Beschreibung:

The first text of culinary and gastronomy. ATHENAEUS. Athēnaiou Deipnosophistou. Venezia, Aldo Manuzio e Andrea Torresano, 1514 Folio, mm. 320x210; British sheepskin binding of the XIX century, triple gilt rules, spine in sections with morocco labels, gilt edges; pp. 38, 2 bl., 294, 2 bl.; Aldus Manutius' anchor in the first and last leaf, Reserved spaces for initial lead letters, italics, greek, roman type. Heraldic Ex libris of James Lewis Knight Bruce of Roehampton pasted to inside cover, on the final leaf label with canceled signature of another possessor 'John Carrington of Shenley Park'. Slight traces of use on the front pages and the final leaf, some small stain, exemplary with large margins in good condition.
Editio Princeps. Rare and important issue of the greek text edited by Marcus Musurus. Renouard: "rare fort". It is the only surviving work of Athenaeus, probably the first text of culinary and gastronomy. These 'erudite people during the banquet' discuss philosophy, literature, law, medicine and other disciplines, but above all bring a wealth of information on the food of the ancients, wine and related customs lunches and banquets. The interventions are accompanied by accurate and complete quotes from a vast body of works, with more than seven hundred authors cited; among these are more space those related to the theater, both tragic and comedy, for a total of over a thousand titles and twelve thousand verses reported. The work, divided into 15 books, so it is a kind of encyclopedia of quotations from a number of authors, many of whom would otherwise be lost, and contains a lot of valuable information about the history of symposial practice in the greek world, the history of the studies and the reception of Greek literature under the Roman Empire. Aldo had conceived the project Greek edition of Athenaeus already the beginning of his publishing activity: a test sheet printed with Greek characters around 1490, containing the epitome of Book I, he is present at the Pierpont Morgan Library. This edition, which has the title in the form of hourglass, is dedicated to Vertessy Janos, an eminent scholar student of Marcus Musurus: Aldo the dedicatory letter is dated August 1514. Copy of prestigious provenance: John Carrington, partner of John Hornby in the enterprise of the Ashendene Press, formed a fine collection of antique books. His library, which contained numerous books of Aldus, was sold at Sotheby's in December of 1939. Adams A-2096; Hoffmann I, 394; Renouard, p. 67–68; Ahmanson-Murphy 123; Vicaire 50; Simon, BB I, 58; Schraemli 9. The lot in offered with a valid license.