Aldus Pius ManutiusFirst Aldine edition of Statius, 1502

Statii Sylvarum libri quinque Thebaidos libri duodecim Achilleidos duo.

Venetiis: in aedibus Aldi, mense augusto MDII

296 leaves. 16cm. 8vo

Signatures: a-z8; A-F8; G4; 2/A-B8; C4; 2/a2-e8

Below title in calligraphy has been added the following: Nunc ubi caesarei fecescit fama truimphiOn final page of Syl, in the same hand has been written Robertus Richardforte

Includes letter from Aldus to Joannes Pontatus; Aldus to his readers; woodcut of printer's device of anchor and dolphin, Aldus and dots. In calligraphy, someone has written ‘anchora’ in two different fonts on each side of the anchor.

First Aldine edition of collected works of Publius Papinius Statius (ca 45-96AD), including Silvarum libri quinque, Thebaidos libri duodecim and Achilleidos libri duo. Also includes 40 unnumbered leaves with the Orthographia et flexus dictionum graecarum omnium apud Statium cum accentib. et generib. ex variis utriusque linguae autorib., an etymological dictionary of Greek words used by Statius. (In some printings these unnumbered leaves are at the beginning of the work, others, as here, have them at the end of the work.)

Printing error in Theb. Lib II M-- catchword "non", but last line of previous page reprinted at top of next page.

Colophon at conclusion of Theb. seems out of place-- should be after Achilleidos?: Venetiis, in Academia Aldi Ro. Mense Novembri MDII. Ne quis hoc impune queat imprimere cautum est

Colophon at end of Orthographia: Venetiis in aedibus Aldi mense augusto MDII Cautum est et in hoc, ut in caeteris.

Small italic type, spaces left for capitals, with guide letters.

Old ownership inscription: William Starling

Spine title: Statii Sylvarum. (Not original binding)

References: Renouard p.35, nr7; BM STC Italian 646; UCLA 61.

Digitized in Early European Books (http://eeb.chadwyck.com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/search/displayItem.do?ItemNumber=2&resultClick=1)

Calligraphic writing on verso of colophon; each page of work ruled.

In keeping with his quest to make classical works accessible, Aldus departed from established traditions of book form, and in 1501 began to produce his works in small editions of texts un-encumbered by commentary. The chief advantage of this type of text was its portability-- hence it's appellation "enchiridion", i.e. something which could be held in one's hand. This form did not originate with Aldus, but hitherto it had been associated almost exclusively with devotional works. By contrast, as pictured above, the typical classical work was a large and cumbersome volume, meant for study at a desk or lectern, and not easily carried about.

“During his career, Aldus printed 55 editions in the old folio format, then 48 -- almost as many -- in octavo, after 1500. Twenty-nine of his editions were quartos, and he experimented with even smaller formats -- 1 sextodecimo and 1 trecesimo-secundo.”1

Thus Aldus' 'handy' volumes offered new freedom of access, simply by virtue of their portability. In his preface to an edition of Cicero in enchiridion form, Aldus promises that soon there will be a portable library of Greek and Latin words. This promise is wonderfully illustrated by Thomas More's Raphael Hythloday, when he introduces the Utopians to Greek literature via the Aldine editions he has brought with him in his luggage—including Plato, Aristotle, Theophrastus, Plutarch, Lucan, Aristophanes, Homer, Euripides, Sophocles, Thucydides and Herodotus!2

Book Production during Aldus' Lifetime †3

1494 - 1500 Greek Latin Italian Total Folio **12 **5 2 19

Quarto *6 *12 18 Octavo Sextodecimo 1 1 Total 19 17 2 38

1501 - 1516 Greek Latin Italian Total Folio 26 ***10 36 Quarto 2 8 1 11 Octavo 10 33 5 48 Tricesimo-secundo 1 1 Total 39 51 6 96

Grand Total 58 68 8 134

† This table derived from Lowry, 1979.

The final word regarding Aldus' achievements belongs to Erasmus, who wrote:“If one seeks to evaluate the accomplishments of princes, among these the greatest glory must be ascribed to Ptolemy. But his library was enclosed within the constraining walls of a building, while that of Aldus is delimited only by the ends of the world itself.”4

More and Hythloday discuss Utopia 5

Notes

1. SFU Library Special Collection Project Aldus Pius Manutius Publisher of Renaissance Venice At Simon Fraser University Library Rare Books and Special Collections, May 8 to May 19, 1995 (http://www.lib.sfu.ca/special-collections/projects/aldus)

2. More, Thomas. Utopia written in Latin by Sir Thomas More, Chancellor of England ; translated into English. London : Printed for Richard Chiswell 1684. book 2, pp.134-36.

3. SFU Library Special Collection Project Aldus Pius Manutius Publisher of Renaissance Venice At Simon Fraser University Library Rare Books and Special Collections, May 8 to May 19, 1995 (http://www.lib.sfu.ca/special-collections/projects/aldus)

4. Erasmus “Festina Lente” in his Adagia. Translated from the 1508 edition of the Adages by Margaret Mann Phillips (ed.), pp180-1.

5. Thomas More Illustration for the English humanist, scholar, writer and politicians’ book, Utopia . Hythloday tells More and Peter Giles about the Island Utopia . Wood cut from the 1516 edition. 7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535