Details
ARISTOTLE (384-322 B.C.). Opera [in Greek]. With works by Galen (A.D. 129/130-199/200), Theophrastus (c.371-c.287 B.C.), Philo Judaeus (c.30 B.C.-A.D. 45), Alexander of Aphrodisias (fl. early 3rd century A.D.), and others. Edited by Aldus, Thomas Linacre, Justin Decadyos, Gabriel Bracius and others. Venice: Aldus Manutius, 1 November 1495, February 1497, January [Greek colophon: 29 January] 1497, 1 June 1497, June 1498.
Super-Chancery folio, 305/310 x 200mm. (12/12 1/8 x 7 7/8in.), 5 parts bound in 6 volumes (part IV divided), eighteenth-century French green morocco, covers framed in triple gilt fillets with rosettes at corners, spines in six compartments gilt with gilt titling, board edges and turn-ins richly gilt, purple endpapers, gilt edges; original paper flaw on fol. e5v (part I), occasional light foxing to extreme outer margins.
A FINE AND COMPLETE SET.
Part I (Organon, or Logic): A-K 8 L-N 6 (A1r three epigrams: anonymous, Scipio Carteromachus, Aldus, A1v dedicatory letter from Aldus to Alberto Pio of Carpi, in Latin, A2r letter to the reader by Alexander Agathemeros, A2v letter by Scipio Carteromachus, A3r-N6v Porphyry's Isagoge, Aristotle's Categories, De interpretatione, Prior Analytics); a-c 8 d-e 6 (Posterior Analytics, e6v blank); f-q8 r-s6 (Topics, Sophistici Elenchi, s5v-s6r register in Greek, colophon in Latin, s6v table of contents in Latin). 234 leaves.
Part II (Natural Philosophy I): 8 (*1r title and table of contents in Greek and Latin, *1v-2v letter from Aldus to Pio, in Latin, *3r- 8v lives of Aristotle and Theophrastus by Diogenes Laertius, life of Aristotle by Johannes Philoponus, Galen's introduction to philosophy); (Physics, i 5v blank, l 8 blank); A-B 8 C 6 (De caelo, De generatione et corruptione, Meteorology); D - H 8 I8 K6 (De mundo, Philo's De mundo, Theophrastus's treatises on fire, wind and stones, unidentified writers on the signs of waters and winds, K6r register and colophon, in Greek and Latin, K6v blank). 300 leaves.
Part III (Natural Philosophy II): (cancel strip mounted on kk 10v containing omitted last line and catchword)
signed PP and printed on recto, verso blank, uncancelled blank conjugate follows PP10) PP - 10 XX8 (aa 1r title and table of contents, in Greek, aa 1v letter from Aldus to Pio, in Latin, aa - 2r-YY5r nineteen treatises by Aristotle, including De historia animalium, De partibus animalium, De incessu animalium, De motu animalium, De generatione animalium, YY5v - XX5v five treatises by Theophrastus, XX6r - 7v register and colophon in Greek and Latin, XX8 blank); 8 (spurious fragments of De historia animalium, Book 10, 8r note to the reader, in Latin, 8v blank). 468 leaves.
Part IV (Natural Philosophy III, bound in two volumes): (disjunct, + 1r title and table of contents, in Greek and Latin, +1v letter from Aldus to Pio, in Latin, +2 blank bound after aaa 8),
(Theophrastus's De historia plantarum and De causis plantarum, DDD 10v blank); AAAaaa-MMMmmm 8 NNNnnn- ooo10 (AAAaaa 1r - 1v table of contents to the following work, AAAaaa 1v Aristotle's Problems); .a- .d 8 .e 10 (Alexander of Aphrodisias's Problems .e 10v blank); a. - b. 6 (Aristotle's Mechanics); AAA -000 8 PPPooo 10 (Aristotle's Metaphysics, Theophrastus's Metaphysics, PPPooo 10r register and colophon in Greek and Latin PPPooo 10v blank). 520 leaves (divided after DDD 10).
Part V (MoralPhilosophy): ( 1v title and table of contents, in Greek and Latin, 1v letter from Aldus to Pio, in Latin, 2r - 3v Nicomachean Ethics, kkkk 4 blank); (Politics, 6 blank); (Economics, 12v blank); AAAA-BBBB
(Magna Moralia); (Eudemian Ethics, register and colophon, in Greek and Latin,
12v blank). 330 leaves.
Types 1: 146Gk (text), 3: 108R (part I colophon and table of contents), 4:81R (part I dedication), 2:114R and 7:114Gk (other dedications). 30 lines and headline (no headline in part I). Numerous woodcut floral and interlaced headpieces and Greek initials.
