeps of Pollux's Onomasticon, issued by Aldus Manutius in 1502, made the work widely available to Renaissance scholars and antiquaries, and anatomists of the period drew on the Onomasticon for obscure Greek words to describe parts of the body. The Onomasticon was a valuable source of information for several important nineteenth century works of classical scholarship, and has continued to attract the interest of researchers in a variety of fields-in 2004, John H. Dierkx published an article on "Dermatologic terms in the Onomasticon of Julius Pollux" in The American Journal of Dermatopathology. Adams P-1787. Ahmanson-Murphy 54. Renouard, pp. 32-33. .

Hardcover. Etat : Very good. First. THE CONYBEARE-ORMEROD-GAISFORD COPY OF "THE MOST IMPORTANT PINDAR EDITION EVER" Rome: Zacharias Kallierges, 13 August 1515. Editio princeps of the scholia. Quarto in 8s (8 3/8" x 5 3/4", 212mm x 147mm). [Full collation available; complete with iota6 and Theta10 blank.] Section titles to the Olympian and odes printed in red and black. Bound in later (ca. 1800?) calf, panelled in blind with acorn cornerpieces. On the spine, five raised bands. Title and author gilt to black calf in the second panel, "EDITIO/PRINCEPS" gilt to black calf at the tail. Gilt roll to the edges of the boards. All edges of the text-block speckled red. Some wear to the extremities, with some small losses to the head and tail. Tiny wormtrails to the lower edge of the front paste-down and initial blanks. Dampstain to the upper quarter of the text-block, concentrated at the front and fading almost to invisibility at the rear. Old repairs to the title-leaf, not affecting the text. [Full provenance available.] Writing in the early years of the fifth century BC, Pindar is the lyric poet -- an author of short verse in a variety of meters, as opposed to an epic poet such as Homer or Hesiod -- whose work survives best from the Archaic period. Though we know he wrote in several genres, the only corpus that comes down to us intact is his epinicia or epinicians: written upon (epi) the victories (nicia) of athletes at the four major athletic contests of Greece, viz. the Olympian (i.e., the Olympics), Pythian (at Delphi), Nemean (at Nemea in the Argolid) and Isthmian (at the isthmus of Corinth) games. Each poem celebrates the victory of an athlete (or, in some cases, a musician) at a particular event. Pindar interweaves myths and civic stories to burnish the achievements of man and polis alike. The editio princeps of Pindar is Aldus Manutius' 1513 edition, but there are serious flaws in its readings and, crucially, the scholia -- ancient commentaries -- do not appear. The present item (historically called the Romana) is the princeps of the scholia, and a much improved edition of the poems. Indeed, Staffan Fogelmark in his monograph on the edition writes: "despite the fact that more than twenty complete editions in Greek were printed within a century, it was the 1515 edition, also known as the editio Romana, that became the vulgate text for three hundred years due to its great merits. . . and may be designated the most important Pindar edition ever." The scholia add immeasurably both to our interpretation of Pindar's poems and their textual history, as well as to our knowledge of ancient scholarly traditions. Zacharias Kallierges (Calliergi) was born in Crete and came at the invitation of Pope Leo X, to Rome. The present work is his first published there, and the first wholly Greek book published in Rome. The book was owned by "Juliani Roberti Parisiensia," viz. Julien Robert of Paris -- a XVIc French academic. It then passed through the hands of three distinguished men of Oxford. The first was John Josias Conybeare (1779-1824). Conybeare matriculated in 1797 at Christ Church and became the inaugural Rawlinson Professor of Anglo-Saxon, as well as Professor of Poetry. He adduces Pindar in his posthumous edition of the Old English song Widsith (1826). The book was doubtless acquired after Conybeare's death by George Wareing Ormerod (1810-1891), son of the more famous George Ormerod, antiquarian of Cheshire. The book's last evidence-leaving owner was Thomas Gaisford (1779-1855), one of the giants of Classical learning in Britain. Gaisford was appointed Regius Professor of Greek in 1811 and Dean of Christ Church in 1831, in which post he remained till his death. Both Gaisford (in his manuscript note to the title-page) and the binder -- perhaps on Gaisford's instructions? -- incorrectly identify this as the editio princeps of Pindar's poems. The volume was purchased at the library sale of Howth Castle, where Gaisford's descendants lived. Adams P 1219-1221.

