L’EDITORE PRINCEPS DEL LIBRO MODERNO
The recent flurry of events, ranging from exhibitions to conferences, organized to mark the 500th anniversary of the death of Aldus Manutius the Elder (1449/1452-1515) reflect not only the continuing wide-scale interest in the Venetian publisher but also provide an occasion to reflect on the book in general at a time of digital revolutions and an undeniable reading crisis. Without the figure of Aldus Manutius, the concept of the “modern” book would be unconceivable.
His technological innovations revolutionised the world of publishing astride the 15th and 16th century. Aldus Manutius is often dubbed the Steve Jobs of the Venetian Renaissance: he dispensed with the commentaries that accompanied the texts used in codes and incunabula, created the “legible” italic typeface, as it is still known today in other languages, published handy “pocket-size” editions in the new so-called octavo format, used until then for prayer books, invented a standardised type of punctuation in the vernacular with the full stop at the end of the sentence and was the first to number the pages on the recto and verso. His books are expressions of divine proportions, modelled on Luca Pacioli’s De divina proportione and it is no coincidence that “l’11 agosto 1508 mezzo migliaio di persone si accalcano nella chiesa di San Bartolomeo di Rialto per ascoltare il matematico Luca Pacioli […] Fra i presenti vi sono Aldus e i suoi amici” (Aldus Manutius, il Rinascimento a Venezia, 2016, p. 311).
Many consider that Aldus Manutius’ books are amongst the most beautiful in the world for the “naturalezza con cui riflettono un’idea di libro come un prodotto rigoroso nei contenuti ma creativo nel design. Aldus è un formidabile editore: pur imponendo una cura inflessibile ai testi, coinvolgendovi i migliori filologi della sua epoca, egli è capace di inventare il pubblico del libro allargandone i confini oltre gli specialisti and i devoti, perché la forma del libro and dei suoi contenuti è studiata in funzione di leggibilità, accuratezza and impatto estetico raggiungendo – as Ludovico Guicciardini wrote in 1581 – un ordine and regola perfetta’” (Aldus Manutius, il Rinascimento a Venezia, 2016, p. 311). Aste Bolaffi is particularly pleased to present a fine, particularly rich selection of editions published by Aldus Manutius for the next winter sale, most of which printed by himself before his death.
On arriving in Venice, Aldus who had a solid humanist culture, started to produce editions of the classics which are well represented at the upcoming sale, such as Martial’s Epigrams – the fourth work of the Aldine Press printed in italics - or the Satires of Juvenal and Persius also printed in 1501 – the first Aldine edition and fourth work in pocket format. Other highlights include the first Aldine edition of Aulo Gellio’s Nocticum Atticarum of 1515 and, in particular, Lucretius’ De rerum natura of 1515, revised and edited by Andrea Navagero, and the last edition printed by Aldus before his death on February 6. Another important item is the work of Pindar published in 1513 in which, in the preface, Aldus mentions the serious difficulties encountered in continuing his work and proclaims his intention to print biblical texts in Hebrew. The sale will also include Pausanias’ famous description of Greece of 1516, the last edition curated by humanist Marcus Musurus, native of the island of Crete who published numerous volumes for Aldus Manutius, and Oppian’s De piscibus of 1517 that contains the first edition of De venatione.
The classics are followed by his contemporaries in vernacular, including Petrarch’s Rhymes of 1501, Dante’s Third Rhymes of 1502 and the first Aldine edition of the Opera of the Neapolitan humanist Giovanni Pontano, with a beautiful contemporary Renaissance binding. Another lot also worth noting is Pietro Alcionio’s De exsilio dated 1522: “Le plus célèbre de ses ouvrages est intitulé ‘Medicis legatus, sive de exilio’ […] Le livre est un dialogue fait à l’imitation de ceux de Cicéron, dans un style pur et élégant. C’est un éloge emphatique de l’exil, ou du moins une déclamation pour prouver que l’exil n’est pas un mal” (Hoefer, Nouvelle Biographie Générale, I, p. 715). The copy put up for sale is a rare first edition, already indicated by Renouard as “volume fort rare” with provenance the famous historian of Italian Literature, Girolamo Tiraboschi (1731-1794).
The first four books of architecture of the military architect of Siena, Pietro Cataneo, dated 1554, were printed by Aldus’ heirs but are considered a masterpiece of the art of printing in particular because this is one of the few illustrated books issued by the Aldine Press. Aldus’ books, the “most beautiful in the world”, have left their mark on the cultural history of Europe of the period. An immense, precise, costly work that bears fruit also outside the world of printing. The books of Aldus Manutius travel the world and, with them, the ideas they express.
