IAMBLICHUS, (c. 253-c. 330); Marsilio FIC...

De mysteriis Aegyptiorum [and other works]. [Colophon:] Venetiis mense Septembri. M.IIID. In aedibus Aldi

      Venice: Aldus Manutius, 1497. Folio: a--i8 K4 L--M6 N--Z8 &10 (--&10, blank), 185 of 186 un-numbered leaves, wanting the final blank leaf. Roman letter, initial spaces with guide letters. Leaf size and condition: 314 x 215mm. Title worn and soiled with a tear affecting several letters; multiple wormholes and tracks throughout affecting the text on many leaves; waterstains in first 5 gatherings; inner margins strengthened throughout and some repairs to worm tracks. Otherwise a fresh copy with good margins. Binding: Resewn and bound in recent vellum backed boards. Provenance and annotation: Old owner's stamp on first leaf. Walter Pagel (1896--1983); B. E. J. Pagel (1930--2007). References: Goff J-216; Klebs 529.1; ISTC ij00216000; BSB-Ink I-12; Bod-inc J-093; BMC V, 557; Walsh 2648--2653; Renouard, Alde p. 13, no. 6; Wellcome 3383. First edition. In this copy a2 is correctly signed and the misspelling 'abente' on K2r corrected to 'absente'. § An important collection of neo-platonic works translated and adapted, some with commentaries, by Marsilio Ficino. The edition comprises the following texts: Iamblichus, De mysteriis; Proclus, In Platonicum Alcibiadem; Proclus, De sacrificio et magia; Porphyrius, De occasionibus, de abstinentia, &c; Synesius De somniis; Psellus, De daemonibus; Priscianus et Marsilius, In Theophrastum De sensu, &c; Alcinous, De doctrina Platonis; Speusippus, De Platonis definitionibus; Pythagorae, Aurea verba et symbola; Xenocrates, De morte; Marilius, De voluptate. Aldus' fine typography -- even among Aldus' output, Renouard calls it a 'rare et beau volume' -- is sadly disfigured by worming and unsympathetic repairs. For details of Ficino's contributions, and references, see Alan Coates and others, A catalogue of books printed in the fifteenth century now in the Bodleian Library (2005), J-093.