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PROPERTY FROM THE DESCENDANTS OF JOHN GRESHAM MACHEN
LUCRETIUS (94-55 BCE). De rerum natura. Edited by Girolamo Avanzi. Venice: Aldus Manutius, December 1500.
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LUCRETIUS (94-55 BCE). De rerum natura. Edited by Girolamo Avanzi. Venice: Aldus Manutius, December 1500.
The first Aldine edition of Lucretius’s famous poem of ancient atomism. Lucretius was the first of the Latin classic poets printed by Aldus, selected for both his elegance and his philosophical interest. Although De rerum natura has notably anti-religious undertones, its psychedelic vision of swerving atoms enchanted early modern readers—including Pope Sixtus IV. “In it, the most vivid and tender depictions of nature, and a sense of the beauty and rhythm of words…all these combine in the most astonishing way to produce one of the grandest and most moving poems in the Latin language” (PMM). Intriguingly, no extant copies of the poem were made from the 9th century until the 15th, with Poggio’s rediscovery and copying of the manuscript known as p. Aldus and Avanzi had to use the 1495 Venice edition of the text as their source, being “sine antiquo exemplari.” In the preface, Aldus dedicates the book to his patron and former pupil Alberto Pio, and praises Avanzi’s many scholarly emendations to the text. Ahmanson-Murphy 37; Goff L335; HC 10285*; Renouard 23:1. See PMM 87 (1563 ed).
Quarto (213 x 151mm). 108 leaves. Woodcut initials (faint marginal dampstain to final leaves). Early limp vellum, title in ink on front cover.
The first Aldine edition of Lucretius’s famous poem of ancient atomism. Lucretius was the first of the Latin classic poets printed by Aldus, selected for both his elegance and his philosophical interest. Although De rerum natura has notably anti-religious undertones, its psychedelic vision of swerving atoms enchanted early modern readers—including Pope Sixtus IV. “In it, the most vivid and tender depictions of nature, and a sense of the beauty and rhythm of words…all these combine in the most astonishing way to produce one of the grandest and most moving poems in the Latin language” (PMM). Intriguingly, no extant copies of the poem were made from the 9th century until the 15th, with Poggio’s rediscovery and copying of the manuscript known as p. Aldus and Avanzi had to use the 1495 Venice edition of the text as their source, being “sine antiquo exemplari.” In the preface, Aldus dedicates the book to his patron and former pupil Alberto Pio, and praises Avanzi’s many scholarly emendations to the text. Ahmanson-Murphy 37; Goff L335; HC 10285*; Renouard 23:1. See PMM 87 (1563 ed).
Quarto (213 x 151mm). 108 leaves. Woodcut initials (faint marginal dampstain to final leaves). Early limp vellum, title in ink on front cover.
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Please note that this volume bears the signature of Angelo Gabriele, very likely the close friend and associate of Pietro Bembo and Aldus Manutius.