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1.
Albertus Magnus. (1206-1280)
Postilla apprime magistralis super Joanne[m].
Venerabilis d[omi]ni: domini Alberti magni quondam Ratisponensi
Episcopi Ordinis Pr[a]edicatorum.
Haguenau: Heinrich Gran for Joannes Rynman
de Oringaw, July 22, 1504.
Folio, 12 x 8.5 in. AA6, bb-cc8, dd6 (with dd6 blank), aa-cc8,
dd6, ee-gg8, hh6, ii-kk8, ll6, mm-nn8, oo6, pp-qq8, rr6, ss8,
tt6, uu8, xx-yy6, zz8 (lacking zz8, blank). 166 of 167ff.
SOLD
This copy is bound in eighteenth-century stiff parchment, and
has been rebacked. Internally, this copy is in very good condition
with wide, clean margins. The margins of the last few leaves
are lightly dampstained. An eighteenth-century institutional
inscription and library ticket appear on the first leaf.
The text is printed in Gothic type in two columns. The text
of the Gospel of John is printed in larger type than Albert's
commentary. The index is bound before the text.
"The influence exerted by Albert on the scholars of his
own day and on those of subsequent ages was naturally great.
His fame is due in part to the fact that he was the forerunner,
the guide and master of St. Thomas Aquinas, but he was great
in his own name, his claim to distinction being recognized by
his contemporaries and by posterity. It is remarkable that this
friar of the Middle Ages, in the midst of his many duties as
a religious, as provincial of his order, as bishop and papal
legate, as preacher of a crusade, and while making many laborious
journeys from Cologne to Paris and Rome, and frequent excursions
into different parts of Germany, should have been able to compose
a veritable encyclopedia, containing scientific treatises on
almost every subject, and displaying an insight into nature
and a knowledge of theology which surprised his contemporaries
and still excites the admiration of learned men in our own times.
He was, in truth, a Doctor Universalis. Of him it may justly
be said: Nil tetigit quod non ornavit. There is no exaggeration
in the praises of the modern critic who wrote: "Whether
we consider him as a theologian or as a philosopher, Albert
was undoubtedly one of the most extraordinary men of his age;
I might say, one of the most wonderful men of genius who appeared
in past times" (Jourdain, Recherches Critiques).
"In theology Albert occupies a place between Peter Lombard,
the Master of the Sentences, and St. Thomas Aquinas. In systematic
order, in accuracy and clearness he surpasses the former, but
is inferior to his own illustrious disciple. His Summa Theologiae
marks an advance beyond the custom of his time in the scientific
order observed, in the elimination of useless questions, in
the limitation of arguments and objections; there still remain,
however, many of the impediments, hindrances, or stumbling blocks,
which St. Thomas considered serious enough to call for a new
manual of theology for the use of beginners – ad eruditionem
incipientium, as the Angelic Doctor modestly remarks in the
prologue of his immortal Summa. The mind of the Doctor Universalis
was so filled with the knowledge of many things that he could
not always adapt his expositions of the truth to the capacity
of novices in the science of theology. He trained and directed
a pupil who gave the world a concise, clear, and perfect scientific
exposition and defence of Christian Doctrine; under God, therefore,
we owe to Albertus Magnus the Summa Theologica of St. Thomas."
(Catholic Encyclopedia)
Adams A-550; Proctor 11621. |
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2. Aquinas, Thomas. (1225-1274); and Aristotle.
(384-322 B.C.)
Parva Naturalia. In praesenti volumine infra
scripta invenies opuscula cum expositionibus pro parte Sancti
Thomae: pro alia autem Petri de Alvernia viri celeberrimi ordinis
Praedicatorum: pro reliqua Egidii Romani ordinis Eremitarum.
Perquam diligenter visa recognita erroribusque innumeris purgata.
Sanctus Thomas super opuscula Aristotelis. De Sensu et Sensato.
De Memoria et Reminiscentia. De Somno et Vigilia. Ultimo opus
de causis ex libro Proculi: cum eiusdem Sancti Thomae commentationibus.
Petrus de Alvernia super opuscula Aristotelis. De motibus animalium.
De Longitudine et Brevitate Vitae. De Juventute et Senectute.
De Respiratione et inspiratione. De morte et vita. Egidius Romanus
De Bona Fortuna Aristotelis.