Rilegato. Etat : quasi ottimo. prima edizione. COMPLETE WITH O5-8 AND IN C18TH NICELY DECORATED VELLUM. FIRST ALDINE EDITION. 8vo (15,7x9,5CM). A-Z8 2A-2C8, ff. 205, [3]. Italic letter, very little Roman. Printer's device on t-p and on verso of final blank leaf, large historiated woodcut initial at beginning of text. 2 leaves of errata; register and repeated imprint at colophon. Faded ms. ex libris on t-p: "Di Gennaro Giannelli" (fl. C17th-C18th, Roman bibliophile, physician and man of letters). Occasional marginal early annotations throughout; old ink note on centre of upper pastedown stating that the five songs which were removed from almost all copies are present in this copy. They were inserted later. Indeed the original 4-leave quire O was entirely substituted with a complete 8vo gathering, probably taken from another copy, since it shows skilful restorations to the foot of each leaf, and sometimes the outer margin, in order to adjust the quire to the present copy. Masterly repair to the t-p's outer margin with paper integration most likely due to the removal of an older ownership note. Occasional very mild foxing, toning or spotting on a few leaves, else in very good condition. Crisp and mainly clean copy. Bound in 18th c. full vellum over pasteboards, richly decorated on spine and covers with gilt-tooled motives and fleurons. Ruled large borders in red. An excellent copy in a fine binding. A.e.y. As stated in the online catalogue's record that describes the three copies of this book held by the University of California, "it appears that after a few copies of signature O had been printed with eight leaves (leaves 105-112) five canzoni were eliminated, thus reducing signature O to four leaves (leaves 105-108), with the reduced text re-arranged and in part reset so as to be continued without break on leaf 113, which follows 108." Furthermore, the record reports that the UCLA copy is a "made-up copy, in which the leaves removed earlier were replaced, at a later time, with those from another copy." Thus, the present copy is comparable with the UCLA's aldine. The five canzoni removed were: "O dio, o sommo bene, hor come fai"; "O maligno e duro core"; "Ben ch 'io rida, balli et canti", "E convien ti dica il vero"; "Una donna havea disire." The removal was clearly intended to be immediate as the register records: "tutti sono quaderni, eccetto O che e duerno." This intervention in course of press was probably decided by Paolo Manuzio to avoid censorship of rhymes considered licentious or simply facetious. All this with the intention of providing a lyrical and Petrarchian image of Lorenzo, devaluing instead the popular and laughing dimension of his lyric, in accordance with the Venetian taste of the time. Adams, M1005; Ahmanson-Murphy 473; Renouard p.162: Presque tous les exemplaires sont mutilès de cinq chansons (Canzoni) dans la feuille O ; Edit16, CNCE 27192, Var. A (with insertion of the whole O gathering).

Early Printing by Aldus. Elaborate Aldine device Impressed on the titlepage and at the end on the verso of the colophon leaf. Dedication to Michel de Selva, vescovo di Viseo. 8vo, bound in 17th century stiff vellum, red morocco lettering label gilt. ff. (5), 195, (8). A fine example with the title label with a bit of chipping and with some light loss. RARE ALDINE EDITION OF THE CLASSIC LANDMARK IL CORTEGIANO. Castiglione s great work is one of the most famous books of the Italian Renaissance and represents the highest level of commitment to the prince and the new political and social order. The Courtier is the prototype of the courtesy book, written as conversation between members of the court. At the time of its composition Castiglione was at the court of Guidobaldo de Montefeltre and Elizabetta Gonzaga at Urbino, together with Bembo, Giuliano de' Medici, Federico Fregoso and other Renaissance luminaries; members of that court feature as speakers in the conversation. Castiglione, after serving the Sforzas at Milan and the Gonzagas at Mantua, came to the Court of Urbino in 1504 where de Montefeltre and his consort Elizabetta Gonzaga were the center of the most brilliant court in Italy, which counted among its members Bembo, Bibbiena, G. de Medici and many other eminent men. This brilliant book is based on Castiglione s experience of life among these dazzling figures. The Courtier depicts the ideal aristocrat, and it has remained the perfect definition of a gentleman ever since. It is an epitome of the highest moral and social ideas of the Italian Renaissance and is written in the form of a discussion between members of the court. The fundamental idea that a man should perfect himself by developing all his faculties goes back to Aristotle s ETHICS and many of the Aristotelian virtues reappear---honesty, magnanimity and good manners. The ideal man should also be proficient in arms and games, be a scholar and connoisseur of art; he should develop graceful speech and cherish a sense of honour. Relations between the prince and the courtier, forms of government, and rules for the conduct of a lady are also discussed and the book ends with the celebrated pronouncement on platonic love by Bembo. This Renaissance ideal of the free development of individual faculties and its rules of civilized behaviour formed a new conception of personal rights and obligations in Europe. The book was translated into most European languages and between 1528 and 1616 no less than one hundred and eight editions were published. It had great influence in Spain where traces of it can be found in DON QUIXOTE and in France in Corneille s writings. But its most potent influence was probably in England. Its influence can be seen in Shakespeare, Spenser, Ben Jonson, Sir Philip Sidney, Robert Burton and Shelley. It had a great impact on the development of English drama and comedy. The beautiful and highly important printings of the house of Aldus are exceptional and revered in their own right. This, one of the most exceptional of Italian Renaissance works published by the great Renaissance printer of Italy.

