Beschreibung:

January [not before 18 March] 1502 STEPHEN of Byzantium (fl. 2nd half 5th century). De urbibus , Gk. Abridgement by Hermolaos of Constantinople (6th century). Ed. Aldo Manuzio. Super-chancery 2° (319 x 212mm). Collation: A-E G-L 8 (A1 r title in Gk. and Lat., A1 v dedication dated from Venice xv. cal. Apriles M.Dii , A2 r -L8 r text, quire F omitted by the publisher to indicate a break in his manuscript exemplar at the letter kappa, L8 r colophon Venetiis apud Aldum Romanum mense Ianuario MDII & cum Privilegio ut in aliis , quire register and note to the reader encouraging him to supply the missing section if he is fortunate enough to discover the text, L8 v blank). 80 leaves. Greek type 3:84 (text), roman 10:82 (title) and 115 (dedication). 55 lines, double column. (Tear in B6 mended.) PREFACE: In his dedicatory letter to Giovanni Taberio (fl. late 15th and early 16th century) Aldus expresses his satisfaction about the number of students at Brescia who take Greek under Taberio. What he aimed for when he started his Greek publishing programme, is now coming to pass. Even in this time of war, and not only in Italy, but also in France, Hungary, Britain and Spain, young and old are learning Greek. It makes all his labour and expense easier to bear. At Taberio's request, Aldus has been pleased to send him Greek books for his pupils, and now he dedicates to him Stephanus's work on cities, which is useful and even necessary for reading the historians and the poets. However, he much regrets that Stephanus's integral text has not been preserved. He therefore prints the alphabetical epitome that Hermolaus the grammarian had compiled for the emperor Justinian, from which part of the section K is missing. Taberio may shortly expect Pollux, Thucydides, Xenophon and others. BINDING: crushed green morocco, gilt lettering on spine, Seillière arms and "Bibliothèque de Mello" within a wreath in centre of the covers, turn-ins with quintuple gilt fillets, marbled endpapers, edges gilt, signed inside front cover by Hardy. PROVENANCE: Camillo Capilupi the younger (?), author of Lo stratagema di Carlo IX. Re di Francia contro gli Ugonotti rebelli di Dio 1572 (arguing the premeditation of the Saint-Bartholomew Massacre), inscribed by Antoine-Auguste Renouard (1765-1853) -- presumably through a slip of the pen, the first syllables of the name being homophonous -- Les notes sont de la main de Camillo Lupi. J'en ai la certitude . [We owe this identification to Nicolas Barker.] Numerous notes by Lupi or Capilupi in a bold humanistic hand (a few shaved), written in red and brown ink, on all margins and between the columns, adding citations throughout of Greek and Latin authors and correcting text in a few places; autograph manuscripts by Capilupi survive at the Bibliothèque nationale, and Renouard would have been familiar with them. Baron Achille-Florentin Seillière (1813-73), sales held in London 1887 and Paris 1890, 1893. EDITIO PRINCEPS of a recondite early Byzantine gazetteer of ancient geography. Aldus says in his preface that he began printing in the first year of war in Italy, i.e. Charles VIII's invasion of 1494, which confirms the date of his earliest known production (lot 1). LARGE, FINE ASSOCIATION COPY; Capilupi had been taught Greek by Aulus Janus Parrhasius of Cosenza (1470-1534), who searched for manuscripts in the abbey at Bobbio and whose own library is extant (Naples, Biblioteca Nazionale). Isaac 12773; Adams S-1717; Hoffmann III, 441; Dionisotti & Orlandi XXXII; Lowry pp. 115, 248-49; Murphy 41; Laurenziana 56; Fletcher pp. 40, 140; R 38:15