Lascaris, De octo partibus orationis, Venice, Aldus, 1512, later vellum

Constantinus Lascaris

De octo partibus orationis [and other works]. (Venice: Aldus, October 1512)

4to (214 x 149mm.), parallel text in Greek and Latin, last section with Hebrew type, woodcut Aldine device on title-page and &4v, with blank leaf f10 and without blank ρ4, modern vellum with two straps and toggles, first few leaves slightly stained,a few leaves in quire zπ with marginal paper repairs, occasional light staining

Lascaris's grammar first circulated in manuscript and was first printed in Milan in 1476; its significance to the spread of Greek learning in Italy was cemented by Aldus's printing of it in 1495, as the first book to issue from his press. Aldus added a Latin translation, based on the one by Johannes Crastonus. For his later editions, Aldus appended other similar grammatical works, as well as his own short introduction to Hebrew grammar; this is the third Aldine edition following that of [1502-3].

For a later edition, see lot 113.

LITERATURE

Aldo Manuzio tipografo 107; Edit16 36173; Renouard 58/1; UCLA 105; Botley, Learning Greek in Western Europe 1396-1529, Appendix I:46

PROVENANCE

Jesuit College of St Michael, inscription on title-page