8° (160x98 mm). Collation: a-t8. [8], 142, [2] leaves. Complete with fol. t7 blank. Italic and roman type. Woodcut Aldine devices on the title-page and verso of the last leaf, in two variants. Blank spaces for capitals, with printed guide letters. Fine contemporary dark brown Venetian morocco over pasteboards. Covers within a border of multiple blind fillets, one in gilt. At the centre lacework tool in gilt, one small gilt-tooled ivy-leaf at each corner. Holes for a pair of ties to the fore edge. Spine with three raised bands, underlined by blind fillets. Darkened edges. Trace of a small round paper label on the spine, with the inked number '303'. Corners and board edges slightly worn, minor loss to the extremities. A very good copy, title-page lightly soiled and spotted. Some foxing, tiny wormholes to the blank upper margin of a few leaves, without any loss. On the front pastedown the pencilled price notice '£ 5-50'.Provenance: ownership inscription barely legible on the front pastedown, dated 1663 ('[?]aria Fabritius duodecim et semis 1663 Paris.'); Edward Herbert Viscount Clive, 2nd Earl of Powis (1785-1848; ex-libris on the front pastedown; his sale, Sotheby's, 22 Mar. 1923, lot 492); Bernard Quaritch (Catalogue of a most important Collection of Publications of the Aldine Press, 1494-1595, London 1929). The rare second Aldine edition of Sallustius' works, first issued by Aldus Manutius in April 1509 and offered here in a handsome contemporary binding. The 1521 publication includes Aldus' original dedicatory epistle, followed by an address to readers by Aldus' brother-in-law Gian Francesco Torresano, who edited and improved the text. According to Renouard, this edition is superior to that of 1509, in that it is "beaucoup plus belle, imprimée avec un caractère neuf, et d'un meilleur texte". The volume's fine binding was executed in a style frequently seen in editions published by the Aldine printing house, and can confidently be attributed to the Mendoza Binder, the skilled craftsman so called owing to his association to one of the greatest book collectors of that age, Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, the Emperor's ambassador to Venice from 1540 to 1546. This binder was active in Venice between 1518/19-1555, and also worked for other collectors – among others, Johann Jakob Fugger – and Venetian booksellers, primarily for the press run by Andrea Torresano, and later by the Manuzio- Torresano partnership. "Quite apart from his work for Hurtado de Mendoza the binder produced regular trade work for the book-buying public. These have fairly standard decorative schemes. His typical trade binding is decorated with a rectangular frame of one gilt and multiple blind lines, rosettes and ivy-leaves at the corners and a smaller leaf between them, either in silver or in blind. The title and often the customer's initials are gilt on the upper cover. These are bindings made either for a bookseller's stock or a bookseller's customer. Binders in Venice were not allowed by the booksellers' guild to sell books directly to the public. Although no doubt major collectors [.] would have dealt directly with a binder, most customers must have arranged for binding through a bookshop" (A. Hobson, "Was There an Aldine Bindery?", pp. 243-244).Adams S-147; STC Italian 599; Renouard Alde, 93.16; Cataldi Palau 60; Ahmanson-Murphy 194; A. Hobson, "Was There an Aldine Bindery?", D. S. Zeidberg (ed.), Aldus Manutius and Renaissance Culture. Essays in Memory of Franklin D. Murphy, Florence 1998, pp. 237-245; Philobiblon, One Thousand Years of Bibliophily, no. 70. Book.

The most widely known European military campaign of foreign conquest and civil war. Its simple, lucid prose style instructed Latin students for a half a millennium. Excepting the front matter (papal privileges, errata, etc.), this edition is a paginary reprint of the innovative Aldine of 1513, which offered the first with text-specific illustrations. Each of the book's two parts, the ancient texts and Raimondo Marliani's geographic index, has its own colophon, dated some months apart. Aldus' heirs distributed the first copies of the 1518/19 edition with the four quires - identically signed and foliated - of the 1513 geographic index still in stock, before incurring the additional labor and expense of producing a new edition of the index. This copy belonged to the fierce Scottish patriot, Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun (1655-1716), who spent a decade in exile on the Continent, scheming against the British crown. He participated in Monmouth's aborted June 1685 invasion of England. Escaping a Bilbao prison while under sentence of death, Fletcher traveled incognito on the Iberian peninsula, working in libraries and buying books, then traveled east to fight the Turks in Hungary before returning to Scotland to continue his drive for its independence. This copy crossed the Channel with his Netherlands agent, Alexander Cunningham. Characteristically, Fletcher signed his name on the rear pastedown. A fine large copy in original condition. Essling, Les Livres à figures vénitiens 1733-34; Sander, Le Livre à figures italien 1510; Renouard, Annales de l'imprimerie des Alde 88,11; Schweiger, Handbuch der classischen Bibliographie. Lateinische Schriftsteller I: 41; Brown, "Gaius Julius Caesar" in Catalogus translationum ed. Cranz III: 96; EDIT16 CNCE 8155. CONTEMPORARY DARK BROWN FLEMISH PANEL-STAMPED CALF (c. 1530; corners worn, front hinge cracked), ruled outer frame, the panel stamp of wyverns, acorns, foliage, drawer handles and artichokes (see Goldschmidt's Gothic & Renaissance Book Bindings 134), rope marks fill the top and bottom spine compartments and the other three compartments have blind rolls on either side of the bands (crown and base defective), later manuscript-lettered paper spine label, evidence of four ties, edges gilt and gauffered with lozenges and daisies, vellum pastedowns from a 13th-century manuscript written in northern France.

Edition limited to 119 copies, this being one of 100 bound in quarter leather over marbled paper-covered boards (19 copies remain in sheets); folio (approx. 15½" x 10¼"), pp. [6], 9-11, [1], 15-25, [1], 29-31, [1], 35-37, [1], 41-43, [1], 47-66, [5]; large folding wood-engraved map and 8 multi-color wood engravings on 7 sheets (5 folding, depicting pelicans, fish, and river scenes) inserted; 31 other zinc engravings of fish in the text; introduction by Patrick Coleman; title page and box label printed from specially made wood type based on tracings by Russell Maret from Aldus Manutius's Hypnerotomachia Poliphili; the binding is by Craig Jensen, Book Lab II, using hand-made marbled paper by Jemma Lewis based on photographs of wet stones along the shores of Lake Pepin. As new, at the published price, in the original leather-backed clamshell box with pelican label on the spine. Seven years in the making, this homage to Schanilec's second home, Lake Pepin - that great widening of the Mississippi River between St. Paul, Minnesota and La Crosse, Wisconsin - was his most ambitious project to date.

