[Tetrabiblos] Hoc in libro nunquam ante typis aeneis in lucem edita haec insunt. Libri Quatuor Composti Syro Fratri

Nuremberg: Ioannem Petreium, 1535. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. 1st Edition. Hardcover. "3 parts in one volume 4to (210x151 mm). [6], 59, [5], 84, [24] leaves. Greek and Latin text, a woodcut diagram and woodcut initials (little soiling, browning and spotting, occasional mainly marginal staining, heavier at the end and quires q and s, tear without loss at gutter of title page). Contemporary vellum with yapp borders, manuscript title on spine, blue sprinkled edges (light staining). Provenance: Biblioteca Prov. Ven. Med. S.I. Letteraria (stamp on title and l.33); Collegio C. Arioi, Brescia (stamp on title); Compagnia del Gesú, Rome (book label). A fine copy, complete with all blanks present. ----

DSB XI, p.198; Zinner 1605; Burmeister, Rhetikus III, 31; Thorndike V, 364; Schweiger I, 279; Houzeau & Lancaster 3636; VD16 P5248. -

FIRST EDITIONS of the original greek texts and the translations. Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos is one of the great astrological textbooks of antiquity. Book 1 describes the technical aspects of the subject, book 2 the influences on the earth in general, and books 3 and 4 with influences on human life. The Greek text contains symbols representing signs of the zodiac and planets and stars. A chart explaining the symbols is included at the beginning of the text. The Karpos, a collection of astrological aphorisms, is erroneously ascribed to Ptolemy. In addition to the two Greek texts by Ptolemy, this edition contains the Latin translation by Joachim Camerarius of the Tetrabiblos, the Latin translation by Giovanni Pontano of the Karpos and two short works by Matthaeus Guarimbertus (Opusculum de radiis et aspectibus planetarum) and Ludovicus de Rigius (Aphorismi astrologici). A different Latin translation of the Tetrabiblios, by Plato Tiburtinus, was published in Venice by Ratdolt in 1484 (Goff P1088).