Plutarch

Vitae parallelae illustrium virorum. Venice: Nicolaus Jenson, 2 January 1478/9



2 volumes, folio (I: 16 x 9 3/4 in.; 406 x 248 mm, II: 16 x 10 1/4 in.; 406 x 260 mm). collation: I: a^{10-1, b12, c–m10, n8, o–x10, y–z, &8=233 leaves; II: A12-2, B–E10, F–N8.10, oo–pp8, Q–Y10, Z8, &&10=226 leaves, type 1:115(111)R, 50 lines, 4-, 9-, 10-, 11- and 12-line initial spaces, most with printed guide letters, in vol. I :12-line white vine initial "Q" illuminated in gold and full color with marginal extensions, in vol. II: 29 white vine initials illuminated in gold and full color including two with profile portraits of Lucius Lucullus and Nicias; lacking initial blank leaves in each volume, contemporary marginalia erased or washed out occasionally touching text which is replaced or strengthened in pen-and-ink, first leaf in vol. 2 expertly remargined, tiny worm hole touching a few letters. Eighteenth century Italian calf, gilt roll-tooled frame, marbled edges; joints cracking, a few scrapes and stains.}

Gordon A. Block Jr. (his sale, Sotheby Parke Bernet, 29 June 1974, lot 167) — Abel Berland (bookplate, his sale, Christie's New York, 9 October 2001, lot 433) — Michael Sharpe (bookplate)

Goff P-832; HC 13127; Proctor 4113; BMC V, 178

Vitae parallelae illustrium virorum. Venice: Nicolaus Jenson, 2 January 1478/9 2 volumes, folio (I: 16 x 9 3/4 in.; 406 x 248 mm, II: 16 x 10 1/4 in.; 406 x 260 mm). collation: I: a10-1, b12, c–m10, n8, o–x10, y–z, &8=233 leaves; II: A12-2, B–E10, F–N8.10, oo–pp8, Q–Y10, Z8, &&10=226 leaves, type 1:115(111)R, 50 lines, 4-, 9-, 10-, 11- and 12-line initial spaces, most with printed guide letters, in vol. I :12-line white vine initial "Q" illuminated in gold and full color with marginal extensions, in vol. II: 29 white vine initials illuminated in gold and full color including two with profile portraits of Lucius Lucullus and Nicias; lacking initial blank leaves in each volume, contemporary marginalia erased or washed out occasionally touching text which is replaced or strengthened in pen-and-ink, first leaf in vol. 2 expertly remargined, tiny worm hole touching a few letters. Eighteenth century Italian calf, gilt roll-tooled frame, marbled edges; joints cracking, a few scrapes and stains.
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Third edition, and the first printed by Jenson, of Plutarch's Lives.

The early editions of Plutarch were based on a compilation of translations commissioned in the 1450s and early 1460s by the Florentine stationer Vespasiano da Bisticci. The main translators were Donatus Acciaiolus (1428–1478), Guarinus Veronensis (1374–1460), Leonardus Brunus Aretinus (1370–1444), Antonius Tudertinus, and Lapus Florentinus (c. 1406–1436). The collection also includes miscellaneous other ancient biographies including Cornelius Nepos's life of Atticus, and concluded with a life of Charlemagne by Acciaiolus. Jenson's edition was apparently based on a different manuscript from Ulrich Han's editio princeps, Rome, ca. 1471 (Goff P-830, source of the second edition, Strassburg, R-Printer, c. 1473, Goff P-831). The translators are identified differently for five of the lives and Jenson omitted the life of Virgil. Jenson's colophon must be dated by the Venetian custom so that 2 January 1478 [Venetian, year beginning 1 March] is to be interpreted as 2 January 1479 [Julian].

These two volumes were brought together in the Eighteenth century and are beautifully matched, of similar size with similar illumination.