![THUCYDIDES (c.460-c.400 BCE). [On the Peloponnesian War] in Greek. Edited by Aldus Manutius. Venice: Aldus Manutius, 14 May 1502.](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2018/NYR/2018_NYR_16392_0080_001(thucydides_on_the_peloponnesian_war_in_greek_edited_by_aldus_manutius011940).jpg?w=1)
![THUCYDIDES (c.460-c.400 BCE). [On the Peloponnesian War] in Greek. Edited by Aldus Manutius. Venice: Aldus Manutius, 14 May 1502.](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2018/NYR/2018_NYR_16392_0080_000(thucydides_on_the_peloponnesian_war_in_greek_edited_by_aldus_manutius093852).jpg?w=1)
PROPERTY OF A PRIVATE COLLECTOR
THUCYDIDES (c.460-c.400 BCE). [On the Peloponnesian War] in Greek. Edited by Aldus Manutius. Venice: Aldus Manutius, 14 May 1502.
Details
THUCYDIDES (c.460-c.400 BCE). [On the Peloponnesian War] in Greek. Edited by Aldus Manutius. Venice: Aldus Manutius, 14 May 1502.
The editio princeps of “the work that formed the standards for historiography and political science in the West” (The Greek Book); the Woodhull-Hoe copy, bound by Roger Payne. In the introduction to his account of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides declares his history to be “not for the taste of an immediate public, but intended as a thing for all time” (I.22). A pioneer of objectivity and critical analysis for the evaluation of history—or, perhaps, “in the subtle manipulation of data into evidence under the guise of objectivity” (The Greek Book), Thucydides’s influence can be felt in the works of thinkers and politicians from Machiavelli to John F. Kennedy. Aldus edited the text from a Cretan manuscript, Paris BnF suppl. gr. 256 (or perhaps a close copy). Ahmanson-Murphy 57; Renouard Alde, 33:4; The Greek Book 33; see PMM 102 (Estienne ed.).
Folio (302 x 200mm). Greek and Roman types (without blanks). 18th-century diced russia with gilt-stamped border by Roger Payne. Provenance: Michael Woodhull (1740-1816; purchase and binding note dated March 28th 1771; Sotheby’s, 11 January 1886, lot 2582) – Robert Hoe (1839-1909; morocco bookplate, his sale 5 May 1911, lot 3251).
The editio princeps of “the work that formed the standards for historiography and political science in the West” (The Greek Book); the Woodhull-Hoe copy, bound by Roger Payne. In the introduction to his account of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides declares his history to be “not for the taste of an immediate public, but intended as a thing for all time” (I.22). A pioneer of objectivity and critical analysis for the evaluation of history—or, perhaps, “in the subtle manipulation of data into evidence under the guise of objectivity” (The Greek Book), Thucydides’s influence can be felt in the works of thinkers and politicians from Machiavelli to John F. Kennedy. Aldus edited the text from a Cretan manuscript, Paris BnF suppl. gr. 256 (or perhaps a close copy). Ahmanson-Murphy 57; Renouard Alde, 33:4; The Greek Book 33; see PMM 102 (Estienne ed.).
Folio (302 x 200mm). Greek and Roman types (without blanks). 18th-century diced russia with gilt-stamped border by Roger Payne. Provenance: Michael Woodhull (1740-1816; purchase and binding note dated March 28th 1771; Sotheby’s, 11 January 1886, lot 2582) – Robert Hoe (1839-1909; morocco bookplate, his sale 5 May 1911, lot 3251).