Simplicius, Hypomnemata, Venice, Heirs of Aldo Manuzio & Andrea Torresano, 1526, early nineteenth-century three-quarter red morocco, large and heavy paper

Simplicius. Simplikiou Hypomnemata eis tessara biblia Aristotelous peri ouranou, meta tou ypokeimenou tou autou. Simplicij Commentarii in quatuor Aristotelis libros De coelo cum textu eiusdem [Greek]. Venice: Heirs of Aldo Manuzio & Andrea Torresano, January 1526

First edition.

A large and heavy paper copy, examined by Renouard (in the MacCarthy Reagh sale) and described by him as “un exemplaire en grand papier”. The edition is not among those discussed by Conor Fahy, "Esemplari su carta reale di edizioni aldine, 1494-1550" in La Bibliofilia 106 (2004), pp. 135-172.

Folio (332 x 215 mm). Greek type, 51 lines plus headline. collation: *⁴ A-K⁸ L⁴ M-Q⁸ R⁶ S-X⁸ Y¹⁰: 176 leaves. Woodcut Aldine device to title-page and final verso, guide letters in initial spaces, ruled in red. (Small repaired wormholes, some small marginal worm holes, very light foxing.)

binding: Early nineteenth-century three quarter red morocco over simulated red morocco boards (340 x 240 mm), gilt edges gauffered by twin dots around sides. (Very lightly scuffed.)

provenance: Unidentified owner, ruled in red probably in eighteenth century — Justin, Comte de MacCarthy-Reagh (1744- 1811); his sale Debure frères, Paris, “1815” [but 27 January-6 May 1817], lot 1396 — André-Benoît Pélicier, Paris — Luigi (Louis) Poirot (1759-1824), of Florence, collection sold to Étienne Audin de Rians, Catalogue des éditions Aldines qui se trouvent chez Étienne Audin libraire (Florence 1827), item 173 — Jean Baptiste, chevalier de Bearzi; his sale Boulouze & Edwin Tross, Paris, 31 May-28 June 1855, lot 851 ("in-fol. d.-rel. mar. tr. dor. gaufr. Exemplaire en très-grand papier fort, réglé") — Guglielmo Bruto Icilio Timoleone Libri, Count Libri-Carrucci (1803-1869); his sale by Sotheby’s London, 1-15 August 1859, lot 2510 — John Vertue (1826-1900), Bishop of Portsmouth, ex libris — Stonyhurst College, Clitheroe — Sotheby's, A selection of early printed books from Stonyhurst College, London, 18 June 2003, lot 168. acquisition: Purchased at Sotheby's via Halwas. references: UCLA 241; Renouard, Annales de l'Imprimerie des Alde (second edition, Paris 1825), I, p. 242; Renouard, Annales (third edition, 1834), 102/3; Edit16 47829; USTC 856492