Diogenis Laertii De Vita Et Moribus Philosophorum Libri X. Cum Indice Locupletissimo

Lugdunum [lyon]: Apud Seb. Gryphium. Very Good with no dust jacket. 1541. No edition stated. Later Vellum (possibly 19th century) with 5 raised bands and gilt . blindstamped title. Printer's mark of a winged griffin on a slab with a winged ball below, accompanied by text: Virtute Duce, Comite Fortuna. Engraved printer's device of winged griffin on verso final page. With attractive wood-engraved initials. Collation: a1-5, (3) - z1-5, (3) , A1-5, (3) - G1-5, (3) , H1-3, (1). Owner's name on title page : Ch. Oc. T. A giorgio (16th century hand). Annotations and underlining in 16th century hand to some pages. Edges tinted. Light soiling to hinge front free endpaper, slight foxing to occasional page. Waterstain to top right hand corner first and last few pages. Slight wear & slight soiling to spine, covers & corners. An attractive copy of a very rare edition. ; 8vo. [16.8 x 11 x 3.1 cms]; 468, (20) pages; Diogenes Laertius, who lived around 230AD, wrote in Greek and compiled biographies of the major Greek philosophers from earlier source material. Much of his text is comprised of the famous sayings of Greek philosophers. Though he is one of our main sources for the history of Greek philosophy, his work is not up to modern scholarly standards, being haphazard, unreliable and uncritical. His article about Epicurus is considered especially valuable as it contains some original letters by the philosopher that are not extant elsewhere. The Latin translation (dedicated by Cosimo dei Medici) is by St Ambrose Traversari of the Camaldoli Order (1386-1439). As a theologian, he defended the primacy of the Pope. As a humanist, he devoted himself to translating into Latin important Greek texts, in particular the writings of the Greek Church Fathers. Sebastian Greyff, known as Sebastian Gryphius (1491-1556) was born in Swaben, Germany. He set up shop in Lyon, and started the Griffin workshop in 1536. By the 1540s he was known as the Prince of the Lyon Booktrade, publishing scholary, accurate editions of the Greek & Latin classics in 8vo and 16mo formats. He fomed a humanist circle around him, comprising members such as Alciati, Sadoleto, Scève and Dolet. His son Antoine continued the business after his death. Jean de Tournes who later became a major printer in Lyon was his foreman. Baudrier, H. L. Bib. Lyonnaise, VIII, p. 145 .