Diogenes Laertius: Vitae et sententiae philosophorum.
Translated by Ambrosius Traversarius. Edited by Aelius Franciscus Marchisius.
[Rome: Georgius Lauer, between Feb. and 15 June 1472?]
Fol. & 4to. [14 2-410 58 66 7-1310 146 158 1610]. [142] leaves (1/1 blank).
ISTC id00219000; GW 8378; Goff D219; BMC VII 1127 (IB. 17469); Bod-inc D-076; CIBN D-132.
Dated by BMC [between Feb. and 15 June 1472]; C. Bianca, ‘Martino Filetico, Giovanni Luigi Toscani et alii', in Studi latini in ricordo di Rita Cappelletto, ed. by S. Lanciotti et al., Ludus philologiae, 7 (Urbino: 1996), p. 282, argues that the edition should be dated after Jan. 1473.
| GIP number: | D14 |
| Shelf-mark: | Sp Coll Hunterian Bx.2.20 (see main library entry for this item) |
| Provenance: | Edward Harley (1689-1741), Lord Harley; from 1724 2nd Earl of Oxford: see Binding. Thomas Osborne (d. 1767), bookseller: purchased all the Harleian printed books; top corner of first front flyleaf cut off - as in many other Harleian volumes - probably by Osborne to remove his earlier price (cf. J.B. Oldham, Shrewsbury School bindings, p.114); no. 852* in Osborne’s Catalogus bibliothecae Harleianae, vol. 5 (London: 1745). William Hunter (1718-1783), physician and anatomist: source unknown. University of Glasgow: Hunterian bequest 1807; Hunterian Museum bookplate on front pastedown, with former shelfmark “Av.5.7”. |
| Binding: | England, 18th-century gold-tooled red goatskin, bound for Lord Harley by Jane Steel. On both covers triple fillets form a frame, within which is a floral and fleur-de-lys roll (Nixon, ‘Harleian bindings’, pl. 10, Steel roll 1), and within the roll is a decorative border made up of several separate tools (none of which is amongst the Jane Steel tools illustrated in Nixon, ‘Harleian bindings’, pl. 10). Both covers have a lozenge-shaped centre-piece, made up of several individual tools including Nixon, ‘Harleian bindings’, pl. 10, Steel nos 3, 7, and 9. The head and foot of the spine are decorated with Nixon, ‘Harleian bindings’, pl. 10, Steel roll 2, and the spine compartments are decorated with several individual tools including Nixon ‘Harleian bindings’, pl. 10, Steel nos 1a and 1b; the edges and turn-ins are decorated with Steel roll 2; marbled endpapers. Restored and rebacked (remains of original spine covering mounted on inside of rear board) by Douglas Cockerell & Son, Feb. 1962, whose binder’s note is tipped onto rear flyleaf. Size: 297 x 222 mm. |
| Leaf size: | 285 x 211 mm. |
| Annotations: | Marginal annotations (many extracting keywords) in 15th/16th-century hands, together with nota marks, manicules and occasional corrections of text; quires numbered; occasional evidence of signatures; manuscript catchword on 12/10v (f. 108v); foliated “1”-“151” from 2/1 (f. 5) onwards (with errors) in an early hand in centre of upper margin; a manuscript index leaf headed “Nomina phil[osoph]or[um]”, inserted at front, refers to that foliation. |
| Decoration: | A ten-line calligraphic initial “P” on 2/1r (f. 5r) is set on a square ground of reddish silver (now oxidized); other initials supplied throughout in red with manuscript guide-letters in black ink in margins; capital strokes in red throughout; occasional paragraph marks in red. |
| Imperfections: | Wanting bifolia 1/1.4 and sheet 4/5.6 (ff. 1, 4, 29, 30). |
