College Record 2013

Display of books at the Ancient Commentators on Aristotle conference, December 2012
In what follows I shall describe some of the books that we put on display (and refer
readers to the article in the Bodleian Library Record for a fuller account and further
references). But I should stress at the outset that this selection reflects my own
interests and knowledge, and others could no doubt make an equally interesting
selection focused on other subjects. Here, though, my focus is on ancient philosophy.
One of the most famous early printers is Aldus Manutius (1451-1515), and Wolfson
has a number of books published by his printing firm. It is difficult to overstate
the importance of Aldus in the history of printing. His fame rests on a number
of important achievements. He introduced the italic typeface for the first time,
combining this with the octavo format to produce a series of compact pocketbooks
that could be taken and read almost anywhere, allowing learning literally to
escape from the confines of the medieval library. His legacy is perhaps greatest
as a publisher of Greek texts. From Aldus’ press were issued the first printed
editions of Herodotus, Thucydides, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Aristophanes, Plutarch
(the Moralia), Plato and Aristotle. Wolfson has a copy of a collection of Neoplatonic
philosophical texts translated into Latin by Marsilio Ficino and printed by Aldus’
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