Plato

2 volumes in one, Super-Chancery folio (307 x 192mm.), woodcut Aldine device on title-page and final verso, blank leaf (π2) at end of preliminaries, with blank leaf ii4, early marginal annotations, modern vellum with yapp edges, in buckram slipcase, a few deckle edges, small repair to EE1 because of corrosive ink, last leaf torn and repaired and remargined at head and in gutter

three small armorial ink-stamps on title-page (one depicting an arm holding a guisarme); J.H. Anderhub, bookplate dated 1937; bought from Gilhofer on 24 January 1978 for 12,000 CHF, pencil note on inside rear cover

Aldo Manuzio Tipografo 116; Censimento 16 CNCE 37450; Renouard 62/4; Texas 101; UCLA 114

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

A TALL COPY OF THE EDITIO PRINCEPS, A CORNERSTONE OF ALDUS'S PROGRAMME OF GREEK PUBLICATIONS, containing all the works ascribed to Plato along with the biography by Diogenes Laertius and a paraphrase of Timaeus into the Doric dialect. A Latin translation by Marsilio Ficino had appeared in Florence in 1484.

Aldus had been working towards publication of Plato's original Greek text since at least 1497. He prepared the text, probably from manuscripts in Bessarion's library, along with Marcus Musurus, who wrote a lengthy dedication to the newly-elected Florentine pope, Leo X: "Musurus's Greek elegiac poem has been considered one of the finest written since the decline of Classical civilization: and Aldus's Latin letter is one of the most comprehensive statements of the humanist position to be found outside Erasmus" (M. Lowry, The World of Aldus Manutius (1979), p.205). Shortly afterwards Leo's new apostolic secretary, Pietro Bembo, engaged the Cretan Musurus to be the first professor at the newly-founded Greek College in Rome, though the associated press was run by Aldus's old rival in Greek printing, Zacharias Callierges (see lot 65).