Aristoteles: Physica [Greek].

Edited by Aldus Manutius.   Includes:   Aristoteles, De physico auditu, De caelo et mundo, De generatione et corruptione, and Meterologica.   Pseudo- Aristoteles, De mundo ad Alexandrum.   Lives of Aristotle by Diogenes Laertius and Pseudo- Johannes Philoponus.   Life of Theophrastus by Diogenes Laertius.   Pseudo- Galenus, De philosopho historia.   Pseudo- Philo Judaeus, De mundo.   Theophrastus, De igne, De ventis, and De lapidibus.   Pseudo- Theophrastus, De signis aquarum et ventorum.

Venice: Aldus Manutius, Romanus, Feb. 1497.
Fol. *⁸ ※⁸ ☩⁸ ος[ligature]⁸ aα-iι⁸ Kκ⁸ lλ-rς⁸ ſσ-zψ⁸ &ω⁸ A-B⁸ CΓ⁶ DΔ-HΘ⁸ I⁸ K⁶. [32], 268 leaves.
Woodcut Greek initials; woodcut floral and interlaced headpieces.
ISTC ia00959000; GW 2334 (II); Goff A959 (II); BMC V 556 (IB. 24431); Bod-inc A-384 (II); CIBN A-504; BSB-Ink A-698; Walsh 2644; Ahmanson-Murphy 23.

Chronologically the third of the five volumes of Aristotle’s Opera printed by Aldus Manutius in 1495-1498, but considered by him to form the first, for he says in his preface to this volume “breui spero futurum ut pleraque omnia Aristotelis & Theophrasti ueniant in manus studiosorum excusa typis nostris, quatuor uoluminibus; en primum absoluimus”.

Two copies held by the University of Glasgow.

Copy 1 

GIP number:	A92/1
Shelf-mark:	Sp Coll Hunterian Bh.2.5 (see main library entry for this item)
Variants:	As signalled in CIBN A-504.   HΘ1r, running title:  var. A;  K1r:  var. B with signature κ but with foliation “73”, not “273”;  K2r:  var. A.
Note:	Uniformly bound as the second of a six-volume set with Bh.2.4;  Bh.2.6;  Bh.2.7, 8;  Bh.2.9.
Provenance:	Villedonné, Seigneur de (17th century) - a member of the De la Grange family, who held the title Seigneur de Villedonné: washed-out inscription on *1r “Coll. Aurel. Soc. Jesu. Cat. Ins. Dono D[omi]ni de Villedonne Senatoris Regij in Senatu Aurelianensi”. Orléans, Jesuits (founded 1617): see above. Provenance: Louis Jean Gaignat (1697-1768), Secretary to King Louis XV: Gaignat sale, 1769; lot 831 in Guillaume de Bure, 'Bibliographie instructive: supplément ... ou catalogue des livres de feu M. L.J. Gaignat', 2 vols (Paris: 1769). William Hunter (1718-1783), physician and anatomist: purchased by Hunter at the Gaignat sale through his agent, Jean-Baptiste Dessain, for 205 livres 2 sous; see 'Dessain-Hunter correspondence' (University of Glasgow Library, MS Gen. 36, f.23r). University of Glasgow: Hunterian bequest, 1807; Hunterian Museum bookplate on front pastedown, with former shelfmark “Av.2.3”.
Binding:	France, 18th-century red goatskin decorated with triple gold fillets, a small gold fleuron at each corner;  gold-tooled spine;  marbled endpapers;  gilt-edged leaves.   Size:  305 x 218 mm.
Leaf size:	296 x 210 mm.
Annotations:	Marginal annotations in Greek in black ink in a 16th-century hand from mμ1r-ſσ1r (Aristotle, De caelo et mundo) - many of which have been erased.
Decoration:	On aα1r a seven-line woodcut initial “Ε” is decorated in dull gold and deep blue, and several letters in the text are highlighted in deep blue.
Imperfections:	None.

 

Copy 2

GIP number:	A92/2
Shelf-mark:	Sp Coll Bh10-d.10 (see main library entry for this item)
Variants:	As signalled in CIBN A-504.  HΘ1r, running title:  var. A;  K1r:  var. B with signature κ but with foliation “73”, not “273”;  K2r:  var. A.
Note:	Uniformly bound as the second of a five-volume set with Bh10-d.9;  Bh10-d.11;  Bh10-d.12;  Bh10-d.13.
Provenance:	University of Glasgow: source unknown; shelfmark “K.8.3” on University Library bookplate matching entry in A. Arthur, 'Catalogus impressorum librorum in Bibliotheca Universitatis Glasguensis', (Glasguae: 1791).
Binding:	England, 18th-century gold-tooled red goatskin, bound by Christopher Chapman.   On both covers double fillets form a frame, within which is an ornamental roll (Nixon, ‘Harleian bindings’, pl. 14, Chapman roll 5);  the lozenge-shaped centre-piece frequently found on the covers of Harleian bindings is absent.   The head and tail of the spine are decorated with Nixon, ‘Harleian bindings’, pl. 14, Chapman roll 2, and the spine compartments are decorated with several individual tools including Nixon, ‘Harleian bindings’, pl. 15, Chapman no. 8;  the edges and turn-ins are decorated with Chapman roll 2;  marbled endpapers;  edges of leaves left plain.   Although associated with Chapman, this copy is not identifiable with the Harleian copy of the Aldine Aristotle, since it does not match Thomas Osborne’s description “foliis deaurat. & Lineis rubris” in his 'Catalogus bibliothecae Harleianae', vol. 1 (1743) no. 5373, and vol. 3 (1744) no. 935.   Size:  322 x 220 mm.
Leaf size:	304 x 208 mm.
Annotations:	Copious marginal and interlinear annotations in a 16th-century hand in Latin and Greek (and including some diagrams) from aα1r-bβ1v (Aristotle, Physica), from mμ1r-pπ2v (Aristotle, De caelo et mundo), and from xφ2v-xφ5r (Aristotle, Meteorologica);  18th-century shelfmark “K f5 n.7” in ink on first front flyleaf.
Decoration:	None.
Imperfections:	None.