Gellius (Aulus)

Noctium Atticarum Libri undeviginti.

      Venice: in aedibus Aldi, et Andreae Soceri. , 1515 - FIRST ALDINE EDITION, second issue with the corrected spelling ‘duernionem’ on the last leaf, large Aldine printer’s device on the title, and at the foot the ownership inscription ‘Di (?) Gio. Leonardo Canyo 1651’, title lightly soiled, some lower margins with light dampstaining, the last 28 leaves washed, Aldine device on the last leaf, ff. [xxxii] (last blank), 289, [51], 8vo., 20th-century vellum, recently recased using old endpapers, hinges neatly relined, boards panelled in gilt, smooth backstrip divided by gilt rolls, red morocco label, all edges showing early gilt and gauffering, good The Attic Nights of Aulus Gellius, a wide-ranging compilation, is notable as a source of quoted fragments and of stories, and also is one of the two ancient sources (with Suetonius) for Aldus’s own motto, ‘festina lente’. It was a saying of which Augustus was particularly fond, and appears in its Greek form (‘speude bradeos’) in Book X, chapter xi. The editor of this edition, which contains a copious double index, was Giambattista Egnazio, one of the leading figures in the circle of scholars and editors around Aldus Manutius; he stood as executor to Aldus’s will in the same year as this volume was published. It appeared six months after Aldus’s death and was perhaps the last of Aldus’s books to have his personal involvement. Already in Dibdin’s time, fine copies of this edition were ‘becoming very scarce’, and by May 1910 George D. Smith’s catalogue description records the following description: ‘Excessively rare and valuable. Beckford's copy sold £16, Sykes's copy £28, Syston Park copy £42’. However, it is only in the last few years that another resurgence of interest in the author has led to publication of the ‘first collection of essays in any language on Aulus Gellius’, along with books by L. Holford-Strevens and E. Gunderson. (Adams G344; Renouard 1515 / 9; Simon BG 743; Dibdin I 339; Moss I 202) [Attributes: First Edition; Hard Cover]