[Paris]: [Georg Wolf], [1495]. Early Edition. Hardcover. Some waterstaining to varying degrees, mostly marginal and generally light, but within text of a few folios; signature D with outer margins repaired to varying degrees, heavier to D9 and 10 with loss of a few letters to both folios. Still an attractive, Near Fine incunable. Quarto (6-1/4" x 8-3/4") bound in recent full antique-style speckled calf leather; 213 (of 218 folios, lacking a1 and r3-6), double column, 54 lines and head-line, Gothic letter with 244 rubricated initials. Occasional early ink marginalia and numbers, later extensive ink notes to verso of final leaf. BMC VIII, 148; Goff B-438; Hain 2843; ISTC No. ib00438000 locates only one copy in the United States. The sermons of St. Bernard, one of the most accomplished and influential preachers of the later Middle Ages, were popular with priests and young clerics. This edition was one of six printed in the fifteenth century.

Nuremberg: Anton Koberger, 1495. Hardcover. 229 x 159 mm (9 x 6 1/4"). 174 unnumbered leaves (last blank). 46 lines of commentary surrounding Boethius' text on three sides, gothic type. With commentary ascribed in the text to Thomas Aquinas. Contemporary calf-backed wooden boards, raised bands, the leather decorated with various stamps of pineapple, roses, and foliage, remnant of very early paper spine label, original brass clasp and catch, rawhide thong (old but apparently not original), half-inch of leather replaced at head of spine. With hand-painted initials throughout in red or blue. Pastedowns and title page with ink annotations in a contemporary hand. Goff B-771; BMC II, 413. Covers with enough tiny round wormholes to notice (but not enough to be offensive), three small portions of leather missing, a chip out of the wood at lower corner of back cover, but the original binding still completely solid, with only minor restoration (as noted), and generally pleasing. Dust soiling to title page, minor (almost entirely marginal) worming throughout (text barely affected on just a few leaves), first three gatherings with dampstain in gutter, other trivial defects in the text, but still an attractive copy internally, the leaves almost entirely fresh and clean, and with very ample margins. This is an enduringly popular work from perhaps the most important--and certainly the most successful--15th century printer in Europe. Born at the time of the final collapse of the Roman Empire in the West, Boethius (ca. 480-524) became the chief secretary of Theodoric the Ostrogoth, and … [Click Below for Full Description]

Venice: Paganinus de Paganinis, 18 April, 1495. Hardcover. In a Spectacular Papal Binding byThe Foremost Roman Binder of the Time. 368 x 241 mm (14 1/2 x 9 1/2"). 471-499, 400-666 leaves (complete, with the misfoliation seen in other copies). Text set in two columns, with smaller interlinear commentary, and the whole surrounded by 83 lines of commentary, all in gothic type. Volume III, only, of four. Edited by Bernardinus Gadolus, Eusebius Hispanus, and Secundus Contarenus. SUPERB 16TH CENTURY ROMAN RED MOROCCO, ELABORATELY GILT, over bevelled wooden boards, covers with a wide frame of densely gilt floral vines enclosing a central panel featuring an intricate strapwork design of interlocking lobed frames and a large central lozenge, the strapwork embellished with swirling gilt floral vines, THE ARMS OF POPE PAUL IV AT CENTER; the lower cover similarly decorated, but with gilt titling at head; raised bands, five spine compartments decorated with gilt floral vines, the other containing gilt titling, edges gilt and gauffered with a complex knotwork pattern. Front free endpaper with a rubbing of Paul IV';s seal and brief description of his arms in French tipped on. Goff B-608; BMC V, 458. A scattering of tiny wormholes to first quarter of book, to last couple of quires, and to inside of back cover, isolated minor marginal smudges or faint stains, a thin two-inch crack at head of rear joint, extremities a bit worn, front board with a few small abrasions and perhaps two dozen tiny round wormholes, silver markings on papal arms oxidized, but still A BEAUTIFUL EXAMPLE, THE VERY … [Click Below for Full Description]

