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Pioneering study of Roman coinage: the best book on the subject written up to that time

BUDÉ, Guillaume.
Libri V de asse, & partibus eius post duas Parisienses impressiones ab eodem ipso Budaeo castigati, idque authore Io. Grolierio Lugdunensi Christianissimi Gallorum regis secretario, et Gallicarum copiarum quaestore, cui etiam ob nostram in eum ob servantiam à nobis illi dicantur.

Woodcut Aldine printer's device on title and verso of last leaf.

Venice, Aldus & Andrea Asulani Sorceri, September 1522. 8vo. Contemporary limp vellum with title in ink on spine, parts of ties preserved. Woodcut Aldine printer's device on title and verso of last leaf. [12], 262 [=260], [2] ll.

Rare first and only Aldine edition of the first printed work on ancient Roman coinage and weights & measures, written by the great French humanist Guillaume Budé. This pioneering study of Roman coinage was the best book on the subject written up to that time. It was this work which gained Budé the greatest reputation. Though his activities were varied, his reputation as a humanist of the greatest erudition was established in 1515 with the publication of De asse et partibus eius: a treatise on Roman coinage. The treatise, however, also contains a manifesto arguing for the necessity of humanism in a Christian education. Budé argues that the truly educated Christian must study not just the Bible and the writings of the church fathers, but all types and forms of knowledge (also on coinage) so that he may recognize truth when he sees it. Although recognized by Budé's contemporaries as a valuable restatement of humanist aims and principles, De asse also attracted criticism because of its heavy, obscure, and ornate style.
According to Brunet and Renouard a copy of this work was printed on vellum for the famous bibliophile Jean Grolier (1479-1565), to whom this book is dedicated. This Aldine edition was preceded by two others, printed in Paris in 1514 and 1516 respectively by Badius Ascensius. A French extract of this work appeared in 1522 at Galliot de Pré in Paris, the Italian translation was printed in 1562 at Giunta in Florence.
Guillaume Budé (1468-1540) was a French scholar. He went to the University of Orléans to study law, but for several years, being possessed of ample means, he led an idle and dissipated life. When about 24 years of age he was seized with a sudden passion for study, and made rapid progress, particularly in the Latin and Greek languages. He was held in high esteem by Francis I, who was persuaded by him, and by Jean du Bellay, bishop of Narbonne, to found the Collegium Trilingue, afterwards the Collège de France, and the library at Fontainebleau, which was removed to Paris and was the origin of the Bibliothèque Nationale. He also induced Francis to refrain from prohibiting printing in France, which had been advised by the Sorbonne in 1533. Guillaume Budé corresponded with the most learned men of his time, amongst them Erasmus, who called him the 'marvel of France', and Thomas More.

Fine copy, with contemp. ms. annotations ink.

UCLA 212; Renouard, p. 94, no. 3; Adams B-3101; Graesse I, 565; Brunet I, col. 1374; Kress 28 (Paris 1516 edition), 31 (this edition); cf. Einaudi (Cologne 1528 & Italian Florence 1562 editions); Cat. Goldsmith 16 & 77 (Paris 1524 & Italian Florence 1562 editions).

Related Subjects: 16th Century Aldus Manutius Greek & Latin Numismatics Typography Venice

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