A BINDING-PATTERN FOR AN ALDINE LATIN BOOK
CICERO, Marcus Tullius (106-43 B.C.). Epistolarum ad Atticum. ad Brutum, ad quintum fratrem, libri XX . Venice, Aldo Manuzio and Andrea Torresano, June 1513. $ 78,000 8o (173x110 mm). [16], 331, [1] ll. Contemporary Venetian binding, olivegreen morocco over bevelled wooden boards. Covers tooled in gold with a double frame composed by a fillet, the inner with semi-circle in center of the sides. Rosettes at the angles (Marciana e2). In the central panel a knotwork tool (Marciana b5), in gold. Spine with three raised bands, blind-tooled compartments, with patterns of diagonals and dots. Traces of ties, gilt and gauffered edges. Slight wear to the covers along the joints and around the headcaps. Excellent copy, a few slight stains. One small wormhole at the outer blank margin of the last quires, not affecting the text. The binding of this Aldine Cicero shows a decorative scheme typical of the Venetian 16th century style, used in numerous workshops of the period: a gilt rectangular frame, rosettes and leaves at the corners, and as central tool a knotwork, an arabesque leaf or a fleuron. This pattern is often noted on Aldine Press books, and it gave rise to a belief in the existence of Anchor and Dolphin bindery. Only after Aldus’s lifetime Andrea Torresano introduced a binder in the press. Adams C, 1907; RENOUARD Alde 61.3; AHMANSON-MURPHY 113; Laurenziana 115; A. HOBSON, Was there an Aldine Bindery?, in Aldus Manutius and Renaissance Culture, ed. by D.S. Zeidberg, Firenze 1997, pp. 237-245.
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