Venice: Heirs of Octavian Scot, September, 1525.
SOLD
Folio, 8.5 x 12 in. ?8, A-K8, L6 (lacking L6, presumed blank).
Thia copy is bound in twentieth century quarter vellum over
boards. Internally, this copy is in excellent condition with
crisp, white leaves and sharp impressions. The text is set in
two columns and is adorned with woodcut initials throughout.
Small text diagrams are printed on leaves C6, C7 and F2. Scotus’
printer’s device appears on the verso of leaf L5.
A rare edition of Aristotle’s Parva Naturalia with the
commentaries of Thomas Aquinas and Peter of Alvernia (d. 1307).
In addition to the texts of the Parva Naturalia, this edition
also contains Aquinas on Proclus’ De Causis, Petrus de
Alvernia on Aristotle’s De Motu Animalium (the first commentary
written on this work) and Aegidius Romanus’ (ca. 1243-1316)
commentary on the De Bona Fortuna.
"The series of short treatises known, since the late thirteenth
century, as the Parva Naturalia, as now arranged are evidently
intended to be read as a continuous sequel to the De Anima.
Whatever their chronology, the treatises belong thematically
between the De Anima and Aristotle’s zoological lecture-courses,
the De partibus Animalium and the De Generatione Animalium.
They often enter into greater physiological detail than the
De Anima, consistently with its view that most psychological
phenomena are inseparable from their physical basis, and need
to be studied in that context. It should be borne in mind that
the scope of these essays is far wider than the human species.
Although Aristotle often writes with the human case in mind,
he seeks in the De Somno an account of sleep that will cover
animals in general. Thus he generalizes from human physiology
to that of other animals. His discussion of dreams also mentions
certain species other than man. It has recently been shown that
certain passages in the Parva Naturalia provide a resolution
of difficulties in the De Anima, particularly as regards the
relation between the special senses and the general sense-faculty
of which there are separate modes or aspects. It has been further
claimed that the Parva Naturalia actually correct the De Anima
in significant aspects, and must therefore be among the latest
of Aristotle’s surviving works."
(David Gallop, "Aristotle on Sleep and Dreams" pp.
4-5.)
Not in Adams or Schweiger. |
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3. Aristotle. (384-322 B.C.); Bruni, Leonardo
[a.k.a. Leonardo Aretino]. (1370-1444)
Metaphysica. Organum. Ethica. Politica.
[with the commentaries of Averroes and Leonardus Aretinus.]
Venice: [Johannes and Gregorius de Gregoriis for] Octavianus
Scotus, 26 April 1496.
Folio, 12.65 x 8.64 in. a-p8, q6, r-z8, [et]8, [per]8, [rum]8,
A-B8, C10, D-F8, G10; a-m8, n6, o8 (375 of 376 leaves, lacking
blank leaf o8).
$25,000
Third Latin edition of Aristotle’s works. This copy is
in excellent condition; the leaves are fresh and bright with
generous margins and numerous deckled edges. The text is printed
in two columns of Gothic type and is adorned with decorative
woodcut initials and twenty-five text diagrams one of which
is full-paged. A contemporary or near contemporary owner has
added detailed notes, including an illustration, to the text
of the Prior and Posterior Analytics. The following minor defects
have been noted: light dampstaining to the upper, outer corner
of several signatures, beginning in signature o; few stains
on leaves o7 and g7; foxing to the final leaf. The binding is
in full modern blind-ruled calf over wooden boards.
The present edition contains the logical writings of Aristotle,
collectively known as the Organon, the Metaphysics, and works
on moral philosophy (ethics, politics, and economics). The Aristotelian
texts are accompanied by the commentaries of Porphyry, Averroes,
Gilbertus Porretanus, and Leonardo Aretino.
Although a companion volume was produced by the same publishers
piecemeal from late 1495 into early 1496, the two are seldom
found together. The only North American holding of the two,
held at the Library of Congress, is a mis-matched set. (see
ISTC)
Goff A-965; BMC V 348 (IB.21110); HC 2190*; GW 2340; Klebs 90.2;
Sander 590; Not in Riley |
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4. Augustine, Aurelius, Saint, Archbishop
of Hippo. (354-430)
De Civitate Dei cum commento Thomae Valois
et Nicolai Triveth.
Freiburg im Breisgau: [Kilianus Piscator (Fischer)], 1494.
