BESSARION, Johannes Basilius of Trebizond, Cardinal

Adversus Calumniatorem Platonis. -- Correctio Librorum Platonis de Legibus Georgio Trapezuntio interprete. -- De Natura et Arte adversus Georgium Trapezuntium.

      Roman & Greek type. 10-line initial opening text in red & blue with purple pen work decoration & extensions, 7-line initials opening subsequent books in red or blue, headings in red, chapter numbers in red in margins, paragraph marks alternating in red & blue. 231 leaves (lacking the first & final two blanks). Folio (280 x 197 mm.), 18th cent. sheep (a few small wormholes in first two & final three quires, some spotting & browning), sides ruled in blind, spine gilt, contrasting leather lettering piece on spine. Rome: C. Sweynheym & A. Pannartz, [before 28 Aug. 1469].First edition of "one of the most important texts in the history of Platonism."­J. Hankins, Plato in the Italian Renaissance, p. 215. Bessarion wrote this book to counter the attacks of George of Trebizond, who, in his translation of the Laws of Plato, had sharply criticized their author, exalting Aristotle instead. In defending Plato, Bessarion provides a general exposition of Platonic philosophy. It was one of the earliest expositions on Platonism to appear in print, published well in advance of any of Plato's own works, and therefore contributed greatly to disseminating and popularizing Platonic philosophy in the West. Bessarion's work was not merely a defense of Plato, but a defense of Greek culture and heritage. One of his main strategies in countering Trebizond was to prove the deficiency of Latin translations of Plato's works, which consequently resulted in western misconceptions. Included in this edition is Bessarion's detailed and sharp enumeration of the faults in Trebizond's own translation and commentary of Plato's Laws. Bessarion (1403-72), united the two worlds of Byzantine and Renaissance Italian culture. After 1440, the cardinal remained in Italy for most of the rest of his life and established himself as a dominant figure in Italian culture. At Rome, the house of Bessarion functioned as a humanist academy, frequented by Poggio, Filelfo, Trebizond (until the quarrel), Argyropulus, Cusanus, and Regiomontanus. The cardinal's promotion of Greek no doubt helped to turn the minds of Nicholas V and Duke Federico of Urbino to the patronage of Greek studies. Bessarion's immense collection of Greek manuscripts represents a major landmark in the transmission of classical Greek culture to Renaissance Italy. His collection of 800 Greek manuscripts was given by him in 1468 to the Republic of Venice and today forms the nucleus of the famous library of St. Mark's. Bessarion had considerable mathematical interests which are reflected in the present book. He received lessons in the subject from Gemistus Pletho in the early 1430s and, during his reorganization of the University of Bologna, planned to provide four professorships in mathematics. "At Rome the Byzantine cardinal became a close friend of Cusanus, that dedicated admirer of Archimedes. The influence of Cusanus can be seen in Bessarion's great work In Calumniatorem Platonis (directed against Trapezuntius), where the author defends Plato as a mathematician and adduces Archimedes in support of his contention...While on a mission to Nuremberg and Vienna (1460-1461), Bessarion met the astronomers Peurbach and Regiomontanus, then at Vienna University. Following the death of Peurbach, Bessarion persuaded the younger astronomer to accompany him back to Italy in 1461, thus introducing Regiomontanus to the humanists and mathematicians of Rome and Venice."­Rose, The Italian Renaissance of Mathematics, p. 44. A fine copy of this handsome book printed by Sweynheym and Pannartz, who introduced the art of printing into Italy. It is known that this work was printed in an edition of three hundred copies. Goff B-518.