Month: November 2015

August 21, 2011

IMPORTANT AND RARE WORKS ON ROMAN LAW BY TWO FAMOUS FRENCH JURISTS

PRINTED 1536-1576: TWO SEPARATE BOOKS BOUND in ONE

[I] Caballinus de Cingulo, Gasparus [Pseud.] DuMoulin, Charles. De eo quod interest tractatus ad theoricam praximque utilissimus : Accessit brevis et analytica discussio de inofficiosis testamentis, donationibus et dotibus : Discutitur etiam quaestio una ad materiam … l. si unquam C. de reuo. dona. spectans, de donatione in contractu matrimonii celebtrata Coloniae Agripp : Jo. Gymnic, 1576. [16], 444 p

Bound with…

[II] Stephani de Phedericis Brixiensis, De Interpretatione Iuris, Commentarii IIII. iam recens studiosis restituti, & à mendis quantum fieri potuit, repurgati. Stephanus de PHEDERICIS. De Interpretatione Iuris, Commentarii IIII. Lyons: Jean Barbous, alias le Normand, for Jean Frellon, 1536. 8°. Final blank. Woodcut device on title, woodcut initials. (Worming to lower blank margins of M8 to the end, some old staining.) 8vo., [8]., 201, [1]., [10], Baudrier V,p.172. Attractive binding of limp decorated vellum. First t.p. with inner gutter re-margined. first few lvs and last index lvs with minor dampstaining, some light browning, late 17th century annotations, some occasional lower marginal dampstaining. Overall, an attractive volume.

Two works on Roman laws. While Dumoulin is certainly the more famous French jurist, the second 1536 volume is especially rare and was cited by Hugo Grotius. “Dumoulin gained his great reputation, being regarded by his contemporaries as the prince of jurisconsults. His remarkable erudition and breadth of view had a considerable effect on the subsequent development of French law. He was a bitter enemy of feudalism, which he attacked in his Defendis (1539)” [Wikipedia]

 

posted in: Rare Books

August 21, 2011

PRINTED BY PAULUS MANUTIUS, the great Venetian printer and humanist

PRINTED 1554: FAMOUS COMPENDIUM OF ANCIENT MEDICAL SOURCES- SOME ONLY FOUND IN ORIBASIUS

WITH THE SPLENDID ALDINE DOLPHIN AND ANCHOR

The Book:

Oribasius; Giovanni Battista Rasario; Manuzio family.. Oribasii Sardiani Synopseos ad Eustathium filium libri novem : quibus tota medicina in compendium redacta continetur. Venetiis : Apud Paulum Manutium, Aldi filium, 1554. Colophon: Venetiis, Apvd Pavlvm Manvtivm, Aldi filivm, M. D. LIIII. Aldine device on t.p. and verso of final leaf. COMPLETE. 216 leaves ; 16 cm. References: Adams O 272; Renouard 159, 7; Durling 3411; Wellcome I, 4648; Handome copy in limp vellum, light spotting, minor inner marginal stain to last leaves, old discoloration of removed ex-libris on upper front pasetdown. FIRST LATIN EDITION. Rare in a contemporary binding in such nice condition; a similar copy sold Reiss & Sohn 2006 EURO 1624.00 [SOLD]

“Oribasius or Oreibasius (Greek: Ορειβάσιος) (c. 320–400) was a Greek medical writer and the personal physician of the Roman emperorJulian the Apostate. He studied at Alexandria under physician Zeno of Cyprus[1] before joining Julian’s retinue. He was involved in Julian’s coronation in 361, and remained with the emperor until Julian’s death in 363. In the wake of this event, Oribasius was banished to foreign courts for a time, but was later recalled by the emperor Valens. Oribasius’s major works, written at the behest of Julian, are two collections of excerpts from the writings of earlier medical scholars, a collection of excerpts from Galen and the Collectiones, a massive compilation of excerpts from other medical writers of the ancient world. The first of these works is entirely lost, and only 25 of the 70 (or 72) books of the Collectiones survive. This work preserves a number of excerpts from older writers whose writings have otherwise been lost, and has thus been valuable to modern scholars. The earliest known description of a string figure, presented as the surgical sling Plinthios Brokhos by Greek physician Heraklas, is among the preserved material” [Worldcat]

posted in: Rare Books

August 21, 2011

PRINTED 1502: HANDSOME FIRST ALDINE EDITION OF STATIUS WITH THE ORTHOGRAPHIA

WITH THE FAMOUS ANCHOR AND DOLPHIN

A major character in the Purgatory section of Dante’s epic poem The Divine Comedy

