Aeschylus and Musaeus, Venice, Aldus, 1517-1518, contemporary Bolognese morocco binding

Aeschylus and Musaeus Grammaticus. Αισχυλου τραγωδιαι εξ... Aeschyli Tragoediae sex. (Venice: in the house of Aldo and Andrea Torresano, February 1518) [bound with:]

Ποιηματιον τα καθ'Ηρω και Λεανδρον... Musaei opusculum de Herone & Leandro. Orphei argonautica. Eiusdem hymni. Orpheus de lapidibus. (Venice: in the house of Aldo Manuzio and Andrea Torresano, November 1517)

A reprint of Aldo’s ca. 1497 quarto edition of Musaeus, Hero et Leander (Goff M-880), which included an interleaved Latin translation by Marcus Musurus. Two crude woodcuts in the 1517 edition are reduced modifications of those in Aldo’s first printing. Of the added Orphic texts, the Argonautica and Hymni had already been printed by Benedictus Ricardinus and Filippo Giunta in Florence, 19 September 1500 (Goff O-103); the De lapidibus, on the virtues of various gems, is first printed here.

The design of the panel is close to that on a copy of Cassola's Madrigals, Venice, 1545, bound in Bologna (De Marinis, II, no.1394ter; illustrated in A. Hobson, Humanists and Bookbinders, p.164). The panel stamp (in two parts) also appears on bindings by the Pflug and Ebeleben Binder and bindings made for Marcantonio Totila and Gerhard Aich. It is likely that the same panel was used by different workshops (see A. Hobson and L. Quaquarelli, Legature bolognesi del rinascimento, 1999, p.29 and plate 40; very similar stamps appear on plates 42-46).

2 works in one volume, 8vo (162 x 95 mm). Greek and roman type, 30 lines. collation: Musaeus: a-k⁸: 80 leaves, foliated 1-

80. Woodcut Aldine device on title-page and final verso, two woodcuts in Musaeus.

binding: Bolognese brown morocco (168 x 100 mm), dated to ca. 1540, gilt arabesque panel stamp, gilt fillet decoration on raised bands on spine, gilt edges, stubs from four pairs of ties. (Text block starting to split between title-page and following leaf. Corners, edges and spine repaired, tooling on covers somewhat flattened and renewed, joints splitting.)

provenance: Arthur Atherley (1772-1844), armorial bookplate — George John Warren (1803-1866), 5th baron Vernon, bookplate, sale of books from the library of Sudbury Hall, Derbyshire, Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, 10 June 1918, lot 5 ("XVIth cent. Lyonese binding of brown morocco", not mentioning Musaeus, but giving the imprint date as 1517). acquisition: Purchased from Goodspeed's Book Shop, Boston, 1991. references: UCLA 159 (Musaeus); Cataldi Palau 33 & 27; Edit16 328 & 37563; Renouard 85/9 & 81/8