8° (145x92 mm). Collation: a-y8, z4, A8. [188] leaves. Complete with fols. u6, x5, y5, and z4 blank. Lyons italic type. Nearly contemporary vellum, over pasteboards. Smooth spine with title inked vertically by an early hand. Edges speckled brownish red, head-edge darkened. A few stains to the covers. A very good copy, the upper margin slightly trimmed, partly affecting the early inked foliation. A few spots, a small stain on fol. l7. An early hand has added in the final leaf an index of Petrarch's poems included in the volume.Provenance: Alessandro Grassi (seventeenth-century ownership inscription on the recto of the first leaf); purchased by John Barker in Rome in 1671 (ownership inscription on the front pastedown, 'Roma, 15. d'Apr- 1671. di Sig.r Ales. Grassi, incontro il palazzo del Gouernatore'; also in Barker's own hand is the note on the front pastedown 'v. Hor. l. I. Sat. 10', and a passage taken from the Dell'Huomo di lettere by Daniello Bartoli on the recto of the front flyleaf 'Fauorino auuisa [Gell. l. 17 c. 12] che per aguzzare l'ingegno, quando dall'otio di molto tempo ci paia rintuzzato, e ottuso, ottimo mezzo sia prendere à trattare materie inutili, e allegre. P. Bartoli dell'Huomo di lettere, p. 339'); Kenneth Rapoport (ex-libris on the front pastedown). The exceedingly rare Lyonese counterfeit, in its first issue, of the celebrated Petrarca volgare printed by Aldus in Venice in 1501, and edited for him by the outstanding humanist Pietro Bembo (1470-1547) on the basis of Petrarch's autograph manuscript of the Canzoniere, held at the Vatican Library. This is one of the three earliest of all Aldine counterfeits, alongside those of the Virgil and Juvenal. The volume was issued entirely anonymously and without date, but the printing might be attributed to Balthasar de Gabiano from Asti (Piedmont) – according to Baudrier the originator of the Lyonese italic type –, or other printers who were active in Lyon, such as Jacques Myt, who, together with the dealer Barthélemy Troth, had immediately perceived the commercial possibilities of Aldus' revolutionary series of easily portable octavo-format volumes, printed in the fine italic type designed for the Venetian printer by the Bolognese punch-cutter Francesco Griffo. Despite the ten-year privilege granted by the Venetian Senate which gave Aldus exclusive right to its use, this font was imitated or counterfeited by certain unscrupulous Lyonese printers who produced a group of pirated editions closely imitating the Aldine format and layout, though obviously omitting the colophon, prefaces, and privileges. On 16 March 1503 Aldus was compelled to print the broadside Monitum in Lugdunenses typographos, a warning against the counterfeited Lyonese editions, in which he explained how to distinguish them from his genuine editions. In the Lyonese Petrarch the original colophon, Aldus' address to readers, and the errata leaf are all omitted. Further, a few misprints are detectable: the general title on fol. a1r reads Le cose vulgari in place of the original Le cose volgari, the divisional title on fol. a1v is printed as Sonetti et canzone in vita di madonna Laura, and not correctly Sonetti et canzoni in vita di madonna Laura, while the Aldine divisional title Sonetti et canzoni in morte di madonna Laura on fol. n3 became Sonetti et canzoni in morte di madona Laura in the counterfeit. Further, the quire k is signed 'K'. Two different issues of this Lyonese counterfeit are known; according to David J. Shaw they could have been printed in about 1502 and 1508, respectively. This copy belongs to the first group; an especially noteworthy point about this state is represented by the Provençal verse 'Dreç 7 [i.e., 'et'] rayson es quieu ciant em demori' printed on fol. d6v (Sonetto 70, Lasso me, ch'i non so in qual parte pieghi), which here faithfully adheres to the original, while in the late counterfeit datable to 1508 the same phrase is transformed, or better, translated into. Book.

