PORZIO (Simone) and Ps.-ARISTOTLE. De coloribus libellus (…) Florence, Lorenzo Torrentino, 1548.
Quarto (22 x 13.4 cm), 197 pages, [1] leaf. Contemporary limp vellum with overlapping edges. Occasional light foxing. The last two leaves and the final endpaper bear the imprint of a tree leaf, evidently onced place between the last leaf and the endpaper.
First edition of the Latin translation of this pseudo-Aristotelian text, preceded by a dedication to the Duke of Tuscany Cosimo I de’ Medici. Beautifully printed with two large woodcut historiated initials. “One of the earliest monographs on ophthalmology in which the author attempts to explain the cause of the variety of colors of eyes.” (Becker Collection in ophthalmology, 303). Simone Porzio was a professor at the Studio of Pisa from 1545 to 1552 and a member of the Accademia fiorentina. He was a passionate and consistent advocate of Aristotelian philosophy.
It is known that the Renaissance developed a practice of visual gloss, a “distinctive kind of visual explication of texts” according to Anthony Grafton (Cf. “The margin as canvas…”, Impagination, 2021, p. 185-207).
The anonymous reader, interested in optics, filled here the margins (exclusively of the preface) with figures corresponding to the text. Pp. 13-14: thus, he draws a mirror, an eye, a fire; but also the figure of the “Indian peafowl” about which the printed text emphasizes the crest, sometimes red, sometimes pale. Also noteworthy are three slender and elegant manicules signaling particularly important passages of the preface, two of which are devoted to the question of diaphanous light (p. 6 and 9).
Offered by Librairie Nicolas Malais
$3500
To purchase, contact librairiemalais@yahoo.fr
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