[P Papinius Statius; Aldo Manuzio; Markos Mousouros; Giovanni Gioviano Pontano] STATIUS. [Opere.] Venice: Aldus, 1502. 3 parts, including ‘Orthographia et Flexus Dictionum Graecarum’, in one volume. Imprint from colophon. Colophon: Venetiis in aedibus Aldi. mense augusto M, DII. Includes the “Orthographia” ([40] leaves) which precedes the main work and has title: Orthographia et flexus dictionum graecarum omnium apud Statium cum accentib. et generib. ex variis utriusque linguae autorib. Printer’s device on leaf. Collation: a-e8, a-z8,A-F8, G4, A-B8, C4. [41]. [296] leaves ; 8vo., 15 cm. Dedicatory letters by Aldus Manutius to Ioannes Pontanus at beginning of the Sylvae; to Marcus Musurus at beginning of the Orthographia. 19th century full calf, hinges weak with front hinge starting, gilt dentelles, light browing to Orthographia t.p., some light stains, generally an attractive copy internally. BMC, Vol 24, p. 116 (872); Renouard, p. 35, No 7; Isaac 12781; Adams S-1670

This is the FIRST ALDINE EDITION of Publius Papinius Statius (ca. 45, Naples – ca. 96 AD, Naples), the ” Roman poet of the 1st century CE (Silver Age of Latin literature). Besides his poetry in Latin, which include an epic poem, the Thebaid, a collection of occasional poetry, the Silvae, and the unfinished epic, the Achilleid, he is best known for his appearance as a major character in the Purgatory section of Dante’s epic poem The Divine Comedy.” The Orthographia which opens the book, and is sometimes absent or bound the end, is a etymological dictionary of the Greek words used by Statius.

 

posted in: Uncategorized

August 21, 2011

PRINTED 1583: RARE ERASMUS BOOK AND VELLUM BINDING

He who cries “crocodile tears”, or will “call a spade a spade”,

or needs to “start from scratch”

ORIGINAL LIMP VELLUM RETAINING STRING TIES

The Book:

[Desiderius Erasmus;] Epitome adagiorvm D. Erasmi Roterodami : in locos digesta commvnes : singulari fide recognita, & multis aucta locis, in quibus antea manca videbatur : huic adiecta proximè, pars altera auctorum sane multorum, qui prouerbia post Erasmum ediderunt. Parisiis : Apud Ægidium Beys, sub signo Lilij albi, via Iacobæa, 1583.   8 vo., 579 pgs + index; evidently this was expanded with a supplemental volume entitled Adagiorvm Omnivm Qvæ A Ivnio, Cæterisqve, Post Erasmi Chiliadas, in lucem prodierunt, Epitome. Cui acce[ss]ere recens Proverbiorvm Collectanea, nunquam antehac edita … Pars Altera; not present here; text block very partially detached, loss to first blank, rubbing to t.p., some staining,  pages 381-4 with partial upper loss,  partial loss to last blank,  some dampstaining, minor inner marginal worming, 289 -329 with thin line upper text wormhole with minor loss; retains original string ties.  [SOLD]

The Adagium is an annotated collection of Greek and Latin adages, compiled during the Renaissance by Erasmus, the famous Dutch humanist. According to Speroni (1964, p. 1), Adagia is one of “the most monumental collections of […] adagia ever assembled”.  The Adages formed a core part of Renaissance education and had a profound impact on literary style and development.  It is, perhaps next to Shakespeare and the King James Bible, the text that provided the greatest number of commonplace sayings in the English language.

Many of the adages have become commonplace in our everyday language, and we owe our use of them to Erasmus. Among these are: ‘make haste slowly’, ‘one step at a time,’ ‘to be in the same boat’ etc…

 

posted in: Rare Books