Venetiis: Ac studio Aldi Manucii Romani, 1495. Second Edition of Theocritus; EDITIO PRINCEPS of Hesiod';s "Theogonia" and "Scutum Herculis," "Sententiae Septem Sapientum," Theognis of Megara's "Elegies," and "Carmina Sibyllae Erythraeae&#82. Hardcover. An Irresistible Combination: an Aldine IncunableIn an Outstanding Douglas Cockerell Binding. 314 x 197 mm (12 3/8 x 7 3/4"). 140 unnumbered leaves. (Collates as BMC copy IB. 24408). Single column, 30 lines, Greek type. Edited by Aldus Pius Manutius. Second Edition of Theocritus; EDITIO PRINCEPS of Hesiod';s "Theogonia" and "Scutum Herculis," "Sententiae Septem Sapientum," Theognis of Megara's "Elegies," and "Carmina Sibyllae Erythraeae&#82. SPLENDID DARK GREEN MOROCCO, INLAID AND GILT, BY DOUGLAS COCKERELL FOR W. H. SMITH (stamp-signed "WHS" on rear turn-in), covers framed by interlocking gilt-rule rectangles, with complex cornerpieces comprised of three inlaid white morocco Tudor roses and clusters of brown morocco spade-shaped leaves, large central medallion of interlacing gilt lines with white Tudor rose at center surrounded by a very intricate assemblage of inlaid brown leaves and yellow acorns, the whole accented with multiple gilt and inlaid dots, and an inlaid rose inside interlocking gilt hearts above and below the central medallion; raised bands, spine compartments densely and beautifully inlaid with clusters of leaves and four ivory acorns (the binding with a total of 418 inlays), turn-ins with multiple gilt rules. In a very fine later(?) suede-lined folding box of dark green morocco with spine decor … [Click Below for Full Description]

Paris, J. Philippe, 27 March 1495.4to. Later vellum. (98) ff., Gothic letter, double columns, 45 lines. Small repair in a2 slightly affecting a couple of words, and in the inner margin of title; without the pamphlet (18 ff.) written in 1329 by P. Bertrand in defence of the rights of the Church against the temporal monarchs, which is frequently bound with the present work. First edition of the first printed life of St. Thomas à Becket, written about 1199 by Henry, Abbot of Croyland (Lincolnshire), who used the writings of four contemporaries intimately associated with Becket and his cause against King Henry II. See the detailed description in Brunet V, 1319. Hain 15510. Goff T-159. BL STC 421. Edizione originale della prima biografia del santo. A volte si trova con un?altra opera di 18 fogli sul potere temporale della chiesa. Alone nel margine int. del primo foglio e piccolo restauro nel secondo. P. pergamena antica.

In-4 p., mz. pelle settecentesca, dorso a cordoni con fregi e tit. oro su tassello, 84 cc.nn. Al verso del front.: "In hoc volumine continentur: DIOMEDES (...) - PHOCAS "De nomine et verbo. Epitoma Prisciani" - CAPER: "De latinitate" - AGRAETIUS: "De orthographia et proprietate et differentia sermonis" - DONATUS: "De barbarismo et octo partibus orationis" - SERVIUS: "In secundam Donati editionem interpretatio" - SERGIUS: "In secundam Donati editionem commentarius". Al recto della c. 84: "Impressum Venetiis per Theodor De Ragazonibus de Asula. Anno Domini nostri Iesu Christi. MCCCCLXXXXV. Die vero.XII.mensis Iuni" e il registro. Cfr.Hain,II,6219 - Goff "Incunabula in American Libraries",214 - Incunabuli della Biblioteca di Bergamo,453 - The British Library,216 - L'Adams,I,494 cita l'ediz. di Parigi del 1507 - Essling,II,563 e 564 cita solo le ediz. del 1491 e 1494 con frontespizio illustrato. Solo piccolissimi fori di tarlo e lievi aloni marginali su alc. carte; antiche annotazioni marginali, altrimenti bell'esemplare. "Diomede, grammatico latino della seconda meta' del IV secolo D.C., autore di un'Ars Grammatica in tre libri (I: le parti del discorso - II: gli elementi della grammatica - III: il piu' importante, poetica e metrica), utilissimi anche per la storia dei generi letterari". Cosi' Dizionario Treccani,IV, p. 71. .

