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Catalogue 72
Books
from the Past
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12.
BEMBO, PIETRO (1470-1547). Petri Bembi Epistolarum Leonis
Decimi Pont. Max. Nomine Scriptarum Libri XVI. Placuit praeterea
eiusdem autoris epistolas aliquot sane quam doctas adnectere. ....
Lugduni (Lyons), Apud haeredes Simonis Vincentii, [M.D.XXXVIII (1538)].
$1,950
8vo; pp. 432; signatures: a-z8, A-D8. Full contemporary vellum;
heel of spine slightly chipped; from the library of British author
Charles Richard Cammell, with his armorial bookplate and signature
on front endpapers; different private blindstamp on front free endpaper
and title; front free endpaper clipped at margin; erasure to heel
of title and light stain to final page; historiated and foliated
initials; engraved printer's device on title. Preface addressed
to Paulus III is dated MDXV. Colophon: Dionysius ab Harsio excudebat
Lugduni MDXXXVIII.
Graesse I, 333 n; not in BLSTC (Ital.); not in Adams; not in Brunet.
Same date of Preface noted in copies at Harvard and Chicago. The
son of a Venetian diplomat and book collector, Pietro Bembo was
well-educated in Greek and philosophy, as well as Latin and Italian
literature, having studied in major learning centres throughout
Italy. At an early age he showed a gift for literary scholarship,
and was recommended by his teachers for influential positions. Among
his distinguished occupations, Bembo was a translator of poetry
and prose for Aldus Manutius and librarian of St. Mark's. As an
author, Bembo published poems, letters and criticism in both Latin
and Italian, and was a contributor to Rerum Veneticarum Libris XII,
a history of Venice published in 1551. This volume includes letters
Bembo wrote on behalf of Pope Leo X, mainly during the early years
of his papacy (1513-1521). A secretary to the Pope with Jacopo Sadoleto
(1477-1547), Bembo was a leader of Ciceronianism, a movement dedicated
to imitating Cicero's eloquent style of writing Latin prose; these
letters are examples of this style. Also included are Bembo's letters
to fellow humanists Christophe Longueil (1488-1522), Guillaume Budé
(1467-1540) and Erasmus (1466-1536), as well as his poem Benacus,
a tribute to Lake Garda, first published in 1524. Bembo was ordained
to the priesthood late in life and was named cardinal in 1539. Leo
X (Giovanni de Medici, 1475-1521) was brought up in an ecclesiastical
environment. Yielding to pressure by his father Lorenzo the Magnificent
(1449-1492), Pope Innocent VIII named him cardinal at the age of
thirteen, and he was elected Pope Leo X in 1513. He was known for
his support of the arts and sciences, promoting poets, artists and
scholars, giving them positions of honour. Leo X took advantage
of the copious assets of the Vatican at his disposal, and while
large donations were assigned to charitable works, the bulk of the
papal treasury during his tenure financed extravagant banquets and
entertainment not usually congruous with spiritual leadership. Nevertheless,
under his patronage, Rome flourished as a cultural centre, producing
a heritage of art, architecture and literature that is widely appreciated
today.
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Important Work in the History of Music
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13. BEMETZRIEDER, [ANTON] (1743-1817). Leçons de Clavecin,
et Principes d'Harmonie, Par Mr Bemetzrieder. A Paris, Chez Bluet,
Libraire, Pont Saint-Michel, M.DCC.LXXI (1771). First edition. $2,500
4to; pp. viii, 362, [1] (Privilege). Signatures: [ff. 4], A-2Y4,
2Z2. Contemporary quarter calf over marbled paper boards; binding
worn; title vignette of publisher's device; head-piece and tail-pieces;
engraved music throughout. Very light water staining in upper margin
of few leaves; little foxing on half-title; p. 320 misnumbered 220.
Engraved bookplate of French publisher Gaston Calmann-Lévy
(1864-1948) on front paste-down. Preface is by Denis Diderot (1713-1784).
Quérard, France Littéraire I: 270. Copies located
at: BL, BNF, NYPL, Cornell. Bemetzrieder was born in Alsace and
came to Paris at a young age. He entered a Benedictine monastery,
but left the order, and became music teacher to philosopher Denis
Diderot's daughter Angelica. After discussions with Bemetzrieder
about his theory of music, Diderot offered to incorporate his thoughts
into a dialogue format, with Bemetzrieder acting as Master, Angelica
as Disciple, and Diderot as Friend. The central theme is the best
method of teaching a student to play the harpsichord, with consideration
to harmony, technical skill and improvisation. This is an important
work in the history of music, and it appeared in several later editions,
including English and Spanish.
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14.
BEMETZRIEDER, [ANTON] (1743-1817). Nouvel Essai sur L'Harmonie,
Suite du Traité de Musique, Dédié a Monseigneur
Le Duc de Chartres, Prince du Sang. Par M. Bemetzrieder. A Paris,
Chez L'Auteur, rue Neuve S. Roch, près celle des Moineaux.
Et chez Onfroy, Libraire, Quai des Augustins, au Lys d'or. M.DCC.LXXIX
(1779). $400
8to; pp. 286. Signatures: A-S8 (last leaf blank); bound without
plates. Contemporary quarter calf over marbled boards, corners bumped;
gilt title and rules on spine; marbled endpapers; title vignette;
engraved head-and tail-pieces; signature on front fly-leaf verso;
p. 259 misnumbered 25. Approbation dated 1780.