Hardcover. Etat : Very Good. [October 6, 1492]. 4to (215 x 155mm). [108 leaves]. Signatures: A4, a-n8. Edited by Ludovicus Mondellus (Luigi Mondella). Preface addressed to Octavianus Ubaldinus, Prince of Mercatello. Capital spaces with guide letters. Early floreate blindstamped paneled calf over thick wooden boards; (hinges splitting and parts of spine perished at head and tail, some worming to boards and leather, internal light browning, some thumbsoiling at front, and few minor wormholes, all in all, a wonderful medieval survival). This copy with contemporary scattered marginalia and Latin and Italian inscriptions, heavy at the beginning and end, some names come through "Pietropaolo Porcella" and other bibliographic notes (title repeated at least three times). This copy from the library of Gustavo Camillo Galletti (1805-1868), his two nineteenth century rubber-stamps to title. Galletti was a famous Florentine nobleman, lawyer, and bibliophile. He was known for his rare book purchases and for writing a few successful publications on Latin poetry. Filelfo s Latin epistles would have been great interest to Galletti who greatly appreciated classic prose and literary works. Older bookplate on interior front cover partially revealing interlaced monogram "IL?" under crown (unidentified), with library number 40164. A work of utmost rarity and quite important to Italian Latin Humanism, this copy is further enriched by contemporary inscriptions and remains in an authentic binding. Quite rare, OCLC/WorldCat locates five US copies at NYPL, Folger, Harvard, Bryn Mawr, Loras College. UK copies at Cambridge and the Bodleian. Two copies in Florence and Trento, Italy. More common is the 1489 and 1495 editions from Basel (Amerbach). Only a single copy appears in recent auction records (Sotheby's, October 2002) and that copy lacking 38 leaves. Hain-Copinger 12976; Goff P-621; Proctor 5420; not on ISTC. Complete incunabule of Filelfo s "Latin Letters," the "Epistolare Marii Philefi," a celebrated Latin primer for letter and prose writing in Renaissance Europe. Giovanni Mario Filefo was born in Constantinople in 1426. His father was Francesco Filelfo (1398-1481), the noted author and humanist who brazenly declared himself the successor of Petrarch. Francesco Filelfo first began his editions of the epistles, a textual body of over two thousand documents, in 1473. The Epistolare totaled thirty-seven books of correspondence which was intended as a primer for pupils throughout Renaissance Europe. Some of the letters were in Greek and Italian, but they were chiefly in Latin. The letters and speeches in the series ranged from anecdotal matters to discussions of literary issues and reflections on the course of human affairs. The texts were an ideal choice for printers and teacher in the early sixteenth century as they not only taught students how to write elegant Latin prose, but taught readers the fine art of negotiation and urged them to improve on the powers of expression. The Filelfo Epistolare were often reprinted after 1480 and after Francesco s death. This edition by his son Giovanni was praised for its "completeness;" first printed in 1486 and then again in 1492. Additionally, Amerbach was famous for his first Basel edition of 1486. Giovanni Tacuino was an important Italian publisher and typographer active in Venice and a contemporary of Aldus. The letters in the preface of the Epistolare between Mondellus and Octavianus remain to be an important medieval record of correspondence. Fileflo s important work published over five centuries ago has all but fallen into oblivion, but this is altogether a most notorious early humanistic work and not commonly found. Complete incunabule of Filelfo s "Latin Letters," the "Epistolare Marii Philefi," a celebrated Latin primer for letter and prose writing in Renaissance Europe. Giovanni Mario Filefo was born in Constantinople in 1426. His father was Francesco Filelfo (1398-1481), the noted author and humanist who brazenly declared himself the successor of Petrarch. Francesco Filelfo first began his editions of the epistles, a textual body of over two thousand documents, in 1473. The Epistolare totaled thirty-seven books of correspondence which was intended as a primer for pupils throughout Renaissance Europe. Some of the letters were in Greek and Italian, but they were chiefly in Latin. The letters and speeches in the series ranged from anecdotal matters to discussions of literary issues and reflections on the course of human affairs. The texts were an ideal choice for printers and teacher in the early sixteenth century as they not only taught students how to write elegant Latin prose, but taught readers the fine art of negotiation and urged them to improve on the powers of expression. The Filelfo Epistolare were often reprinted after 1480 and after Francesco s death. This edition by his son Giovanni was praised for its "completeness;" first printed in 1486 and then again in 1492. Additionally, Amerbach was famous for his first Basel edition of 1486. Giovanni Tacuino was an important Italian publisher and typographer active in Venice and a contemporary of Aldus. The letters in the preface of the Epistolare between Mondellus and Octavianus remain to be an important medieval record of correspondence. Fileflo s important work published over five centuries ago has all but fallen into oblivion, but this is altogether a most notorious early humanistic work and not commonly found.

Engraved vignettes on titles & numerous engraved head- & tail-pieces throughout. Six vols. bound in one thick vol. Large 4to, cont. red pigskin-backed blue boards (some rubbing), vellum corners, spine lettered in gilt, entirely uncut. [Amsterdam]: 1776. A fine uncut set, remarkably bound in one thick volume, of this rare and famous catalogue, privately printed in three hundred copies; it is one of the most highly appreciated 18th-century catalogues of a private library. Crevenna (d. 1792), a passionate and scholarly Italian bibliophile from Milan, spent most of his life in Amsterdam where he assembled his collections, rich in rare and excellent editions of the Greek and Latin classics and other important books and MS. including over 1000 incunabula, books printed by the Aldine and other presses, and important groups of Italian and French literature. By trade, he was a tobacco merchant who married Antoinetta Maria Bolongaro, the daughter of a very wealthy Italian merchant also living in Amsterdam. Assisted by his librarian, the Milanese author Carl'Andrea Oltolina, he himself compiled this richly annotated catalogue, well-known for its many learned bibliographical notes. The catalogue also serves as an early catalogue of autograph MSS. The last volume comprises extensive indices, including incunabula arranged according to date, a list of the Greek and Latin authors, chronological lists of books printed by Aldus, the Giunti, Gryphius and others. Very nice and large set with all the required errata leaves. ? Gustave Brunet, Dictionnaire de Bibliologie Catholique, col. 593-"Ouvrage recherché, assez rare; les descriptions des premières éditions y sont faites avec grand soin." Peignot, p. 92-"Excellent ouvrage, assez rare, les descriptions des premières éditions y sont faites avec exactitude. On y relève quelquefois Debure." Pollard & Ehrman, Table XXXII. Taylor, Book Catalogues, p. 8-"Crevenna assembled a gentleman's library of expensive standard works and, as the preface relates, took much pleasure in the task. The catalogue lists more than a thousand incunabula and was important for that reason in a time before the appearance of larger and better bibliographies" (& see pp. 100, 129, 135, & 238).

