5
●
(
ALDINE DEVICE.)
Silver
denarius with profile portrait of
the Emperor Titus on the obverse
and anchor-and-dolphin device
on the reverse,
18
mm in diameter.
Roman Empire, 80 A.D.
[250/350]
THE ICONOGRAPHIC SOURCE OF THE
ALDINE ANCHOR
-
AND
-
DOLPHIN DEVICE
,
probably the most widely known early
printer’s mark; Aldus is said to have
been received one of these coins as a gift
from Pietro Bembo. From its first use
within a double rule border (see lot 98),
which was then altered to a dot border
(
e. g., lots 44 and 117), the woodcut
device continued to evolve through the
16
th century in various sizes, with and
without borders and text. Anders Ollfors, “The Anchor and the Dolphin and some Other
Printer’s Devices,” Dais Philesistephanos: Studies in Honour of Professor Staffan Fogelmark
(2004),
pages 322-31.
6
●
ALEXANDER of Aphrodisias.
In
topica Aristotelis, commentarii.
Greek text, edited by Marcus Musurus.
[4], 3-281 [
i. e., 285] pages, including the
uncancelled blank A9 but lacking the final
leaf with Aldine device on verso. Folio,
297
x195, early 19th-century
1
/
2
russia gilt
(
bound uniformly with lots 52 and 114),
front joint starting, one raised band off;
light dampstaining in lower margins.
Carpentras Jesuit College ownership
inscription on title dated 1612.
WIDE
-
MARGINED COPY
.
(
Venice: House of Aldus and Andrea of
Asola, September 1513)
[4,000/6,000]
FIRST EDITION IN THE ORIGINAL GREEK
of
a commentary on Aristotle’s Topics, dealing
with dialectical argumentation, one of the 6
treatises on logic forming his Organon (see lot
13).
Alexander was a 2nd-3rd century Peri-
patetic philosopher and preeminent Aristotelian
commentator. Renouard, page 62(5); New
UCLA 118;DSB I, 117-18;Hoffmann I, 115.
6
5 (
greatly enlarged)