Venice: Simonem Bivilaqua Papiensem 1495 - frequent small woodcut decorative initials, small wormhole in last 6 leaves (affecting a couple of characters on last 2), a few tiny wormholes in first 10 or so leaves (mostly marginal but one just touching a character on some leaves), first and last few leaves soiled, a little dampmarking at end, small stains and ink blots elsewhere, light browning in places, old ownership inscriptions gently washed from title, ff. [iv], 228, folio, early eighteenth-century vellum, rebacked preserving original spine with lettering piece (a bit chipped) and marbled endpapers, a little simple gilt decoration, boards lightly soiled and bowing slightly, sound Directly reprinted from Locatellus’s 1494 edition (BMC), but the specific arrangement of texts goes back at least as far as a 1491 Pincius edition and Clericus’s commentary was first published in 1480; it saw at least 20 printings in the incunable period alone. Clericus (c.1430-c.1500) was professor of rhetoric at Pavia; his other major printed commentary was on Ovid’s Heroides, while work on the Metamorphoses and De Officiis apparently went unpublished and has not survived. Also printed with the text is commentary by Martin Phileticus and prefatory material by Poliziano - excerpts from his ‘Miscellaneorum centuria prima’ - and Georgius Merula (who is known for his feuds with Poliziano). Many of the editions the Epistolae ad Familiares with these commentaries are scarce, and for this one ISTC gives three copies in the UK (BL - mutilated and imperfect - John Rylands, and S … [Click Below for Full Description]

- GW M18683 - Goff L-270 - HC 10172 - BMC II 617 - BSB-Ink L-216.- Erste Ausgabe.- Der Inkunabel-Katalog deutscher Bibliotheken (INKA) gibt als möglichen Druckerort u. Drucker auch ?Straßburg, Johann Grüninger um 1495? an.- M. Lochmaier, ?eines der ausgezeichneteren Mitglieder der Wiener Universität aus der rheinischen Nation? (ADB XIX, 64) war Nachfolger des 1489 verstorbenen Paul Wann als Kanonikus, Dr. der Theologie und des kanonischen Rechts auf der Domkanzel in Passau.- Wanns 23 Predigten sind über das ganze Buch verteilt und zusätzlich numeriert.- Titel mit kl. überklebt. Ausschnitt, 7 Bll. zu Beginn mit kl. Beschädigungen im Rand durch Wurmfraß, tls. leicht braunfleckig od. wasserrandig, Ebd. mit kl. Bezugsfehlstellen u. Wurmgängen. [Attributes: First Edition; Hard Cover]

(1) weißes Bl., 342 (nur anfangs numerierte) Seiten, (2) weiße Bl., Blattgröße 22 x 17 cm,. nicht datiert (das sechseitige Register später hinzugefügt), in einem Lederband der Zeit auf fünf unechten Bünden, mit goldgeprägtem Rückenschild und reicher Rückenvergoldung, Stehkantenvergoldung, dreiseitiger Rotschnitt und marmorierte Vorsätze (Kanten berieben, Gelenke mit Einrissen, die vordere Decke mit kl. Fehlstellen im Bezug).. Die erste Textseite beginnt mit der Überschrift 'Secunda miscellaneorum Chilias'. Die Sprache des Kommentars ist französisch, die überaus zahlreichen Zitate aber sind in lateinischer, italienischer, griechischer und seltener auch in spanischer Originalsprache wiedergegeben. Die einzelnen Miszellen, Sinnsprüche, Annotationen, Kommentare und Apercus sind von 1 bis 1000 durchnummeriert und ergeben als "Sammlung merk-würdiger Dinge" eine typische Arbeit des 18. Jahrhunderts : ein positiv gesinntes Spiel mit Wissen und Bildung, eine philosophische Lagebeurteilung, die sich bisweilen witzig, bisweilen ernst, immer aber voller esprit, der klassisch-antiken und zeitgenössischen Literatur bedient, um Aufklärung zu betreiben. Entsprechend reicht die Auswahl der Autoren von der griechischen und lateinischen Klassik, über die etablierten Geistesgrößen der Renaissance wie Peucer oder Macrobius, bis hin zu den 'modernen' Reiseschriftstellern wie Pyrard, Pietro de la Valle und Tavernier. Die ersten 30 Miszellen behandeln Holland, es folgen einige Anmerkungen zu Gräbern und Bestattungsriten, dann Ausführungen zur französischen Geschichte und Topographie, zu Inschrifte … [Click Below for Full Description]