BY Annette Popel Pozzo
His technological innovations revolutionised the world of publishing astride the 15th and 16th century. Aldus Manutius is often dubbed the Steve Jobs of the Venetian Renaissance: he dispensed with the commentaries that accompanied the texts used in codes and incunabula, created the “legible” italic typeface, as it is still known today in other languages, published handy “pocket-size” editions in the new so-called octavo format, used until then for prayer books, invented a standardised type of punctuation in the vernacular with the full stop at the end of the sentence and was the first to number the pages on the recto and verso. His books are expressions of divine proportions, modelled on Luca Pacioli’s De divina proportione and it is no coincidence that “l’11 agosto 1508 mezzo migliaio di persone si accalcano nella chiesa di San Bartolomeo di Rialto per ascoltare il matematico Luca Pacioli […] Fra i presenti vi sono Aldus e i suoi amici” (Aldus Manutius, il Rinascimento a Venezia, 2016, p. 311).
Many consider that Aldus Manutius’ books are amongst the most beautiful in the world for the “naturalezza con cui riflettono un’idea di libro come un prodotto rigoroso nei contenuti ma creativo nel design. Aldus è un formidabile editore: pur imponendo una cura inflessibile ai testi, coinvolgendovi i migliori filologi della sua epoca, egli è capace di inventare il pubblico del libro allargandone i confini oltre gli specialisti and i devoti, perché la forma del libro and dei suoi contenuti è studiata in funzione di leggibilità, accuratezza and impatto estetico raggiungendo – as Ludovico Guicciardini wrote in 1581 – un ordine and regola perfetta’” (Aldus Manutius, il Rinascimento a Venezia, 2016, p. 311). Aste Bolaffi is particularly pleased to present a fine, particularly rich selection of editions published by Aldus Manutius for the next winter sale, most of which printed by himself before his death.
On arriving in Venice, Aldus who had a solid humanist culture, started to produce editions of the classics which are well represented at the upcoming sale, such as Martial’s Epigrams – the fourth work of the Aldine Press printed in italics - or the Satires of Juvenal and Persius also printed in 1501 – the first Aldine edition and fourth work in pocket format. Other highlights include the first Aldine edition of Aulo Gellio’s Nocticum Atticarum of 1515 and, in particular, Lucretius’ De rerum natura of 1515, revised and edited by Andrea Navagero, and the last edition printed by Aldus before his death on February 6. Another important item is the work of Pindar published in 1513 in which, in the preface, Aldus mentions the serious difficulties encountered in continuing his work and proclaims his intention to print biblical texts in Hebrew. The sale will also include Pausanias’ famous description of Greece of 1516, the last edition curated by humanist Marcus Musurus, native of the island of Crete who published numerous volumes for Aldus Manutius, and Oppian’s De piscibus of 1517 that contains the first edition of De venatione.
The classics are followed by his contemporaries in vernacular, including Petrarch’s Rhymes of 1501, Dante’s Third Rhymes of 1502 and the first Aldine edition of the Opera of the Neapolitan humanist Giovanni Pontano, with a beautiful contemporary Renaissance binding. Another lot also worth noting is Pietro Alcionio’s De exsilio dated 1522: “Le plus célèbre de ses ouvrages est intitulé ‘Medicis legatus, sive de exilio’ […] Le livre est un dialogue fait à l’imitation de ceux de Cicéron, dans un style pur et élégant. C’est un éloge emphatique de l’exil, ou du moins une déclamation pour prouver que l’exil n’est pas un mal” (Hoefer, Nouvelle Biographie Générale, I, p. 715). The copy put up for sale is a rare first edition, already indicated by Renouard as “volume fort rare” with provenance the famous historian of Italian Literature, Girolamo Tiraboschi (1731-1794).
The first four books of architecture of the military architect of Siena, Pietro Cataneo, dated 1554, were printed by Aldus’ heirs but are considered a masterpiece of the art of printing in particular because this is one of the few illustrated books issued by the Aldine Press. Aldus’ books, the “most beautiful in the world”, have left their mark on the cultural history of Europe of the period. An immense, precise, costly work that bears fruit also outside the world of printing. The books of Aldus Manutius travel the world and, with them, the ideas they express.
BY Annette Popel Pozzo