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Auction archive: Lot number 147

Plato's Opera Plato's Opera LORENZO DE ALOPA [BUT THE NUNS OF SAN JACOPO DI RIPOLI], 1484-5.

Estimate
US$200,000 - US$400,000
Price realised:
US$1,026,000
Auction archive: Lot number 147

Plato's Opera Plato's Opera LORENZO DE ALOPA [BUT THE NUNS OF SAN JACOPO DI RIPOLI], 1484-5.

Estimate
US$200,000 - US$400,000
Price realised:
US$1,026,000
Beschreibung:

Plato's Opera Lorenzo de Alopa [but the nuns of San Jacopo di Ripoli], 1484-5. PLATO (c.428-347). Opera. Translated by Marsilio Ficino (1433-99). Florence: [the nuns of San Jacopo di Ripoli (parts I-V) for] Laurentius (Francisci) de Alopa, [1484-85]. First edition of the complete works of Plato in any language—the book which returned Plato to Western Europe. Having been lost to the European philosophical tradition for nearly a thousand years, Plato was re-introduced in the translation of Marsilio Ficino under the patronage of Cosimo de’ Medici. In the words of Ficino himself, “The Divine Plato now finds himself in the light of day.” A.N. Whitehead famously wrote that all subsequent philosophical discourse essentially “consists of a series of footnotes to Plato," but for much of the Medieval period, only a partial translation of Plato’s Timaeus was accessible to Latin readers. During the Arabic translation movement, Meno, Phaedo, and parts of the Parmenides became available, but manuscripts of the complete works of Plato did not begin to circulate until the 14th century. Platonic ideas had nevertheless been percolating in Western Christendom for some time, by way of the influence of Augustine and other theologians influenced by the rich Greek philosophical tradition. But this reflected glow did not prepare the Renaissance Humanists for the reality of Plato’s dialogues: delightfully clever and stylish, ironic and sometimes biting, with a mix of ideas which seem to prefigure Christianity alongside those anathema to it—and worst of all, few clear conclusions on anything. The early Humanists engaged with Plato eagerly, but few of them truly understood what they were reading until Ficino brought the full force of his intellectual prowess to bear on a grand project of reconciling Platonism with Christianity for the enrichment of humankind. Rather than simply a model of eloquence or erudition, Ficino saw in Plato a “model of religion which would join wisdom and faith” (Hankins). The influence of Plato’s works was felt deeply and widely across both the arts and the sciences in Renaissance Europe. While his dialogues are an obvious achievement in literature and philosophy, his scientific legacy has been sometimes overshadowed by his student, Aristotle. But from neo-platonist mathematician-preachers using arithmetic and geometry to expound on the nature of truth and Alberti’s Platonic architectural theory to Kepler’s magnificent Platonic vision of the universe in his Mysterium cosmographium, Plato’s ideas live on in the science that still informs our lives today, thanks to Ficino’s translation and dissemination of his works. Science has not moved past Plato, but continues to return to his generative imagery and his work's consideration of the nature of knowing itself. According to physicist Walter Heisenberg: “Modern physics has definitely decided in favor of Plato.” The printing of this volume was funded by Filippo Valori, who contracted with Fra Domenico da Pistoia and Lorenzo de Alopa to produce 1025 copies of the Plato Redivivus. The dialogues are accompanied by argumenta which function as the embryonic form of Ficino’s later great commentaries on the dialogues. The work stands as a monument to Ficino’s “project to provide a complete and integrated frame of commentary and study aids for the Platonic corpus” (Hankins). While early (and practically unobtainable) editions of the Gorgias and The Apology printed prior to this edition are extant, largely in the sub-par translations of Aretinus, this was their first appearance as a unified corpus—a presentation which has shaped Plato’s reception ever since. “Ficino might very well be the first philosopher in the Latin West, at least since antiquity, to interpret Plato’s works as a coherent and singular corpus” (Robichaud). The works present in this edition, including some now with doubtful attribution, are: Hipparchus, De philosophia, Theages, Meno, Alcibiades I-II, Minos, Euthyphro, Parmen

