Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae, Venice, Aldus, 1514, Roman alla greca binding

Athenaeus Naucratita. Αθηναιου Δειπνοσοφιστου την πολυμαθεσατην πραγματειαν νυν εξεστι σοι... (Venice: Aldo Manuzio & Andrea Torresano, August 1514)

A fine copy of the edition princeps in a contemporary Roman alla greca binding.

Antonio Nardi studied law in Pisa and came into contact with Galileian scholars there; he subsequently went to Rome and was friends with Evangelista Torricelli and wrote in support of Galileo's Dialogo of 1632. He also corresponded with Galileo and other scholars such as Marin Mersenne, though none of his own work (predominantly mathematical) was published in his lifetime.

The binding is most likely to be Roman; the tool used for the border appears on bindings elsewhere in Italy, but Anthony Hobson opines that it was most used in Rome during the pontificates of Leo X and Clement VII (Humanists and Bookbinders, p.90).

Super-Chancery folio (332 x 210 mm). Greek type, 54 lines plus two headlines. collation: A-B¹⁰ a-s⁸ t⁴ (B10 blank): 168 leaves. Woodcut Aldine device on title-page and final verso. (A few wormholes at foot of gutter.)

binding: Contemporary Roman olive-brown morocco alla greca binding (345 x 225 mm), tooled in gilt and blind with an outer border composed of a repeated pyre stamp, central panel with blind hatching and two lozenges formed with a floral roll-tooled border, lettered in gilt at head of upper cover ΑΘΗΝΑΙΟΣ, flat spine with blind tooling, board edges with a groove (though edges not quite flush with textblock), raised endbands, stubs in lower board from two vellum plaited straps; in modern drop-backed folding box. (Binding rubbed, corners slightly chipped.)

provenance: Antonio Nardi, lawyer, of Arezzo (1598-1648), inscription in Greek on flyleaf, "Του Αντωνιου Ναρδιου Νομικου Αρητινου" — Pasqual Sauli, signature on verso of flyleaf — Swann Galleries, New York, sale, 3 April 2008, lot 6. acquisition: Purchased from preceding sale via Thomas-Scheler. references: UCLA 123; Aldo Manuzio tipografo 125; Edit16 3440; Renouard 67/4; G. Scott Clemons & H. George Fletcher, Aldus Manutius: A legacy more lasting than Bronze (New York 2015), no. 19 ("from the collection of T. Kimball Brooker").