Della vita di Apollonio Tianeo.

Florence: Lorenzo Torrentino, 1549. Good. Octavo ( 17 cm); 723, [21] pages, last blank. Woodcut initials. In contemporary (or 17th century) vellum-covered boards, with leather label titled in gilt. Titled in manuscript on bottom edge. Pages not bright, with some light staining throughout. 19th-century armorial bookplate in chromolithograph. Vellum doesn't want to close in dry weather. References: Schweiger, Greek, 232; BM Italian 512, Adams P-1071. Gamba 1394 ("Bella edizione"). See also Bongi, 252.

First edition in a modern language of the novelistic biography of Apollonius of Tyana by the Hellenistic writer Philostratus of Lemnos (d. 230). Aldus had published a Latin translation at the beginning of the century, but popular clamor grew as Apollonius came to be seen as a sort of Jesus, or a parallel Jesus, or an alternative Jesus, or perhaps the real Jesus. No less than three major publishing houses rushed to get an Italian version of Philostratus out to the public. Torrentino's issue, translated by Francesco Baldelli, came out ahead of rivals Comino and Giolito. The volume also included a translation of an invective by Eusebius against Hierocles for promoting the "Christian" attributes of Apollonius. (Modern scholarship has questioned Eusebius's authorship.)