Folio, 11.5 x 8.41 in. a8, b-x6, y8, z6, A-T6.
$9,500
This copy is bound in twentieth-century parchment over boards,
the author's name, title, and date tooled are on the spine in
gold, with marbled endpapers. Internally, this copy is in good
overall condition, with some minor staining to the blank margins
of signatures a-k. A single, pin-prick wormhole unobtrusively
penetrates the first few quires. The title page is lightly soiled.
A fifteenth-century owner has made numerous annotations to the
first five books in a very clear, neat hand. The text is printed
in two columns and is surrounded by marginal commentaries. An
ownership entry dated 1613 appears on the title page. A poem
written in the same hand, now very faded, appears on the original
front free endpaper, which has been preserved.
Kilian Fischer (Kilianus Pescator), the first printer of Freiburg
im Breisgau, was active from 1492-1496. This is the first firmly
dated book attributed to Fischer and the first of only a few
books having "Friburga" as a printing place (on leaf
T2 recto.) See Brunet, Dictionnaire Geographique.
"De civitate Dei contra paganos (413-426/427; City of God)
is divided into 22 books. The first ten refute the claims to
divine power of various pagan communities. The last twelve retell
the biblical story of mankind from Genesis to the Last Judgment,
offering what Augustine presents as the true history of the
City of God against which, and only against which, the history
of the City of Man, including the history of Rome, can be properly
understood. The work is too long and at times, particularly
in the last books, too discursive to make entirely satisfactory
reading today, but it remains impressive as a whole and fascinating
in its parts. The stinging attack on paganism in the first books
is memorable and effective, the encounter with Platonism in
books 8-10 is of great philosophical significance, and the last
books (especially book 19, with a vision of true peace) offer
a view of human destiny that would be widely persuasive for
at least a thousand years. In a way, Augustine's City of God
is (even consciously) the Christian rejoinder to Plato's Republic
and Cicero's imitation of Plato, his own Republic. City of God
would be read in various ways throughout the Middle Ages, at
some points virtually as a founding document for a political
order of kings and popes that Augustine could hardly have imagined.
At its heart is a powerful contrarian vision of human life,
one which accepts the place of disaster, death, and disappointment
while holding out hope of a better life to come, a hope that
in turn eases and gives direction to life in this world."
(EB)
"Augustine is remarkable for what he did and extraordinary
for what he wrote. If none of his written works had survived,
he would still have been a figure to be reckoned with. However,
more than five million words of his writings survive, virtually
all displaying the strength and sharpness of his mind and some
possessing the rare power to attract and hold the attention
of readers in both his day and ours. His distinctive theological
style shaped Latin Christianity in a way surpassed only by scripture
itself. His work continues to hold contemporary relevance, in
part because of his membership in a religious group that was
dominant in the West in his time and remains so today."(Encyclopedia
Britannica)
Goff A-1246. ISTC ia01246000; GW 2890; BMC III 695; Polain (B)
368; IDL 499; IGI 981; Not in Walsh (Harvard). |
5. Berenger of Landorra, Archbishop of
Santiago de Compostela. (circa 1262-1330), and Gregory of Vorau.
(ed. Matthias Farinator)
Lumen Animae. Liber moralitatum elegantissimus
magnarum reru[m] naturalium lumen anime dict[us]: cu[m] septe[m]
apparitorib[us] necno[n] sanctoru[m] doctoru[m] orthodoxe fidei
p[ro]fessorum Poetaru[m] etia[m] ac oratoru[m] auctoritatib[us]
p[er] modum pharatre s[e]c[un]d[u]m ordine[m] alphabeti collectis
feliciter incipit.
[Strasbourg: Printer of the 1481 Legenda aurea, 22 March 1482].
$45,000
Fourth edition.
Folio, 8.5 x 12 in.
A-C8, D10; a-m8, n6, o-z8, aa-ff8, gg10. 274 leaves, the first
and last blank and present. This collation differs from the
manuscript collation written in this copy in the letters assigned
to each signature. The content and makeup of each signature
are consistent. The letter assignments above are based on the
British Museum’s collation.
The present volume is a beautiful copy with a few brown stains.
The fine contemporary binding, sensitively rebacked with a modern
calf spine, is almost certainly from a Cologne workshop, with
blindstamped panelled sides and an inner panel divided into
lozenge compartments. Two of these stamps can be found in Kyriss.
