EARLY GREEK PRINTING], ARISTOTLE

Greek Title] Aristotelis De Arte Rhetorica Libri Tres

      In Officina Frobeniana, Basileae. MDXXIX [1529] - 156pp, [4]. Later vellum, contrasting red morocco title label, bound behind a stained copy of 1537 Froben edition of Bayfius' Annotationes in Legem II, with naval woodcuts: 323pp, [8]. Rubbed, light wear and a little marking. Headband split. Woodcut device of Froben to title and Colophon, woodcut initial letter to a2. Most pages recornered, some staining/discolouration throughout. Marginal worming to lower margin throughout, not affecting text. Wormtrack affecting final 12 leaves, with some loss of letters, but not so serious as to affect tect. The FIRST SEPARATE GREEK printing of De Arte Rhetorica, the colophon noting that this was printed by Johann Herwagen under the auspices of Froben. The Editio Princeps in Greek of this highly important work of the Aristotelian canon was contained within Aldus Manutius' collected Rhetores Graeci of 1508, but not printed separately until this edition of 1529. Developed by Aristotle between 367-47 BC (whilst working with Plato) and 335-322 BC (during which he was running the Lyceum), Rhetoric is a practical text outlining the bases of a good speech. Book II in particular outlines the three methds of persuasion upon which a good orator relies: credibility (ethos), empathy with the emotions and physchology of the audience (pathos) and in the patterns of his reasoning (logos). Book III is concerned with the detail of style, organization and vocabulary. His work is considered the foundation of all Western theory on rhetoric, and rarely understated. Golden et al (2007) consider it 'the most important single work on persuasion ever written '. Gross and Walzer cement the unusual centrality of the work in Western civilization 'There is no comparable situation in any other discipline: No other discipline would claim that a single ancient text so usefully informs current deliberations on practice and theory'. Cranz 107.904. Green (Renaissance Rhetoric Short Title Catalogue), p.34. [Attributes: First Edition]