Auction archive: Lot number 147
Auction:
Datum:
23 Apr 2021
Auction house:
Christie's
King Street, St. James's 8
London, SW1Y 6QT
United Kingdom
+44 (0)20 7839 9060
+44 (0)20 73892869
Beschreibung:

Plato's Opera Lorenzo de Alopa [but the nuns of San Jacopo di Ripoli], 1484-5. PLATO (c.428-347). Opera. Translated by Marsilio Ficino (1433-99). Florence: [the nuns of San Jacopo di Ripoli (parts I-V) for] Laurentius (Francisci) de Alopa, [1484-85]. First edition of the complete works of Plato in any language—the book which returned Plato to Western Europe. Having been lost to the European philosophical tradition for nearly a thousand years, Plato was re-introduced in the translation of Marsilio Ficino under the patronage of Cosimo de’ Medici. In the words of Ficino himself, “The Divine Plato now finds himself in the light of day.” A.N. Whitehead famously wrote that all subsequent philosophical discourse essentially “consists of a series of footnotes to Plato," but for much of the Medieval period, only a partial translation of Plato’s Timaeus was accessible to Latin readers. During the Arabic translation movement, Meno, Phaedo, and parts of the Parmenides became available, but manuscripts of the complete works of Plato did not begin to circulate until the 14th century. Platonic ideas had nevertheless been percolating in Western Christendom for some time, by way of the influence of Augustine and other theologians influenced by the rich Greek philosophical tradition. But this reflected glow did not prepare the Renaissance Humanists for the reality of Plato’s dialogues: delightfully clever and stylish, ironic and sometimes biting, with a mix of ideas which seem to prefigure Christianity alongside those anathema to it—and worst of all, few clear conclusions on anything. The early Humanists engaged with Plato eagerly, but few of them truly understood what they were reading until Ficino brought the full force of his intellectual prowess to bear on a grand project of reconciling Platonism with Christianity for the enrichment of humankind. Rather than simply a model of eloquence or erudition, Ficino saw in Plato a “model of religion which would join wisdom and faith” (Hankins). The influence of Plato’s works was felt deeply and widely across both the arts and the sciences in Renaissance Europe. While his dialogues are an obvious achievement in literature and philosophy, his scientific legacy has been sometimes overshadowed by his student, Aristotle. But from neo-platonist mathematician-preachers using arithmetic and geometry to expound on the nature of truth and Alberti’s Platonic architectural theory to Kepler’s magnificent Platonic vision of the universe in his Mysterium cosmographium, Plato’s ideas live on in the science that still informs our lives today, thanks to Ficino’s translation and dissemination of his works. Science has not moved past Plato, but continues to return to his generative imagery and his work's consideration of the nature of knowing itself. According to physicist Walter Heisenberg: “Modern physics has definitely decided in favor of Plato.” The printing of this volume was funded by Filippo Valori, who contracted with Fra Domenico da Pistoia and Lorenzo de Alopa to produce 1025 copies of the Plato Redivivus. The dialogues are accompanied by argumenta which function as the embryonic form of Ficino’s later great commentaries on the dialogues. The work stands as a monument to Ficino’s “project to provide a complete and integrated frame of commentary and study aids for the Platonic corpus” (Hankins). While early (and practically unobtainable) editions of the Gorgias and The Apology printed prior to this edition are extant, largely in the sub-par translations of Aretinus, this was their first appearance as a unified corpus—a presentation which has shaped Plato’s reception ever since. “Ficino might very well be the first philosopher in the Latin West, at least since antiquity, to interpret Plato’s works as a coherent and singular corpus” (Robichaud). The works present in this edition, including some now with doubtful attribution, are: Hipparchus, De philosophia, Theages, Meno, Alcibiades I-II, Minos, Euthyphro, Parmen

Auction archive: Lot number 147
Auction:
Datum:
23 Apr 2021
Auction house:
Christie's
King Street, St. James's 8
London, SW1Y 6QT
United Kingdom
+44 (0)20 7839 9060
+44 (0)20 73892869
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