EDITIO PRINCEPS of all texts. The Aldine Aristotle was the largest venture of Greek printing in the fifteenth century and the first major objective of Aldus's program to publish Greek literature in the original language. These five volumes include all the then-known works attributed to Aristotle and his pupil Theophrastus, as well as other works associated with the Aristotelian corpus. With the addition of Aristotle's Rhetoric and Poetics (published by Aldus in the Rhetores graeci of 1508) and Theophrastus's Characters (edited by Willibald Pirckheimer in 1527), the Aldine edition of Aristotle determined the texts of these two authors until the nineteenth century. In preparing this edition Aldus relied on manuscripts located or copied by contemporary Greek scholars in Italy; a number of these sources survive, and the editing of the Aldine Aristotle has been studied by Martin Sicherl, Handschriftliche Vorlagen der Editio princeps des Aristoteles, Mainz, 1976. The first two Aldine Greek types (146 and 114 mm.), both represented here, were cut by Francesco Griffo and apparently modelled on the hand of Immanual Rhusotas; many accents were cast separately and set through vertical Kerning (see Nicolas Barker, Aldus Manutius, chapters 6 and 7). HC1657*; GW 2334; Pr 5547*, 5555*, 5553*, 5556*, 5565*; BMC V, 553 (IB. 24392-5), 556 (IB.24431-3), 555 (IB. 24423-5), 556 (IB.24435-7), 558 (IB.24463-5); Oates 2162-4, 2172, 2170, 2173-4, 2182; Goff A-959; IGI 791; Pell 1175: Polain 289; IDL 405; Sander 591, Essling 862; Foldr 19.1; Renouard Alde 7.5, 10.1, 11.2, 11.3, 16.1.
Provenance:
1. Thomas Payne the younger (1752-1831, bookseller), sold for 40 guineas to
2. Rev. Henry Drury (inscriptions; Evans, 20th February 1827, lot 388, #22 to)
3. Samuel Butler, Bishop of Lichfield (this copy not in his sales 1840-41 nor in the Payne & Foss catalogue)
4. Ambroise Firmin-Didot (bookplates; Drouot-Delestre, G. Pawlowski and A. Labitte experts, 27th May 1879, lot 199 binding attributed to Padeloup, 1100 francs to Ellis for)
5. Sir Thomas Brooke (bookplate; private library catalogue, London: Ellis and Elvey, 1891, v. I, p. 28)
6. Quaritch (collation-mark 27th May 1921)
7. Alice Millard, April 1934, commission sale to Estelle Doheny at #452 (Catalogue of Books and Manuscripts in the Estelle Doheny Collection, Los Angeles, 1940-55, vol. I, no. 7; sale, Christie's New York, 22 October 1987, lot 105). (6)
Super-Chancery folio, 305/310 x 200mm. (12/12 1/8 x 7 7/8in.), 5 parts bound in 6 volumes (part IV divided), eighteenth-century French green morocco, covers framed in triple gilt fillets with rosettes at corners, spines in six compartments gilt with gilt titling, board edges and turn-ins richly gilt, purple endpapers, gilt edges; original paper flaw on fol. e5v (part I), occasional light foxing to extreme outer margins.
A FINE AND COMPLETE SET.
Part I (Organon, or Logic): A-K 8 L-N 6 (A1r three epigrams: anonymous, Scipio Carteromachus, Aldus, A1v dedicatory letter from Aldus to Alberto Pio of Carpi, in Latin, A2r letter to the reader by Alexander Agathemeros, A2v letter by Scipio Carteromachus, A3r-N6v Porphyry's Isagoge, Aristotle's Categories, De interpretatione, Prior Analytics); a-c 8 d-e 6 (Posterior Analytics, e6v blank); f-q8 r-s6 (Topics, Sophistici Elenchi, s5v-s6r register in Greek, colophon in Latin, s6v table of contents in Latin). 234 leaves.
Part II (Natural Philosophy I): 8 (*1r title and table of contents in Greek and Latin, *1v-2v letter from Aldus to Pio, in Latin, *3r- 8v lives of Aristotle and Theophrastus by Diogenes Laertius, life of Aristotle by Johannes Philoponus, Galen's introduction to philosophy); (Physics, i 5v blank, l 8 blank); A-B 8 C 6 (De caelo, De generatione et corruptione, Meteorology); D - H 8 I8 K6 (De mundo, Philo's De mundo, Theophrastus's treatises on fire, wind and stones, unidentified writers on the signs of waters and winds, K6r register and colophon, in Greek and Latin, K6v blank). 300 leaves.
