Barbaro, Exquisitiae in Porphirium commentationes, Venice, Aldus, 1542, later half calf, Abrams copy

Barbaro, Daniele. Exquisitae in Porphirium commentationes Danielis Barbaris p.v. artium doctoris. Venice: (sons of Aldo Manuzio), 1542

The roman type used here first appeared in Aldo's edition of Lascaris Erotemata (1494/1495), and was only employed a few times elsewhere. A2 contains (in italics) the privilege granted to Paolo Manuzio by Paul III for this work. Barbaro's dedication is to Cardinal Benedetto Accolti.

While better known for his works on architecture, Barbaro also composed this philosophical treatise based around Porphyrius's handbook on Aristotle's Categories; the commentationes "can be read as a general survey of Aristotelian philosophy as taught in Padua in Barbaro's days" (Daniele Barbaro's Vitruvius of 1567, edited by Kim Williams, 2019, p. xiv).

4to (206 x 140 mm). Roman type, 27 lines plus headline. collation: A-Z⁴ AA-CC⁴ DD⁶: 110 leaves. Woodcut Aldine device on title-page and final verso (otherwise blank), manuscript foliation, manuscript index written on DD6r. (Inscription washed from title-page resulting in slight staining, stain at head of last few quires.)

binding: Nineteenth-century green morocco-backed marbled boards (212 x 149 mm). (Binding slightly scraped.)

provenance: George Abrams (1929-2001), booklabel, sale, Replica Shoes 's, 16-17 November 1989, lot 137, £1,000, to Maggs Bros. acquisition: Purchased from E.K. Schreiber, New York, 1992. references: UCLA 306; Edit16 4129; Renouard 124/2