Copies located at: Cambridge, Harvard, ICCU. Following Bemetzrieder's
classical work Leçons de Clavecin, which was edited by Diderot,
this essay discusses "the science of tones and harmonies, consonance
and dissonance, and the principle elements of musical composition"
(t.p. verso). Publisher Eugene Onfroy was active in Paris from 1772-1809.
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15.
BOETHIUS, A[NICIUS] M[ANLIUS] S[EVERINUS]. ...Of the Consolation
of Philosophy. London, Printed by J.D. for Awnsham and John Churchill
and Francis Hildyard, 1695. Translated by Harry Coningsby &
Lord Preston. First English edition. $900
8vo; pp. xxxii, 246, (1) (errata); engraved frontispiece portrait.
Contemporary full blind-tooled calf, rebacked, with original spine
laid down; binding worn; armorial bookplate. Nice clean copy, printed
on heavy paper.
Wing B3433. Boethius "was a Roman statesman and philosopher,
often styled "the last of the Romans", regarded by tradition
as a Christian martyr, born at Rome in 480; died at Pavia in 524
or 525. Descended from a consular family, he was left an orphan
at an early age and was educated by the pious and noble-minded Symmachus,
whose daughter, Rusticana, he married. As early as 507 he was known
as a learned man, and as such was entrusted by King Theodoric with
several important missions. He enjoyed the confidence of the king,
and as a patrician of Rome was looked up to by the representatives
of the Roman nobility. When, however, his enemies accused him of
disloyalty to the Ostrogothic king, alleging that he plotted to
restore "Roman liberty", and added the accusation of "sacrilege"
(the practice of astrology), neither his noble birth nor his great
popularity availed him. He was cast into prison, condemned unheard,
and executed by order of Theodoric. During his imprisonment, he
reflected on the instability of the favour of princes and the inconstancy
of the devotion of his friends. These reflections suggested to him
the theme of his best-known philosophical work, the 'De Consolatione
Philosophiae'" (Cath. Encyc.).
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A Fifteenth-Century Boethius in Contemporary Binding
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16. BOETHIUS, ANICIUS MANLIUS TORQUATUS SEVERINUS (d. 524).
[Works]. Hec sunt opera Boetii, que in hoc volumine cõtinentur.
In porphirii Isagogen a Victorino translatam editio prima. In Porphirii
Isagogen a Boetio ipso trãslatã editio scda. In cathogorias
[sic] Aristotelis. editio una. In librum Aristotelis. de interpretatione
editio prima. In eundem librum de interpretatione editio secunda:
De divisionibus liber unus. De definitionibus liber unus. Ad cathegoricos
syllogismos introductio. Commentariorum in Topica Ciceronis libri
sex. De differentiis Topicis libri quattuor. De syllogismo cathegorico
libri duo. De syllogismo hipothetico libri duo. De trinitate libri
duo. De hebdomadibus liber unus: De unitate [et] uno liber unus.
Contra euthichen. [et] Nestorium de duabus naturis: [et] una persona
christi liber unus. [Venetiis, Ioannem [et] Gregorium de gregoriis,
8. Iulii, 1499.] Part 1 of 3. $9,500
Folio; 206 leaves, numbered [1]-199, 199-201. Sig.: [2], a8, 1 (register),
b8-z8, r8, c10, [1]. Gothic and some Greek type; 2 columns, 65 lines.
Numerous ornamental initials, some historiated, in white on black;
woodcut diagrams throughout text; register for part one; catchwords
on versos; signature marks. Without colophon, as is usually noted
for part one of this edition. Errors in foliation: leaves 19, 52,
113-116, 122, 159, 181, 184, 187, 195, 200-202 are misnumbered 18,
51, 114-117, 22, 179, 811, 185, 188, 145, 199-201 respectively;
part of number on f. 89 lost in trimming. Early manuscript note
in lower margin of last printed leaf. Contemporary full vellum,
somewhat soiled but intact, handwritten "Boetii Opera"
on spine; edges dusty; browning on few leaves; some worming throughout,
mainly, but not solely, in margins; contemporary notes on front
endpaper and first blank leaf. This is the complete first part of
a three-part set, each part of which was issued separately. A good
copy of a very scarce work.
Of other copies, including those described in Hain 3352, Pellechet
2491, Polain B721, Walsh 2034, only BM V, 21143 mentions the typographical
error in the title (cathogorias); in lists of errors in foliation,
f. 52 is not noted elsewhere; and the register for part one, present
here, appears in part two of some copies. This is the second edition
of Boethius' works printed by the de Gregoriis brothers; a previous
edition in two parts was published in 1492. Boethius was one of
very few Romans who had read the Greek scholars, and he passed on
his knowledge to his fellow citizens by providing a basic Latin
vocabulary of philosophical discourse and by translating the works
of Aristotle. This first part of the collection of Boethius' Works
includes his translation of Porphyry's introduction to Aristotle's
works of logic, the writings themselves, and Boethius' commentary.
Also included in this volume are his commentary on Cicero's Topics,
as well as five tracts by Boethius on theological subjects, such
as the Holy Trinity. Boethius' works and translations became essential
reading for classical scholarship right through the Middle Ages
and the Renaissance, and had a major influence on writers such as
Chaucer and Dante.
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