Part III (Natural Philosophy II): (cancel strip mounted on kk 10v containing omitted last line and catchword)
signed PP and printed on recto, verso blank, uncancelled blank conjugate follows PP10) PP - 10 XX8 (aa 1r title and table of contents, in Greek, aa 1v letter from Aldus to Pio, in Latin, aa - 2r-YY5r nineteen treatises by Aristotle, including De historia animalium, De partibus animalium, De incessu animalium, De motu animalium, De generatione animalium, YY5v - XX5v five treatises by Theophrastus, XX6r - 7v register and colophon in Greek and Latin, XX8 blank); 8 (spurious fragments of De historia animalium, Book 10, 8r note to the reader, in Latin, 8v blank). 468 leaves.
Part IV (Natural Philosophy III, bound in two volumes): (disjunct, + 1r title and table of contents, in Greek and Latin, +1v letter from Aldus to Pio, in Latin, +2 blank bound after aaa 8),
(Theophrastus's De historia plantarum and De causis plantarum, DDD 10v blank); AAAaaa-MMMmmm 8 NNNnnn- ooo10 (AAAaaa 1r - 1v table of contents to the following work, AAAaaa 1v Aristotle's Problems); .a- .d 8 .e 10 (Alexander of Aphrodisias's Problems .e 10v blank); a. - b. 6 (Aristotle's Mechanics); AAA -000 8 PPPooo 10 (Aristotle's Metaphysics, Theophrastus's Metaphysics, PPPooo 10r register and colophon in Greek and Latin PPPooo 10v blank). 520 leaves (divided after DDD 10).
Part V (MoralPhilosophy): ( 1v title and table of contents, in Greek and Latin, 1v letter from Aldus to Pio, in Latin, 2r - 3v Nicomachean Ethics, kkkk 4 blank); (Politics, 6 blank); (Economics, 12v blank); AAAA-BBBB
(Magna Moralia); (Eudemian Ethics, register and colophon, in Greek and Latin,
12v blank). 330 leaves.
Types 1: 146Gk (text), 3: 108R (part I colophon and table of contents), 4:81R (part I dedication), 2:114R and 7:114Gk (other dedications). 30 lines and headline (no headline in part I). Numerous woodcut floral and interlaced headpieces and Greek initials.
EDITIO PRINCEPS of all texts. The Aldine Aristotle was the largest venture of Greek printing in the fifteenth century and the first major objective of Aldus's program to publish Greek literature in the original language. These five volumes include all the then-known works attributed to Aristotle and his pupil Theophrastus, as well as other works associated with the Aristotelian corpus. With the addition of Aristotle's Rhetoric and Poetics (published by Aldus in the Rhetores graeci of 1508) and Theophrastus's Characters (edited by Willibald Pirckheimer in 1527), the Aldine edition of Aristotle determined the texts of these two authors until the nineteenth century. In preparing this edition Aldus relied on manuscripts located or copied by contemporary Greek scholars in Italy; a number of these sources survive, and the editing of the Aldine Aristotle has been studied by Martin Sicherl, Handschriftliche Vorlagen der Editio princeps des Aristoteles, Mainz, 1976. The first two Aldine Greek types (146 and 114 mm.), both represented here, were cut by Francesco Griffo and apparently modelled on the hand of Immanual Rhusotas; many accents were cast separately and set through vertical Kerning (see Nicolas Barker, Aldus Manutius, chapters 6 and 7). HC1657*; GW 2334; Pr 5547*, 5555*, 5553*, 5556*, 5565*; BMC V, 553 (IB. 24392-5), 556 (IB.24431-3), 555 (IB. 24423-5), 556 (IB.24435-7), 558 (IB.24463-5); Oates 2162-4, 2172, 2170, 2173-4, 2182; Goff A-959; IGI 791; Pell 1175: Polain 289; IDL 405; Sander 591, Essling 862; Foldr 19.1; Renouard Alde 7.5, 10.1, 11.2, 11.3, 16.1.
Provenance:
1. Thomas Payne the younger (1752-1831, bookseller), sold for 40 guineas to
2. Rev. Henry Drury (inscriptions; Evans, 20th February 1827, lot 388, #22 to)
3. Samuel Butler, Bishop of Lichfield (this copy not in his sales 1840-41 nor in the Payne & Foss catalogue)
4. Ambroise Firmin-Didot (bookplates; Drouot-Delestre, G. Pawlowski and A. Labitte experts, 27th May 1879, lot 199 binding attributed to Padeloup, 1100 francs to Ellis for)
5. Sir Thomas Brooke (bookplate; private library catalogue, London: Ellis and Elvey, 1891, v. I, p. 28)
6. Quaritch (collation-mark 27th May 1921)
7. Alice Millard, April 1934, commission sale to Estelle Doheny at #452 (Catalogue of Books and Manuscripts in the Estelle Doheny Collection, Los Angeles, 1940-55, vol. I, no. 7; sale, Christie's New York, 22 October 1987, lot 105). (6)