![THEOCRITUS (fl. 270 BCE). Eclogae triginta, in Greek. [And:] HESIOD (fl. 700 B.C.). Theogonia, in Greek. And many other works, in Greek. Edited by Aldus Manutius and Franciscus Roscius. Venice: Aldus Manutius, February 1495 [1496].](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2018/NYR/2018_NYR_16392_0079_000(theocritus_eclogae_triginta_in_greek_and_hesiod_theogonia_in_greek_and093845).jpg?w=1)
PROPERTY FROM THE DESCENDANTS OF JOHN GRESHAM MACHEN
THEOCRITUS (fl. 270 BCE). Eclogae triginta, in Greek. [And:] HESIOD (fl. 700 B.C.). Theogonia, in Greek. And many other works, in Greek. Edited by Aldus Manutius and Franciscus Roscius. Venice: Aldus Manutius, February 1495 [1496].
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THEOCRITUS (fl. 270 BCE). Eclogae triginta, in Greek. [And:] HESIOD (fl. 700 B.C.). Theogonia, in Greek. And many other works, in Greek. Edited by Aldus Manutius and Franciscus Roscius. Venice: Aldus Manutius, February 1495 [1496].
The editio princeps of 12 of Theocritus’s Idylls and many other important Greek works—the corrected second issue, with early scholarly marginalia discussing the manuscript tradition. Aldus published this compendium of Greek verse at the request of his former teacher, Battista Guarino, who wanted to lecture on the texts at Ferrara. In addition to Theocritus, the book includes the first printings of several texts by Hesiod, Theognis, a Greek translation of Cato’s Distichs, and the works of other bucolic poets.
Late in the press run, a manuscript was found which supplied lines missing from Theocritus's Megara, and Aldus reset the two outermost sheets of quire ZF and all of quire TG to correct the text, resulting in this second issue. In addition to adding the newly discovered verses, the text of Ps.-Theocritus’s pattern poem Syrinx was reset within a woodcut frame depicting an aulos, or flute, complete with fingerholes. The first issue prints the lines of text with each line shorter than the last, producing the shape of pan pipes; in this second issue, this early concrete poem has been reshaped to form a different sort of pastoral wind instrument. This copy is copiously annotated by a learned reader, who comments on the manuscript tradition, corrects the accents, and notes that the manuscript used for the second issue is now in the Medici Library. Ahmanson-Murphy 7; Dibdin Spenceriana 484; it00144000; Renouard 5:3. See Clemons and Fletcher 10 (first issue); Lucy Eugenia Osborne, "Carmina Figurata & The Aldine Theocritus" in Colophon (1933).
Folio (309 x 202mm). 140 leaves. Greek and Latin types. Elaborate decorated initials and ornaments; concrete poem (occasional light spotting). 18th-century green calf gilt. Provenance: early marginal in several hands – Arthur W. Machen Jr. (d. 2013, lawyer and chancellor of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland; letter laid in).
The editio princeps of 12 of Theocritus’s Idylls and many other important Greek works—the corrected second issue, with early scholarly marginalia discussing the manuscript tradition. Aldus published this compendium of Greek verse at the request of his former teacher, Battista Guarino, who wanted to lecture on the texts at Ferrara. In addition to Theocritus, the book includes the first printings of several texts by Hesiod, Theognis, a Greek translation of Cato’s Distichs, and the works of other bucolic poets.
Late in the press run, a manuscript was found which supplied lines missing from Theocritus's Megara, and Aldus reset the two outermost sheets of quire ZF and all of quire TG to correct the text, resulting in this second issue. In addition to adding the newly discovered verses, the text of Ps.-Theocritus’s pattern poem Syrinx was reset within a woodcut frame depicting an aulos, or flute, complete with fingerholes. The first issue prints the lines of text with each line shorter than the last, producing the shape of pan pipes; in this second issue, this early concrete poem has been reshaped to form a different sort of pastoral wind instrument. This copy is copiously annotated by a learned reader, who comments on the manuscript tradition, corrects the accents, and notes that the manuscript used for the second issue is now in the Medici Library. Ahmanson-Murphy 7; Dibdin Spenceriana 484; it00144000; Renouard 5:3. See Clemons and Fletcher 10 (first issue); Lucy Eugenia Osborne, "Carmina Figurata & The Aldine Theocritus" in Colophon (1933).
Folio (309 x 202mm). 140 leaves. Greek and Latin types. Elaborate decorated initials and ornaments; concrete poem (occasional light spotting). 18th-century green calf gilt. Provenance: early marginal in several hands – Arthur W. Machen Jr. (d. 2013, lawyer and chancellor of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland; letter laid in).