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PLOTINUS [PLOTIN].

[Opera]. Prohemium Marsilii Ficini Florentini in Plotinum ad Magnanimum Laurentium Medicem patriae servatorem. .

Florence: Antonio di Bartolomeo Miscomini, 1492.

1st Edition. Hardcover. Good. Item #002672

7 May 1492. Folio (340 x 230 mm). 439 (of 442) unnumbered leaves (lacking initial blank a1 and bifolio kk5-6). Signatures: a¹⁰ (-a1) b⁸ c-n¹⁰ o¹² p¹⁰ q-z¹⁰ &¹⁰ aa-uu¹⁰ (-kk5-6), [chi]². 45 lines, roman type, 3- to 9-line initial spaces with printed guides, woodcut printer's device on uu10r, printer and date from colophon on uu10r, title derived from caption in capital letters on leaf a2r, caption title on a3r: Plotini vita composita a Porphyrio discipvlo svo tradvcta vero a Marsilio Ficino Florentino, two errata leaves bound at end. Restored copy with the binding renewed and leaves washed. Early 20th century plain half vellum (corners bumped, extremities rubbed). Text with faint residual browning or staining in places (first and final leaf stronger), a few worm-tracks mainly to first and final gatherings (occasionally affecting text), leaf x6 detached, leaves a2-3, dd9 and [chi]1-2 with old paper repairs outside text area, a few leaves with tears in blank margins, 3 leaves somewhat frayed at fore-margin, few leaves reinforced at gutter. Beside the lacking two text leaves and the cleaning still good copy with ample margins, printed on thick paper. ----

BPH 161; Hain-Cop. 13121*; Proctor 6156; Goff P815; BMC VI 640; IGI 7906. RARE EDITIO PRINCEPS OF PLOTINO'S OPERA, translated into Latin by Marsilio Ficino. Plotinus' works, compiled by his disciple Porphyry, are the primary documents of Neo-Platonism and played an important role in the revival of Plato in the Renaissance. Ficino considered Plotinus the summus interpres of Plato. Ficino, encouraged by Pico della Mirandola, translated the works for his patron and financer of the task, Lorenzo de'Medici. Ficino completed the translation in 1486 and his commentary on them in 1491. Lorenzo died one month before their publication. Ficino's dedicatory letter to Lorenzo in this edition is an important document in the history of Florentine Platonism, as it recounts how Lorenzo's father, Cosimo de'Medici, having heard Gemistus Pletho's lectures on the mysteries of Plato, had commissioned Ficino to translate the Platonic corpus. In the midst of his labours the first works of Hermes Trismegistus came to light, and Cosimo requested that Ficino interrupt his work on Plato in order to translate Hermes. From the same dedicatory letter we find that Pico encouraged Ficino to translate Plotinus. In Plotinus, Ficino had found parallels not only to Asclepius, which he mentions in De Vita, but also a source of his beliefs on astral influences, the value of spiritual experiences, and the role of music as a tool for raising souls to God. (see also C. Dalmier, Apollonius Dyscole - Traité des conjonctions, Paris, 2001, pp. 280-82). Visit our website for additional images and information.

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