Quarto, [480] pp., Greek types, printed in black and red; complete with the two blank leaves; woodcut devices of a caduceus and Kallierges's double-headed eagle on the title, eagle device repeated on final leaf; modern binding of period style. Produced in Rome by Zacharias Kallierges, a native Cretan, Renaissance humanist and scholar, who had set up the first Greek-owned printing press in Venice in 1499, subsequently moving to Rome to set up his press there. Pindar, the classical ancient Greek lyric poet, was a perfect choice for Kallierges to put into print: the first Greek poet to reflect on the nature of poetry and on the poet's role, he was hugely prized by later writers, not least the Latin poet Horace who admiringly compared the vigour of his writing to the "uncontrollable momentum of a river that has burst its banks". Pindar's four books of epinikia or "victory odes" represent one of "the great monuments of Greek lyric" (Mathiesen). The tradition of epinikia, written to honour victorious athletes at the games, dates back to at least the 6th century BCE with verses by Simonides of Ceos surviving in fragments. Pindar's four books, which were written between about 520 and 460 BCE, are associated with the four major festivals of the Panhellenic Games: Olympian, Pythian, Isthmian, and Nemean. Thomas Mathiesen has demonstrated how many of the odes can be identified by event, champion, and year. Kallierges, a native Cretan, had already established two presses at Venice before he arrived in Rome to teach under Lascaris at the newly founded Greek Gymnasium, an academy created at the behest of Pope Leo X. When working in Venice he was not only a contemporary of but also must have been close to Aldus Manutius, who played the critical role in the publication of classical texts from surviving manuscript sources. Aldus's edition of Pindar of two years earlier, the editio princeps, had offered a text of the odes alone, without the comparatively huge apparatus of scholia which appear in Kallierges' printing for the first time, and which were crucial to the scholarly understanding of Pindar throughout the centuries to come. Their extent can be seen on every page where the comparatively small printing of text is surrounded by the extensive annotations and explanations. Kallierges' edition "has always been acknowledged as textually superior" (The Greek Book, 5). . A little occasional very light foxing; a very good clean copy with good margins.

Etat : 0. Erste Ausgabe bei Egenolph von Dioskurides' berühmter Abhandlung über Botanik und Medizin, bearbeitet von Jean Ruel, Johannes Lonicer und Walther Hermann Ryff. - Für die schönen, durchg. altkolor. Holzschnitte dienten die Kräuterbücher des Rösslin, Fuchs und Brunfels als Vorlage. Für den Text stützte sich der Herausgeber Ruellio auf die griechische Ausgabe des Aldus Manutius aus dem Jahr 1499. - If to have written the most practically serviceable book of botany that the world of learning knew of during sixteen centuries were the best title to botanical greatness, to Dioskorides would readily be conceded the absolute supremacy over all other botanists, not only of antiquity but of all time (E. L. Greene nach Hunt I, S. 60). - Einband leicht berieben. Innendeckel m. kl. Namensschildchen (M. le docteur Remilly; eine undatierte Rechnung [um 1920] eines französischen Antiquariats liegt bei). Kopfsteg zu Beginn mit schmalem, abnehmendem Wasserrand. Titel, das letzte Blatt sowie der weiße Rand von zwölf Blättern gestempelt. Paginierung vereinzelt alt handschriftl. korrigiert. Schwach gebräunt bzw. (finger-)fleckig. - Insgesamt gutes, vollständiges u. sauber koloriertes Exemplar. - VD16, D 2004; Adams D 663; Nissen, BBI 496; Pritzel 2307; Wellcome I, 1784. la Gewicht in Gramm: 3000 Fol. Mit 3 (2 kolor.) Druckermarken u. 595 zeitgen. kolor. Textholzschnitten. 12 Bll., 439 (1) S.; 10 nn., 87 num. Bll. (ohne das letzte weiße), Späterer Ldr.-Bd. (um 1920).

Piena pergamena. Etat : molto buono. in-folio, (296x196 mm),   ff. 175 (numerati per errore 177), 1 nn., car. tondo, ancora aldina al primo e ultimo foglio. Leg. del XVIII sec.i n pergamena rigida, titolo in oro su tassello al dorso. Nel XX secolo il volume è stato inserito perfettamente in una rilegatura antica con dorso più spesso, quindi sono stati aggiunti circa 50 fogli bianchi per compensare lo spessore. Al verso del titolo dedica di Marsilio Ficino al Card. Giovanni de'Medici. Seconda edizione aldina, che amplia quella curata dal Ficino del 1497. Comprende gli scritti dei maggiori esponenti di quella corrente del Neoplatonismo influenzata dal misticismo magico: oltre ai "Misteri" di Giamblico, il "De anima atque demone" nonché "De sacrificio & Magia" di Proclo, "De somniis" di Sinesio, "De Daemonibus" di Psellus, l'"Aurea verba e i Symbola" di Pitagora. Rispetto alla prima edizione, contiene importanti aggiunte, quali  "Il Pimandro" e l'"Asclepio" di Ermete Trismegisto, il "De triplici vita, De sole & lumine, e De Magis" di Marsilio Ficino stesso. Il «De Sole» si compone di 13 capitoli, tra i quali spiccano, per interesse scientifico il cap. IV «Conditiones Planetarum ad Solem», il V «Virtus Solis in generationibus atque temporibus», il VII «Dispositiones Signroum & planetarum circa Solem atque Lunam»; VIII «Planetae concordes cum Sole & Luna sunt foelices, discordes contra» etc. Ficino (1433-1499), tra le più straordinarie personalità del Quattrocento, fu celebre umanista e filosofo, detto «alter Plato» per il suo famoso commento a Platone. La traduzione dei Dialoghi, compiuta già nel 1477, contribuì in maniera determinante alla rivalutazione, anche in chiave cristiana, del pensiero platonico, ed è considerata tra le più alte produzioni speculative dell'Umanesimo. Edizione impressa con grande cura, e non meno rara dell'originale. In fine, interessante è il Catalogus Librorum M.Ficini, e commovente l'avviso ai lettori di Andrea d'Asola "perlegite hoc vos orat Andrea socer Aldi. Aldus vivus quo in dies magis." Ottimo esemplare. marginoso, malgrado la manomissione alla rilegatura. Renouard 77.8. Caillet 5489. Bibl. Phil.Hermetica 127 e 128 (ed. 1497). UCLA 131. G.F.d'Asola 20. Book.