The arrival of printed books is so often regarded as one of
the inaugural moments of the Renaissance that it is sometimes
forgotten that the first years of print also represented the
last great flowering of the middle ages. The present volume
is a remarkably fine example of that phenomenon. It is also
remarkable for its original paneled German binding.
The Lumen Anime is a preacher’s manual or commonplace book
of natural and moral philosophy, that gathers together quotations
on relevant themes from authors as diverse as Aristotle, Theophrastus,
the elder Pliny, Ptolemy, Solinus, Ambrose, Augustine, Jerome,
Isidore, Hugh of St Victor, and Avicenna. It is broadly organized
in three parts beginning with the birth of Christ, and other
theological material before going on to such worldly matters
as abstinence, abjection, adulation, wealth, guilt, love, humility,
health, silence, and pride. It then proceeds to the two longer
parts, the first of which concerns the natural world of plants,
animals and trees. The second treats, in more depth with problems
of a moral and philosophical kind. It was immensely popular
in the fifteenth century as a reference work, and despite its
Dominican origins, found its natural home and use in the Benedictine
orders of Central Europe.
The textual history and authorship of the Lumen Anime are matters
of considerable complexity. There are some 195 surviving manuscripts
and fragments, as well as four fifteenth and one sixteenth century
printed editions. Of the 195 manuscripts, 35 date from the fourteenth
century and the remainder from the fifteenth century, including
two that derive from the printed editions.
Copies of the early printed editions are also extremely rare,
especially outside Central Europe. The Strasbourg edition is
the only one that seems to have traveled West and North in the
late fifteenth and sixteenth century, with copies that can be
traced back to this time in England now at All Soul’s,
Oxford, the British Library (the Lord Lumley-Prince Henry copy),
and Cambridge UL (John Dee’s copy). If in the fifteenth
century the Lumen Anime was a preacher’s manual of natural
and moral philosophy, to the sixteenth century, it became more
of a compendium and reference guide.
Sources: Mary A. and Richard H. Rouse, ‘The Texts called
Lumen Anime,’ Archivum Fratrum Praedicatorum, 41 (Rome,
1971), 5-113; N.R. Ker, Records of All Soul’s College Library.
1437-1600 (Oxford, 1971), 27.
Goff L-396; BMC I, 97; Hain-Copinger 10333*; Proctor 413; Polain
1468; Wellcome I, 2175; Klebs 631.3; Thorndyke III, 546ff. |
|
6. Budé, Guillaume. (1467-1540)
Commentarii Lingvae Graecae, Gvlielmo Bvdaeo,
Consiliario Regio, Supplicvmqve Libellorvm In Regia Magistro.,
Avctore.
Paris: Badius Ascensius, September, 1529
Folio, 12.75 x 8.84 in. a4, b6, g8, d6, e6, a-z8, A-Z8, Aa-Nn8,
Oo6, Pp8 (lacks blank Pp8).
$7,500
First edition. This copy is bound in seventeenth-century calf,
rebacked in the twentieth-century. The boards are bordered by
a gilt double rule. The edges of the text block have been dyed
red. The title-page, printed in red and black, features the
famous woodcut border and print-shop scene of Badius Ascensius’
press. The introductory letter to Francois I and the text of
the Commentarii are introduced by large crible initials. This
is a beautiful copy of this important work, with generous margins
and very few blemishes.
France possessed, by general confession, the most profound Greek
scholar in Europe, Budé. If this could before have been
in doubt, he raised himself to a pinnacle of philological glory
by his Commentarii Lingue Graecae. The publications of the chief
Greek authors by Aldus, had given a compass of reading to the
scholars of this period which those of the fifteenth century
could not have possessed. But, with the exception of the Etymologicum
of Phavorinus, no attempt had been made by a native of Western
Europe to interpret the proper meaning of Greek words; even
he had confined himself to compiling from the grammarians. In
this large and celebrated treatise, Budé has established
the interpretation of a great part of the language. These Commentaries
of Budé stand not only far above anything else in Greek
literature before the middle of the sixteenth century, but are
alone in their class. (Hallam)
"One of Budé’s greatest achievements, perhaps
even his greatest, was to induce the king, Francois I, to found
the College Royal (later the College de France) for promoting
the new learning. In this enterprise Budé enjoyed the
efficient help of Janus Lascaris. [...] Budé, in his
Commentarii Linguae Graecae, described the proposed royal college
as a new Museion. This unmistakable reference to the famous
foundation of Ptolemy I in Alexandria served also to indicate
the difference between the college and the philosophical Academy
of the Medici in Florence. [...] After thirteen years of preliminary
discussions the College Royal opened in 1530." (Pfeiffer)
PMM 60; Adams B-3093 |
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7. Burley, Walter. (ca.1275-ca.1345); Aristotle.
