Herodotus. Libri novem. Aldus, Venice, 1502. nineteenth-century calf gilt

HERODOTUS

Λογοι εννεα, οιπερ επικα λουνται Μουσαι... Libri novem quibus Musarum indita sunt nomina... Venice: Aldus (in the house of Aldus, September 1502)

Super-Chancery folio (319 x 205mm.), woodcut Aldine device on title-page and final verso, text in Greek, French early nineteenth-century calf tooled in gilt and blind, spine gilt in compartments, gilt edges, slipcase, some early annotations, occasional light staining from washing of some annotations, bookplate removed from inside front cover

EDITIO PRINCEPS. A TALL AND CRISP COPY. Herodotus's history of the Persian Wars documents the rise of the Persian Empire and its subsequent clashes with the city states of Greece in the fifth century BC, interspersing his narrative with geographical and ethnographical details. In the preface, addressed to the elderly scholar and editor Giovanni Calfurnio, Aldus defends Herodotus's usefulness and accuracy from earlier detractors such as Cicero and Petrarca who believed that Herodotus had invented parts of his narrative.

LITERATURE:

Aldo Manuzio tipografo 64; Edit16 22655; Renouard 1502/8; UCLA 62