. . GW M18683 - Goff L-270 - HC 10172 - BMC II 617 - BSB-Ink L-216.- Erste Ausgabe.- Der Inkunabel-Katalog deutscher Bibliotheken (INKA) gibt als möglichen Druckerort u. Drucker auch "Straßburg, Johann Grüninger um 1495" an.- M. Lochmaier, "eines der ausgezeichneteren Mitglieder der Wiener Universität aus der rheinischen Nation" (ADB XIX, 64) war Nachfolger des 1489 verstorbenen Paul Wann als Kanonikus, Dr. der Theologie und des kanonischen Rechts auf der Domkanzel in Passau.- Wanns 23 Predigten sind über das ganze Buch verteilt und zusätzlich numeriert.- Titel mit kl. überklebt. Ausschnitt, 7 Bll. zu Beginn mit kl. Beschädigungen im Rand durch Wurmfraß, tls. leicht braunfleckig od. wasserrandig, Ebd. mit kl. Bezugsfehlstellen u. Wurmgängen.

[Colophon:] Impressa Venetiis [Venice:] per Bonetum Locatellum...impensis...Octaviani Scoti, 1495. Penultimate and most complete of the incunable editions, and the first to include (as listed on the title-page) the commentary of St. John de Armand on the Antidotarium of Nicolas of Salerno, together with his text, one of the most widely recogniszed pharmacopoeias of the Middle Ages. Also included is the Complementum practicae of Francescus Pedemontanus; a commentary on the Canones of Mesuë by Mundinus, Expositio super canones universales; the Expositio super Antidotarium Mesue by Christophorus de Honestis; the Additiones ad practicam of Petrus de Abano on tumours of the breast and diseases of the stomach and liver; and the Compendium aromatariorum of Saladinus of Ascoli, generally considered the first really modern pharmacopoeia."The Grabadin [here called the Antidotarium] of Mesuë junior was for centuries the authority on the composition of medicaments. The book was not only in use in practically every European pharmacy but in addition became the basis of the later official pharmacopoeias. The Grabadin is, as Sudhof calls it, 'the pharmacological quintessence of Arabian therapeutics' and contains the entire armamentarium of compounded medicines which we owe to the Arabians. The arrangement is like that of the later pharmacopoeias. The compounded medicines are divided into groups according to their forms -- confections, juleps, syrups, etc. -- the monographs containing directions for the preparation of the respective products and also notes on their medicinal uses" (Kremers … [Click Below for Full Description]

(Brixiae (Brescia), Bernardinus de Misintis, 1495, [on colophon]). 4to. Contemporary full vellum w. some wear, handwritten title on spine. First leaf a bit darkened, first 6 leaves w. neat repair to upper right coerner, far from affecting teaxt, last few leaves w. some brown spots, otherwise only occasional and not heavy brownspotting. Some near cont. marginal annotations, some shaved. Last end-papers renewed. Pasted down front end-paper w. long inscription in Italian, quoting from Giovio about Pomponazzi and his use of Aphrodisias' text (ab. 1800). A neat and solid copy. Large woodcut opening initial, capital spaces throughout. 91 leaves (of 92, -lacking first blank).. The exceedingly scarce very first edition of Alexander of Aphrodisias' hugely influential commentary on Aristotle's De Anima; the enormously important first printing of Girolamo Donato's (1457-1511) translation from the Greek, which came to influence almost all original philosophy of the Renaissance with its hugely controversial exposition of the impossibility of the immortality of the individual soul, interpreted from Aristotle's De Anima -On the Soul- one of the most influential and commented on philosophical works of all times. If one question is to be pointed out as the main philosophical one of the Renaissance, it is that of the soul's relation to reason or intelligence. This was the question of his (Pomponazzi's) time. Anima and Intellectus were then the watchwords of the schools: their relation, or the nature of anima intellective, was the point round which discussion moved and on which was invoked th … [Click Below for Full Description]