(384-322 B.C.); Porphyry. (ca. 232-305 A.D.)
Expositio in artem veterem Porphyrii et
Aristotelis. [including the text Isagogue by Porphyry; Praedicamenta
by Aristotle; Liber Sex Principiorum by Gilbert Porretanus;
and Aristotle’s Peri Hermeneias].
Venice: Bernardus Stagninus de Tridino, 1485
Folio, 11.86 x 7.66 in. a-g8, h6, i-o8, p6, q4 (lacking blank
leaves a1 and q4).
SOLD
This copy is bound in eighteenth-century stiff vellum in very
good condition with a short split to the top, rear joint. Internally,
this copy is in good condition with a wide lower margin. There
is a light dampstain in the upper, outer margin of the volume.
A contemporary owner has annotated and supplied corrections
in this copy. A number of these manuscript additions are extensive,
occupying three margins. There are also a few curious ciphers.
Walter Burley's commentary on the logical works of Aristotle
and Porphyry, here printed together with: 1. Porphyry’s
Isagogue, his Introduction to the Praedicamenta (Categories)
of Aristotle; 2. the Aristotelian text of the Praedicamenta;
3. Gilbert de la Porre’s Libri Sex Principorum, a commentary
on the last six books of the Categories; and 4. the Aristotelian
text of the Peri Hermeneias (On Interpretation).
"Active in the first half of the fourteenth century, Burley
received his arts degree from Oxford before 1301 and his doctorate
in theology from Paris before 1324. A clear and prolific writer,
Burley has been labeled an averroist and a realist because of
his arguments against Ockham, but it would perhaps be more accurate
to see him as a moderate Aristotelian whose intellectual activity
coincided with the transition between the approaches of Thomas
Aquinas and Duns Scotus on the one hand and those of William
of Ockham and the Oxford Calculators on the other." (Encyclopedia
of Philosophy)
"Burley wrote commentaries on all of the Aristotelian logical
books, including Porphyry's Isagogue and the Liber de Sex principiis
ascribed to Gilbert de la Porre, apparently formulating an initial
version of his comments during his earlier Oxford period. Many
of the commentaries were later revised, the final version of
his complete Expositio super veterem Artem being written only
in 1337." (DSB)
"The late ancient philosopher Porphyry was one of the founders
of Neoplatonism. He edited the teachings of Plotinus into the
form in which they are now known, clarified them with insights
of his own and established them in the thought of his time.
But, in reaction to Plotinus, he also advanced the cause of
Aristotle's philosophical logic. Indeed, Porphyry is responsible
for the resurgence of interest in Aristotle, which continued
into the Middle Ages and beyond. Because of Porphyry, later
Greek philosophy recovered both its Platonic and its Aristotelian
roots."(Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
Goff B1309; Hain 4130; IGI 2260; GW 5768; Mead, Huntington 2764;
Not in BMC. ISTC records only two copies of this edition in
the U.S.: Huntington and UCal Berkeley. |
8. Calepinus, Ambrosius. (1435-1510).
Ambrosius Calepinus Bergomates: professor
devotus ordinis eremitarum sancti Augustini: Dictionum latinarum
e greco pariter dirivantiu[m]: ear[n]de[m]que interpretationu[m]
collector studiosissimus: o[l]imque Cornucopi[a]e vocabuloru[m]
insertor[um] sagacissimus: ita ut in unu[m] coegit volumen Noniu[m]
marcellu[m] Festu[m] Pompeiu[m]. M. Varrone[m], Pedianum, Serviu[m],
Donatu[m], Vallensemque: et Suid[a]e plurimu[m] Argivo functus
officio litterariaque pal[a]estra.
Basel: Adam Petri for Leonhard Altanse in Vienna, 18 March 1512.
Folio, 12 x 8.45 in. a-z8, A-y8, Z10.
