"CERTAINLY ONE OF THE BETTER BOOKS TO APPEAR FROM THE PRESS OF ALDUS MANUTIUS IN THE PERIOD BEFORE 1501": AN ORIGINAL RUBRICATED LEAF FROM AN ALDINE INCUNABLE, THE 1499 EDITION OF SCRIPTORES ASTRONOMICI VETERES

(MANUTIUS, Aldus) BLISS, Carey S., editor. Julius Firmicus Maternus and the Aldine Edition of the Scriptores Astronomici Veteres. With an Original Leaf Printed by Aldus Manutius at Venice in 1499. Los Angeles: Kenneth Karmiole, 1981. Slim folio, original gray cloth, paper spine label. $700.

Limited first edition, number 126 of 164 copies, of this leaf book containing an original leaf from the 1499 Aldine folio incunable edition of Scriptores Astronomici Veteres, an important collection of astrological treatises.

"The Scriptores Astronimici Veteres, Venice, 1499, is principally a collection of astrological treatises, the first and most important being Firmicus Maternus de Nativitatibus in eight books… The incomplete copy of the Scriptores used for this leaf book contains only the eight books of the Firmicus Maternus de Nativitatibus which is still about 180 leaves… Some of the best printing and most significant work of the Aldine press was done before 1501… [the book of which this leaf formed a part] is certainly one of the better books to appear from the press of Aldus Manutius in the period before 1501" (from the text). "In its usual form, a leaf book contains an original leaf from a significant manuscript or printed book, accompanied by an essay written by a knowledgeable, or at least prominent, author… Reading about a book can be educational and rewarding, but seeing and handling the book—whether the complete object, or a single leaf extracted from it—is a completely different, and potentially much richer, experience. A belief in the power of the original object has been one of the main motivations for the production of leaf books ever since" (Silver). Leaf text in Latin, with rubrication in red and blue inks. See Goff F-191.

Cloth a little sunned. Leaf fine.