[Aristotle] Theophrastus | De historia plantarum, [Venice, Aldus, 1497], the Parrhasius copy

[Aristotle].

Theophrastus, De historia plantarum. [Venice, Aldus, 1 June 1497]

First part of volume 4 only (of 5), super-chancery folio (310 x 220 mm), Greek type, 30 lines plus headline, 227 leaves, +¹ aaaααα-zzzψψψ⁸ &&&ωωω⁸ AAA-CCC⁸ DDD¹⁰ (final verso blank), woodcut initials and ornaments, later vellum over thick boards, flat spine with manuscript title in brown ink, edges speckled blue, 120 mm repaired tear to inner margin of first leaf, light spotting and browning to some leaves, slight marginal worming, small wormholes from &&&ωωω1-end, affecting a few letters, some staining to lower cover, endpapers and pastedowns frayed

This text is the first part of the fourth volume of Aldus’ five-volume set of Aristotle’s Opera, published between 1495 and 1498. The full set contains works by other authors, including Galen, Philo Judaeus, Theophrastus and Alexander Aphrodisaeus. Volumes I, II, III and V are found as lot 95 (see this lot for further information about the set). Lot 98 consists of a large part of the rest of volume IV, and lot 97 a smaller part thereof.

Upon his death in 1522, the humanist Aulus Janus Parrhasius (1470–1522) bequeathed his library of 1,500 volumes to Antonio Seripando (1476–1531). According to an inscription on the final leaf of this volume reading “Antonij Seripandi ex Iani Parrhasij testamento”, this was one of them. This inscription has been found in a number of other volumes with the same provenance. After Antonio Seripando’s death, the library passed to his brother Cardinal Girolamo Seripando (1493-1563) who, upon his death, bequeathed the volumes to the Augustinian convent of San Giovanni a Carbonara in Naples.

PROVENANCE:

Aulus Janus Parrhasius (1470–1522), humanist and bibliophile; inherited by Antonio Seripando (1476–1531), also humanist and book collector, inscription to final leaf: “Antonij Seripandi ex Iani Parrhasij testamento.”; Niels Hansen Christensen, sale, Sotheby's Park Bernet, New York, 28 November 1978, lot 415 (part lot).

LITERATURE:

ISTC ia00959000 (all 5 volumes); GW 02334