SOLD
This copy is bound in contemporary alum-tawed pigskin over wooden
boards, lacking clasps and catchplates; the binding is quite
worn and a number of wormholes speckle the boards. Internally,
the leaves are clean and bright with a few minor marginal dampstains.
A number of pin-prick wormholes affect the first 8 and the last
6 signatures, not impairing legibility. Two or three of the
more determined worms penetrated further into the volume. The
title page, printed in red and black, is framed by an attractive
ornamental border; there are two ownership inscriptions in the
blank margins. Woodcut initials appear throughout; numerous
passages are printed in Greek.
Ambrogio Calepino entered the order of the Augustinian Hermits
in 1458 and was ordained in 1466. His dictionary was the chief
source for Robert Estienne’s Latin Dictionary.
The most important product of Calepino’s study was his
Latin dictionary, first published in 1502 at Reggio although
it contains many gaps, the dictionary was an attempt to return
to pure, classical Latin and was inspired by the Elegantiae
of Lorenzo Valla and the Cornucopia of Niccol Perotti. It proved
immensely successful. Erasmus spoke highly of Calepino’s
dictionary. (Contemporaries of Erasmus)
Not in Adams; Index Aureliensis 129.375. |
|
9. Caracciolus, Robertus, de Licio. (1425-1495)
Sermones de laudibus sanctorum.
Basel: Nicolau Kesler, 26 February 1490.
SOLD
Folio, 11.5 x 8 in.
a10, b-c6, d-i8.6, k6, l8, m6, n8-1; A-B6, C-F8.6, G6, H8, I-K6,
L8, M-P6. 189 leaves; complete.
This work, first printed in Naples in 1489, went through ten
editions in the two year period from 1489 to 1490. This volume,
the fourth edition printed in Germany, is bound in seventeenth
century tooled pigskin over wooden boards and has been rebacked
in modern pigskin. The binding exhibits worming and lacks clasps.
Internally, there is light dampstaining that sporadically affects
the text and minor worming throughout. The initial letter of
each sermon has been supplied in Lombardic script in red and
blue. There are numerous annotations in differing hands throughtout
the text, some appear to be late fifteenth or early sixteenth
century, others date from the mid to late seventeenth century.
Some of the marginal annotations have been slightly shaved by
the binder.
One of the most celebrated Italian preachers of the fifteenth
century, [‘the prince of preachers,’ ‘the second
Paul’] Roberto Caracciolo, was born in Lecce and received
his early education there in the monastery of the Franciscan
Conventuals. His first successes as a preacher took place in
1448 in Perugia, where he organized processions of devout followers
clad in white, prayers against the plague, and public reconciliations
of rival parties. Caracciolo was influential in the curia, and
on 30 May 1454 a bull of Nicholas V granted him practically
full freedom of movement. In his Ecclesiastes Erasmus gave several
anecdotes from the life of Caracciolo which depicted the friar
as shrewd and witty but also vainglorious and self-centered.”
(Contemporaries of Erasmus Vol. I, page 265)
Goff C-148; BMC III, 769; GW 6057; Hain 4485. |
|
10. Chrysostomus, Johannes, Saint. (ca.
347-407 A.D.); trans. Lilius Tifernas.
Sermones de patientia in Job et de poenitentia.
Nuremburg: [Johann Sensenschmidt], 14 November, 1471.
Folio, 12.5 x 8.25 in. a10, b-c8, d10, e12, f10, g12. 69 of
70 leaves; initial blank leaf present, lacking the final blank
leaf.
$12,000
Second edition; the first folio edition. The fore-edges of this
copy were damaged by damp and trimmed away at some point, the
missing portions replaced throughout. Many leaves have also
been repaired with a yellowish-tinged gummed paper tape, whose
yellowing has not affected the leaves themselves, and which
could be easily lifted by a qualified paper restorer. The text
itself is otherwise free of defects, and the paper is clean
and in good condition. The type, because this is such an early
imprint, has characteristics of the earliest typefaces used
in printing. Capitals in the text have all been touched in yellow
throughout, and the first leaf contains two lovely illuminated
initials, and four incipit lines done completely in red by the
rubricator. The initials are each done in two colors, the larger
one in red and green, the smaller in red and blue. The rubricator
has also added the name of the library of original ownership
in red at the foot of the first page of text. The binding is
modern quarter parchment and corners with marbled paper boards,
in excellent condition.