Hardcover. Etat : Very Good. 8vo. ff. 251, [1]. Greek letter. Printer s device to title and last verso, with contemporary hand- colouring. Title and last verso a little dusty at margins, light age yellowing, occasional mostly marginal minor foxing, finger-soiling, light water staining to upper outer blank corner and fore-edge of last two gatherings in places. A very good copy in charming, unsophisticated contemporary northern or upper central Italian goatskin, lacking ties, double and triple blind ruled, outer border with blind roll of arabesque ropework, central panel with cross-hatched blind rolls of arabesque ropework and small blind-stamped fleurons, and small blind-stamped lilies at head and foot, raised bands, compartments cross-hatched in blind, blind rolls with arabesque ropework, tools in deep, crisp impression. Tiny loss to upper cover and head and foot of spine, corners a little worn. C20 Greek bookplate 1925 of Spyridon Loverdos to front pastedown, ink stamp to rear pastedown, and ms die 14o septembres in a contemporary hand underneath, with C17 ex-libris Caesaris Picj (Cesare Picchi?), Greek motto to title. The charming, unsophisticated, contemporary binding is northern or central Italian. Whilst the arabesque ropework is also found in mainland Veneto (e.g., Bologna, Archiginnasio MS A197) and Milan (combined with ropework border: see Davis III, 244; bound for Jean Grolier: Needham 41), the decorative style, and the central cross-hatching, is reminiscent of Tuscany (e.g., de Marinis I, 1119). Second Aldine edition of Homer s works the Odyssey , Batrachomyomachia and Hymns generally found with a companion volume including the Iliad . This ed. includes many corrections and improvements, [ ] and it is better and rarer than that of 1504, which was used as a starting point, and much more correct than the third of 1524 (Renouard). Then and now, Homer has remained an obscure figure in the history of Western poetry. Whilst his Iliad and Odyssey are dated to the C9-8BC, it is uncertain whether there ever was a blind bard of such genius or whether his persona came to be used to identify the output of a long standing oral epic tradition. The Odyssey famously recounts the adventurous journey of Ulysses, King of Ithaca, to his native island after the end of the Trojan War, facing sirens, cyclops and many other perils. Batrachomyomachia narrates a battle between Mice and Frogs, assisted by Zeus and other deities. The 33 Hymns attributed to, but not composed by, Homer are each devoted to a different god or goddess, and written in a Greek language as archaic as Homer s. Spyridon Loverdos (1877-1936) was a Greek bibliophile, politician and economist, and head of the National Bank. EDIT16 CNCE 22949; Renouard 80:3: un nouveau texte ; Dibdin I, pp.165-6: the second is esteemed the most rare and valuable ; Ahmanson-Murphy 153.

Hardcover. Etat : Fine. POCKET CONFESSION MANUAL IN FINE CONTEMPORARY BINDING 8vo., ff. (14), 479 (i.e. 476), (+)2, a12, aa-zz12, aa-zz16, &&16, 7716, 4416, AA-CC16, DD12. Gothic letter, double column, 49 lines; edges a bit dust-soiled, occasional small light damp stain to gutter, clean tiny tear to outer lower corner of 17 and 479 (i.e. 476), loosening title. An extremely good copy, unwashed and well-margined, in contemporary Rhineland German brown calf over wooden boards, blind-tooled with diaper panel with stamps of rose, lily and monogram Ihs as well as smaller decorative floral medallions, resembling the style of a workshop based in Münster (Einbanddatenbank, w001463); spine in four compartments, original bronze clasps; slightly scuffed, loss to joints and spine; contemporary red and blue rubrication with touch of yellow, red underlining and manicula throughout; contemporary small vellum labels attached on fore-edge margins marking alphabetical progression; contemporary German purchase note on title and two early sixteenth-century [French?] ex libris of three priests, pastedowns and endpapers from folded manuscript on vellum with Litany of Saints from mid-thirteenth-century Breviary, possibly Flemish, elegantly and neatly rubricated in red and blue, additional later vellum leaf attached after front pastedown with contemporary manuscript annotation in Germanic hand, including initials NKFS ; front pastedown detached from board with minor loss; ex libris 1712 of the library of the Premonstratensian Abbey of Saint-Josse de Dommartin (Pas-de-Calais) on verso of additional vellum leaf, front endpaper verso and final verso. Early and second octavo edition of this famous manual for confessors, first published in Novi Ligure in 1484 and expanded by the author four years later. Battista Travamala, died 1496, was a Franciscan friar from Salo, in Liguria, from which he took the alternative name de Salis. His most influential work was this Summa casuum, also known as Summa Baptistiana, Rosella casuum or Summa Rosella, completed in 1483 in the convent of Levanto. It encountered immediate success. Following the deliberations of the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215, a large number of manuals on penance appeared, to enhance priests intellectual preparation and instruct them on how to be prudent confessors. These handbooks discuss in detail the foundation of moral theology, presenting as questions (casus) numerous examples of correct application of canon law. This Summa adopted the alphabetical order of topics, in line with Bartholomeus de San Concordio, author of an earlier Summa. Relying on this and previous literature, Trovamala independently developed some important legal principles, such as those regarding invalidity of marriage in the case of false premises by one of the spouses. This edition also provides a rare early example of pocket-size octavo pertaining neither to devotion or (as developed by Aldus two years later) classic literature. As the three owners inscriptions on title point out, this genre of books was meant to be used by clerics at any time in their daily work and thus needed to be easily transportable. One of the priests using this desirable copy even marked the beginning of alphabetical sections to recover information more quickly. ISTC, is00050000; BMC, V, 460; GW, 3326 (+ Accurti, II, 70); Goff, S-50; Hain, 14186; Graesse, VI, 233. Latin.

