Gnomographoi theognidos megareos gnomai. Phokyliadu poiema nuthetikon. Pythagorum chrysa epe. Solonos gnomai. Theognidis, Phocylidis, Pythagorae, Solonis et aliorum poemata gnomica [BOUND WITH] Tu sophotatu Phile stichoi iambikoi peri zoon idiotetos. Sapientißimi Phile versus iambici de animalium proprietate.

TWO SCARCE EDITIONS OF INTERESTING WORKS BOUND TOGETHER, ONE OF WHICH IS THE SECOND EDITION OF PHILES' ON THE NATURE OF ANIMALS

8vo, pp. [8] 152; 32, 159, [9]. Greek and Italic types, sporadic Roman. Woodcut printer's devices, initials, head and tailpieces. Occasional moderate browning and mild damp staining at margins. Generally very good. Contemporary limp vellum with ties and original endpapers.

1) The first work contains the gnomic poems of Pythagoras, Theognis, Solon, Phocylides and other ancient Greek authors. The humanist Sylburg was a German classical scholar born near Marburg. In 1583 he moved to Frankfurt to act as editor of Greek texts for the publisher Johann Wechel. In 1591 he moved to Heidelberg, where he became librarian to the elector palatine and continued the Wechel series by collaborating with the printer Jerome Commelin. The present book is the result of their joint work.

2) This edition was edited by German humanist Joachim Camerarius and is the rare second edition of Philes' work. The Byzantine poet Manuel Philes is best known now for his work On the Nature of Animals, which is a long poem dealing with various beasts of land, sea, and air. The survival of this work owes a great deal to the 16th-century Cretan scribe Angelos Bergikios, who made something of a career out of producing lavishly-illustrated copies of this poem for French aristocrats. Interestingly, the unicorn is one among the several animals whose nature is illustrated in the poem. According to Philes, the legendary unicorn was a wild beast with a dangerous bite: it had the tail of a boar and the mouth of a lion. Only a woman could catch such creatures: according to medieval folklore, the unicorn would place its head in the lap of a female virgin and then fall asleep, allowing the hunter to sneak up on it unawares.

1) USTC 659939; 2) Adams P1006; USTC 699757