Bible. Greek. Παντα τα κατ'εξοχην καλουμενα Βιβλια θειας δηλαδη γραφης παλαιας τε, και νεας. Sacrae Scripturae veteris, novaeque omnia. (Venice: in the house of Aldo and Andrea Torresano, February 1518)
First published edition of the Old Testament in Greek (Septuagint) and second edition of the Greek New Testament. The publication, coming three years after Aldo’s death, nonetheless had a connection to Aldo himself. In July 1501 Aldo had written ambitiously to Conrad Celtes that he contemplated printing a trilingual Bible of Hebrew, Greek, and Latin; and in 1507 Erasmus had written to Aldo expressing some surprise that his Greek program had not yet taken in the New Testament.
The Septuagint had already been printed at Alcalà de Henares as a major component of the Complutensian Polyglot, but the patron of that edition, Archbishop Cisneros, had died in the fall of 1517, and the project fell into abeyance. The Alcalà edition did not begin to be distributed until the spring of 1520, at the directive of Pope Leo X. The New Testament of the Aldine edition was dedicated to Erasmus, whose Greek-Latin edition, Basel 1516, was the princeps. Different components of the Aldine Bible vary considerably in layout, suggesting the influence of different manuscript exemplars. The Octateuch and books of Kings divide the books according to the traditional “Paris” chapters of Latin Bibles, after which some books are divided into numbered paragraphs, and some printed continuously, without textual subdivisions.
A tall and crisp copy.
Super-Chancery folio (328 x 225 mm). Greek type, 55 lines plus headline. collation:*4 aα-zψ8 &ω8 aaαα4 bbββ-ccγγ8 ddδδ10 eeεε-qqππ8 rrρρ10 ssςς-ttττ8 uuυυ6 xxφφ-zzψψ8 &&ωω8 aaaααα-bbbβββ8 cccγγγ4 dddδδδ-gggηηη8 hhhθθθ10: 448 leaves. Title-page and headings printed in red, 3-line initial spaces with printed guides, woodcut Aldine device on title- page (in red) and on final verso (otherwise blank), woodcut initials and headpieces, nearly all printed in red (except for the Epistles), with blank leaves aaαα4, ddδδ10 and hhhθθθ9, traces of blind printing towards foot of title-page. (Title-page slightly rubbed with repair on verso, occasional light damp-staining or foxing.)
binding: Seventeenth-century vellum (333 x 232 mm), blue edges, stubs from four pairs of ties, a few deckle edges, in modern brown buckram drop-backed box. (Binding somewhat rubbed and slightly soiled, spine defective, edges rubbed.)
acquisition: Purchased from Gilhofer & Ranschburg, Luzern, 1986. references: UCLA 163; Cataldi Palau 34; Darlow & Moule 4594; Edit16 61055; Renouard 84/8
Bible. Greek. Παντα τα κατ'εξοχην καλουμενα Βιβλια θειας δηλαδη γραφης παλαιας τε, και νεας. Sacrae Scripturae veteris, novaeque omnia. (Venice: in the house of Aldo and Andrea Torresano, February 1518)
First published edition of the Old Testament in Greek (Septuagint) and second edition of the Greek New Testament. The publication, coming three years after Aldo’s death, nonetheless had a connection to Aldo himself. In July 1501 Aldo had written ambitiously to Conrad Celtes that he contemplated printing a trilingual Bible of Hebrew, Greek, and Latin; and in 1507 Erasmus had written to Aldo expressing some surprise that his Greek program had not yet taken in the New Testament.
The Septuagint had already been printed at Alcalà de Henares as a major component of the Complutensian Polyglot, but the patron of that edition, Archbishop Cisneros, had died in the fall of 1517, and the project fell into abeyance. The Alcalà edition did not begin to be distributed until the spring of 1520, at the directive of Pope Leo X. The New Testament of the Aldine edition was dedicated to Erasmus, whose Greek-Latin edition, Basel 1516, was the princeps. Different components of the Aldine Bible vary considerably in layout, suggesting the influence of different manuscript exemplars. The Octateuch and books of Kings divide the books according to the traditional “Paris” chapters of Latin Bibles, after which some books are divided into numbered paragraphs, and some printed continuously, without textual subdivisions.
A tall and crisp copy.
Super-Chancery folio (328 x 225 mm). Greek type, 55 lines plus headline. collation:*4 aα-zψ8 &ω8 aaαα4 bbββ-ccγγ8 ddδδ10 eeεε-qqππ8 rrρρ10 ssςς-ttττ8 uuυυ6 xxφφ-zzψψ8 &&ωω8 aaaααα-bbbβββ8 cccγγγ4 dddδδδ-gggηηη8 hhhθθθ10: 448 leaves. Title-page and headings printed in red, 3-line initial spaces with printed guides, woodcut Aldine device on title- page (in red) and on final verso (otherwise blank), woodcut initials and headpieces, nearly all printed in red (except for the Epistles), with blank leaves aaαα4, ddδδ10 and hhhθθθ9, traces of blind printing towards foot of title-page. (Title-page slightly rubbed with repair on verso, occasional light damp-staining or foxing.)
binding: Seventeenth-century vellum (333 x 232 mm), blue edges, stubs from four pairs of ties, a few deckle edges, in modern brown buckram drop-backed box. (Binding somewhat rubbed and slightly soiled, spine defective, edges rubbed.)
acquisition: Purchased from Gilhofer & Ranschburg, Luzern, 1986. references: UCLA 163; Cataldi Palau 34; Darlow & Moule 4594; Edit16 61055; Renouard 84/8
.jpg?height=400 "Source: Christie's")
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
