Books

1513. Aldine anchor device to title & verso of last leaf. [32], 502, [2], 439, [1] p. (complete with blanks 24 & ii4). Two parts in one vol. Folio, 18th-cent. mottled calf (hinges rubbed & spine a trifle worn at head & foot), early shelf label to spine. Venice: Aldus Manutius, 1513. Editio princeps of Plato’s works in the original Greek, one of the greatest Aldine publications, with a fine and appealing early American provenance. This book printed for the first time manuscripts of Plato’s works newly discovered by Lascaris at Mount Athos in 1492, under the patronage of Lorenzo de Medici. It also features a remarkable preface by Aldus, in which he dedicates the book to Pope Leo X. He refers to the numerous expeditions to the Americas, Asia, and Africa undertaken in recent years. This copy was once in the library of Thomas Jefferson’s son-in-law, Thomas Mann Randolph (1768-1828), the 21st governor of Virginia. Randolph married Martha Jefferson and moved into Monticello, where…

Opera, in the context of Plato, refers to the collected works of the classical Greek philosopher. This collection includes various philosophical texts that have been central to Western philosophy.