Földvári Books

[Paris]: [Henri Estienne (I)], [1506]. Second, enlarged edition. In later paper wrappers. 60 p. A few small stains and occasional light soiling, some browning minor marginal wear. Contemporary scholarly marginalia and annotations, underlines concentrated on the opening leaves, with occasional notes elsewhere in the text. Final leaf with early pen trials, calligraphic flourishes, ownership inscriptions, and a short contemporary vernacular note. Overall in fine condition.

A scarce early Estienne university textbook on Aristotelian ethics from the circle of Jacques Lefèvre d’Étaples, containing Beatus Rhenanus’ earliest recorded original printed contribution.

This revised and enlarged edition of Jacques Lefèvre d’Étaples’ (c. 1455–1536) Artificialis introductio presents the leading French humanist’s concise introduction to Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, prepared for university instruction. First published in 1502, the work occupies an important place in the history of printing, as that edition was the earliest surviving book to bear the name of Henri Estienne I in its imprint, inaugurating the long collaboration between Lefèvre and the Estienne press. Between 1502 and 1511, more than half of Henri Estienne’s editions were devoted to Lefèvre’s educational programme. The present edition includes the commentary of Josse Clichtove (1472–1543), Lefèvre’s pupil and principal collaborator.

The edition contains what appears to be Beatus Rhenanus’ (1485–1547) earliest recorded original printed contribution: his signed address to the reader, Beatus Rhenanus lectori bene agere, introducing the work in two elegiac distichs. According to the bibliographies of Horawitz and Knod, Rhenanus’ only earlier recorded appearance in print was as one of the scholars participating in the recognitio of Lefèvre’s Contenta (1505).

Produced during the formative years of the collaboration between Jacques Lefèvre d’Étaples and the Estienne press, the volume exemplifies the new generation of Parisian university textbooks that combined concise exposition with learned commentary for the teaching of Aristotelian philosophy. The present copy preserves contemporary scholarly annotations, documenting its early academic use. The edition is also scarce on the market: RBH records only a single copy offered at auction during the past century, appearing in a sammelband of four early Aristotelian works by Lefèvre (Sotheby’s, 1995).

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Price: €6,000.00