Soft cover. Etat : Good. 8vo, ff. 192. Roman and Italic letter, blank spaces with guide letters for initials. Light age yellowing, title and rest a little ink soiled, small marginal worm trail to first three and last four leaves. A good, crisp copy in elegant C19 polished calf, spine gilt stamped, a. e. g.; joints rubbed; Syston Park and Graf L. B. D. Pahlen armorial bookplates on pastedown, later label to verso of e. p. A first rare counterfeit of the 1501 Aldine edition, without the Greek passages and the colophon, at end, printed in Lyon. The typographical innovation of Aldo s octavo editions of Latin and Greek classics and Italian poetry was immediately and widely imitated in Italy and beyond.  Marcus Valerius Martialis (between 38 and 41 between 102 and 104 AD) is considered the father of the modern epigram. Knowledge of his origins and early life are derived from his works. Originally from Bilbilis, a Roman colony in Spain, he moved to Rome in 64 and lived here for 34 years. His life in the capital was always overwhelmed by financial difficulties and concerned with the search for patrons. Nevertheless, he managed to own a home in the city, on the Quirinal Hill, and one in the countryside. He wrote a total of 1561 epigrams, most in Elegiac distiches, then in hendecasyllables and iambic metres, which were published during the reigns of Domitian, Nerva and Trajan. In this poems he satirised city life and the scandalous activities of his acquaintances. Books 1-12, published between 85 and 102, embrace a large range of topics: jokes among friends, birth or marriage parties, re-enactments of sad events, descriptions of Roman characters (spoilers, parasites, etc.) and celebratory verses. Two books (confusingly numbered 13 and 14), composed in 84 or 85, and appeared with the Greek titles  Xenia  and  Apophoreta , consist almost entirely of mottoes accompanying gifts given to guests at banquets and particularly at the December festival of the Saturnalia (usually made up of statuettes, candles, cloaks, books, brooches, etc.). Among the topics discussed is often the necessity of flattering the rich and the powerful. The adulation reaches its peak in the addresses to Emperor Domitian. Another important aspect of the epigrams is their obscenity. Martial wrote hundreds of epigrams referring to the sexual habits, vices or physical defects of Romans, such as Fileni, Galla or Lupercus. A theme extensively covered by Martial was that of homosexuality, widespread in Rome. Martial s poems are inspired by daily life and present a gallery of grotesque portraits, humorous or tragic situations. Some of them show the poet s feelings, dealing with representations of nature, nostalgia for the far motherland, affectionate friends addresses and epitaphs on dead children. Martial epigrams are a very valuable document of Imperial Rome and thanks to their realistic content and concise style have enjoyed great favour and imitation at all times, especially in the Renaissance. A manuscript containing the first ten books was discovered in the library of Montecassino by Boccaccio (1362-63). Adams, M 690 (ed. 1502); Ahmanson-Murphy, 503:1105; Baudrier, VII, 10; BM STC Fr., 304 (ed. 1503); Brunet, III, 1489-90; Renouard 306:6 (1st issue); Shaw, The Lyons Counterfeit of Aldus Italic type, 123:7. L2570.

Manuscript document on paper. Only the second half of the document. 13 lines, chancery script, probably written by Ludovico degli Arrighi. Signed by Pietro Bembo as Papal Secretary. Two lines filled by a different hand. With the residue of the papal red wax seal and cord. Papal brief, signed by Pietro Bembo, mentions Carlos I of Spain (later Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor). With the signature of Pietro Bembo, the papal secretary, cardinal and scholar, librarian of St. Mark's in Venice, and friend of Aldus Manutius. By the time Bembo had a firm position in the papal court, his reputation as a poet was well established by De Aetna and Gli Asolani, published by Aldus in 1495 and 1505. He became appointed by Leo X to the Latin secretary of the Papal court in 1513, and soon became known as the leading advocate of Ciceronian Latin in Europe and of the Tuscan dialect within Italy. The document was probably written by Ludovico degli Arrighi who served as a papal scribe at the time, known for his influential pamphlet on the italic script known as chancery cursive. . Water stain to the left edge, and upper right corner. Chipped at sides. Manuscript document on paper. Only the second half of the document. 13 lines, chancery script, probably written by Ludovico degli Arrighi. Signed by Pietro Bembo as Papal Secretary. Two lines filled by a different hand. With the residue of the papal red wax seal and cord.