“The first printer at Nuremberg, Johann Sensenschmidt,
who began work in or before 1470, after printing numerous books
anonymously, put his own name into the colophon of the Margarita
poetica of Albertus de Eyb in December, 1472.” (BMC)
The translator of these two sermons, Lilius Tifernas, “was
born around 1417 and died in 1486 at the age of 69; he is mentioned
as ‘notarius et iudex ordinarius’ in a document of
1437. According to Raffaele Maffei, he lived for some time in
Constantinople, presumably to perfect his knowledge of Greek.
In 1443 he was at the court of Pope Eugene IV in Rome and between
1452 and 1463 he held a public appointment as lecturer on poetry
in Volterra, where Maffei studied with him. In 1472 he is mentioned
as a professor of rhetoric at the University of Perugia. (CTC
Vol. VII p.160) In addition to these sermons, Tifernas also
translated works by Philo Judaeus, pseudo-Aristotle, Lucian,
and Xenophon.
“The success of Chrysostom’s preaching is chiefly
due to his great natural facility of speech, which was extraordinary
even to Greeks, to the abundance of his thoughts as well as
the popular way of presenting and illustrating them, and, last,
but not least, the wholehearted earnestness and conviction with
which he delivered the message which he felt had been given
to him.” (CE)
Goff J-305; BMC II 405; Hain 5026*; Polain (B) 2264; Proctor
1945; IGI 5207. |
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11. Cicero, Marcus Tullius. (106-43 B.C.)
Tulius De Oratore Cum Commento. Et Alia
Opera.
[Nuremberg:] Anton Koberger 26 March, 1497.
Folio, 11 x 7.38 in. A8, b-z6, A-G6, H8. 190 leaves; the last
blank is present.
$7,500
The first leaf is heavily waterstained; the contents are wormed
and waterstained throughout. Two attractive, large (seven-line)
red and blue initials occur in the first few signatures, and
paragraph marks have been added in red throughout. There are
some early marginal notes and some charming knot-work designs.
This copy is bound in seventeenth-century paneled sheepskin
which has been securely rebacked. A chessboard has been drawn
inside the back cover, on the pastedown. This incunabulum was
part of a large English library in the seventeenth-century and
although the specific marks of ownership have been removed,
there is other trace evidence: a manuscript library number appears
on the title-page and there are English inscriptions, dating
from the time of the binding.
This edition of Cicero’s rhetorical works was edited by
Omnibonus Leonicenus (Ognibene da Lonigo) and includes his commentary.
The volume opens with Leonicenus’ Oratio de Laudibus Eloquentiae;
De Oratore; De perfecto oratore; Topica; Partitiones oratoriae;
Brutus sive De Claris Oratoribus; De Optimo genere Oratorum
and Latin translations of Demosthenes’ On the Crown and
Aeschines’ Against Ctesiphon.
“The three books De Oratore are in the form of a dialogue
purporting to have taken place in 91 B.C. The first book deals
with the necessary preliminary studies; the second, with the
treatment of the subject matter (with a digression on the subject
of wit), and the third, with diction ad delivery. In their varied
contents and in their admirable style, these three books rank
among the orator's most finished productions. They were followed
in 46 by Brutus’ De Claris Oratoribus, a dialogue on the
history of Roman eloquence, with a retrospect of the author's
rhetorical studies; and the Orator, an essay on the ideal orator,
with a critique on the Roman Atticists, and an excursus on rhythm.
In the brief disquisition De Optimo Genere Oratorum, written
about the same time as a preface to the translation of the speeches
of Aeschines and Demosthenes’ On the Crown, the perfect
type of an Attic orator is found in Demosthenes. The same date
may be assigned to the catechism of rhetoric called the Partitiones
oratoriae. The Topica was written in the Summer of 44, during
a voyage from Velia to Regium. The author had no books about
him at the time, but he professes to have written out from memory
a work which he describes as Topica Aristotelea. It has, however,
practically nothing in common with Aristotle’s Topics but
is mainly founded on Aristotle’s Rhetoric." (Sandys’
Companion to Latin Studies)
Goff C-665; BMC II, 443; GW 6753; Hain (Add) 5111*; Pell 3675;
Polain (B) 1091; Proctor 2114; Oates 1095; IGI 2952; Not in
Walsh. |
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