CHARACTERUM ETHICORUM THEOPHRASTI ERESTII CAPITA DUO

first edition

1786 · Parma

by (BODONI IMPRINT). THEOPHRASTUS

Parma: Ex Regio Typographeo, 1786. EDITIO PRINCEPS of these two chapters. 308 x 222 mm. (12 x 8 3/4"). 4 p.l., 128 pp., [5] leaves. Giovanni Cristoforo Amaduzzi.
Refined contemporary crimson morocco, covers framed by bead and flower-and-ribbon rolls bordered by French fillets, oblique inward-facing urns at the corners, smooth spine elaborately tooled with turn-ins gilt, sea green silk moiré endleaves, all edges gilt. Frontispiece engraving of a bust of Theophrastus by Domenico Cagnoni. A Large Paper Copy. Verso of front flyleaf with armorial bookplate of Baron Grigori Stroganov; title with ink inscription "2044" and Cyrillic university library inkstamp; (truncated) additional very small, faint blue inkstamp of the double-headed eagle to the lower margin of page 32. Brooks 315; Dibdin II, 503; Schweiger I, 321. Spine slightly sunned, corners and joints just a bit rubbed (though these nicely refurbished), a few dings to the upper cover; only the most trivial imperfections internally--A LOVELY COPY, the elegant binding scarcely worn, and the text beautifully fresh, clean, and bright.

In a stately neoclassical binding perfectly suited to its contents, this is an elegant deluxe printing of a pioneering ancient work of psychology and sociology, described by Dibdin as "a very splendid edition." First as a pupil of Aristotle and then as the master's successor as head of the school of Peripatetic philosophy, Theophrastus (ca. 371 - ca. 287 B.C.) wrote widely on a number of subjects, ranging from ethics to physics to botany (he is considered the "father" of the last discipline). Taken from an eleventh-century manuscript held at the Vatican, the present volume contains the first appearance in print of the final two chapters (29 and 30) of the author's "Characters," containing pithy descriptions of the various types of human foibles, noted by the Oxford Companion for their "remarkable vivacity and keenness of observation." Our printer, Giambattista Bodoni (1740-1813), worked for more than 20 years at the Royal press in Parma before obtaining permission to set up his own private press in 1791. Brooks says, "He took his printing in all its branches very seriously, laboured incessantly to perfect his type, had a fine artistic sense, . . . and produced books not only of a very high standard, but also showing a remarkably distinct individuality." Bodoni used the finest quality paper available, and his clear beautiful types have been envied and copied for many generations. "The result of his labours is a long list of books which . . . reach a very high, many of them the highest, level of technical excellence." That technical expertise is much on display here. This volume displays his elegant Greek, roman, and italic types, all sharp and deeply impressed on beautiful, creamy paper. This copy comes from the library of the Baron Grigori Stroganov (1770-1857), a Russian diplomat who during his storied career served in Spain, France, and Constantinople, participated in the trial of the Decemberists, and acted as official Russian representative at Queen Victoria's coronation.. (Inventory #: ST20230)

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