MACROBIUS, Aurelius Theodosius (fl. 400 CE) - photo 1
MACROBIUS, Aurelius Theodosius (fl. 400 CE) - photo 2
MACROBIUS, Aurelius Theodosius (fl. 400 CE) - photo 3
MACROBIUS, Aurelius Theodosius (fl. 400 CE) - photo 4

MACROBIUS, Aurelius Theodosius (fl. 400 CE)

Lot 119
10.07.2024 10:30UTC +00:00
Classic
Sold
£ 40 320
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
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ID 1249802
Lot 119 | MACROBIUS, Aurelius Theodosius (fl. 400 CE)
Estimate value
£ 25 000 – 35 000
MACROBIUS, Aurelius Theodosius (fl. 400 CE)
In Somnium Scipionis expositio. –Saturnalia. Venice: Nicolaus Jenson, 1472.
Editio princeps of Macrobius’s neo-platonist commentary on Cicero, with a Macrobian zonal world map added in a near-contemporary hand. The present edition is significant also for containing the first printed text of portions of Homer and Lucretius (Dibdin).

Macrobius’s commentary on Cicero’s otherwise mostly lost De re publica was hugely popular throughout the Middle Ages. It addresses not only the nature of the soul and the divine but the structure of the heavens and the celestial spheres, giving Macrobius scope to comment on everything from philosophy to physics. The Macrobian mappamundi, which shows the five zones or climata of the earth according to Macrobius’s measurements, is supplied in this copy in a near-contemporary hand, apparently copying the map first published in the Brescia edition of 1485. Copies consulted at the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek and Trinity College, Cambridge are either left blank or contain much more rudimentary versions of the map.

This edition also contains Macrobius’s Saturnalia, another imitation of Plato which records scientific and literary conversation held during a fictional dinner party. The sixth book of Saturnalia contains numerous extracts from Virgil and Homer, the latter representing the first printed text of the poet. GW M19702; Goff M-8; BMC V 172; BSB-Ink M-1; Bod-inc M-001; ISTC im00008000; Dibdin Spenceriana 303.

Chancery folio (304 x 218mm). 164 leaves (of 166, without the first and final blanks). Several diagrams in early ink manuscript in the margins and blank spaces in the text, of which one is on a pasted overslip, the Macrobian zonal mappamundi given in a near-contemporary hand on, initial spaces and a few early ink initials [e2v] (repairs to gutter in two leaves, minor marginal worming at beginning and some light marginal stains). 18th-century mottled calf, red and green morocco spine labels lettered in gilt, spine decoratively gilt (head of spine chipped, minor worming to foot of spine, faintly rubbed). Provenance: Doria family, counts of Montaldeo, engraved armorial bookplates of ‘Johannis Caroli de Auria ex comitibus Montis Aldei’ and ‘Georgij et Ambrosii de Auria, marchionum Montis Aldei’ – by descent.
Place of origin:Italy, Europe
Auction house category:Antiquarian books, Books and manuscripts, Printed books
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
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10.07.2024 – 10.07.2024
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