Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: THE FIRST EIGHTY YEARS AFTER THE INTRODUCTION of movable-type printing in Europe are particularly interesting to those studying the development of the production and circulation of the literary genre of the fable in the early modern period. The collections of fables ascribed to the name of Aesop, in different languages, textual forms, and editorial arrangements, already enjoyed a notable degree of popularity during the fourteenth century, all over Europe. From the beginning of the fifteenth century the humanistic interest in rediscovering classical literary sources had involved Aesopian literature as well, with new translations of the Greek texts of Aesop’s biography (Vita) and of the apologues (Fabulae) being produced, along with a general reconsideration of their literary value.1 After the introduction of the new medium in the 1450s, this material soon found its way into print: the advent of the printing press not only accelerated the pace at which existing texts could be published and put into circulation, but also stimulated the production of new textual and editorial arrangements, translations and cases of contamination, and ultimately the production of new literary works. In the first half of the sixteenth century this scenario was made even richer by an ever-expanding and diversified audience; still, Aesop’s authority, and the texts variably related to his name, remained fundamental in early modern European culture, read by schoolboys as well as by artists, humanists, and politicians.2 To understand the dynamics of the early production and circulation of these texts it is crucial to establish their place in the libraries of the time and in the contemporary book market. An interesting example taking this approach is provided by the editions of Aesopian texts that were part of the monumental collection of manuscripts, incunabula, and sixteenth-century printed books gathered in Seville by Hernando Colón (1488–1539).3 As one of the largest private libraries of its time, the collection of Cristóbal Colón’s second son included, among the over 15,000 books it contained before its founder’s death, an interesting and varied corpus of Aesopian printed editions (plus at least one manuscript), which deserves to be explored further.4 The identification and the analysis of these editions highlight how, rather than settling for one or two random imprints of the Fabulae or the Vita Aesopi, Colón included in his selection different examples of the variety of linguistic, textual, and editorial forms in which Aesopian texts were circulating at this time, especially in printed books, which Colón preferred to manuscripts for collecting purposes. Such an array of material suggests a good awareness of the varied production available on the market, and ultimately appears to be in line with Colón’s desire to gather a copy of every book published, the under lying aim of his collecting.5 Indeed, we find examples of the medieval collection of the Esopus, in elegiac couplets, sitting next to new humanistic Latin translations and versions of the fables, as well as to popular Greek and Latin collections which also include texts not directly related to Aesop’s name and authority but still of Aesopian inspiration. The latter compilations are often related to the work of the most important intellectuals, editors, and printers of Colón’s times, such as Aldus Manutius in Venice or Erasmus and his circle of collaborators in Basel. Colón’s Aesop collection, therefore, provides both interesting evidence of the early use of these books and an overview of some of the main features of the genre at the time. Of the twenty-two Aesopian editions which are recorded as having at some point been part of Colón’s library and which are identified in this article, only one is not known to have survived to this day. Of the remaining twenty-one, six of Colón’s own copies are still held by the Biblioteca Capitular Colombina in Seville.6 The other editions do survive, although not in the very exemplars once owned by Colón: the five copies of the five editions that were included in the so-called Registrum A are assumed to have been lost, as will be explained below; Colón’s copies of the remaining editions, on the other hand, are currently unlocated, which does not exclude the possibility that they may at some point be identified and become available again to scholars. In any case, even for the lost and unlocated copies we still possess information on their place, date, and price of acquisition thanks to Colón’s system of catalogues. These data, gathered at the end of the article, may contribute to the construction of a first overview on the value and commercial distribution of these texts in the context of the early modern European book trade. The relatively high number of editions which constituted Colón’s Aesopian corpus and the wealth of information about recorded in his library and also the a that books and to their textual and were in Colón’s The point to this of of Colón’s books is the so-called an which was to include all the by by and as well as by with all in a into two A the name and the of the work by to other in Colón’s the Registrum a collecting and information about the books the in which the different are on the of the they and the a collection of of the contained in the of the which are not all in every is made a the number is some with a the the number is in a the and the number is in a system of to the other is in place for to the first of the in the of Colón’s collection, editions were but not also or are cases in which the only a by the of the place of printing of the and the of of the or as well, to features of the number of and the were also to an existing which the of and Colón a of a which to be or interesting to In the are under the The the of and the first two of of the and a of the and some on the of the editions, in will be in the of this Biblioteca Capitular Biblioteca Capitular to which a second in in in in to which a second to which a second in in to which a second a in in in to which a second in The next in the of the Aesopian books in Colón’s library the of the to to the Registrum a in which books are not but to the that they have in the as to have which information on the the of most textual and of the as well as information on and Colón’s copy was its price in the and about the at the time of number is recorded also in the book a in the first as well as in a found in the of the of the on the other hand, do not any of textual or with the book in the with and not with editions, are to editions, as two different have the number those texts were in Colón’s library as part of the In the an identification for all the editions in the in the the contained in the the identified editions will be in the in which they were the to the In the of Aesopian the to the of Latin of the Vita and Fabulae Aesopi, printed in by in Colón’s copy still in the collection of the Biblioteca Capitular Colombina in Seville and the found in his in this it that the copy was for in in and the value of the the at the time of the translations of the Vita and of the Fabulae were in the and as one of the humanistic translations of the Aesopian texts which the of with Aesopian to have survived in the Biblioteca the to the in the that a of the fables was also part of Colón’s library at some The that such a is the suggests that it may have contained Aesopian as the printed of a are found in the to the of of the Vita and the Fabulae in under name all the printed A second of evidence for is in of the the in which to to humanistic Aesopian that by was a of in in the The fables, Greek into Latin and to of this of any Aesopian appears in the in to that the was in this In the the second number at a with the to the printed in by on The Biblioteca Capitular Colombina still this the acquisition on the that it was already in for in and The the so-called a and Latin into the of the or Esopus, a collection of fables in elegiac which enjoyed popularity in Europe the fourteenth to the sixteenth both in and printed Biblioteca Capitular of the and first Biblioteca Capitular and of the In the to two fables are to the by one of the two main of the Latin fable is and two a and a In to the collection of fables, five texts are found in most editions of the a first and a second the a a and a The printed by all of and is also by a which son in and by a Latin in elegiac which a by that of the one printed in by and have been the only of this in Colón’s the first number in the for this to the in in As this to the printed by which is in and a different of textual the the name of the date, and place of printing are in the not in the most the other hand, the could point the identification of with the of the to and which in only two known owned by the Biblioteca in and by the Biblioteca in the in the second we find an of the Latin of the most printed in by the and is a of the in in fables, with the The that the the number of fables included in the collection as a of this as well as of other editions of the a awareness of the textual of the different editions of the The and printed in but already found in was one of the that the in the early of its printed Colón also owned a copy of the Aesop printed in on by and The is in the as a in in the and with the of the The is a copy of Aesop, printed in in of the fables was still on the Latin and of the all of rather of textual Latin of the Latin in elegiac and in of the fable and a of its or or a of the and or or which a of the by the Vita is a of Latin into different by a the and by the The owned by Hernando Colón is also the contained in the Colón’s copy is still owned by the Biblioteca with some of the fables the number was in on the of the the in a The fourteenth in the does not directly to Aesopian but rather to two editions in the of which a to To on the of the the Aesopian fable of the two to which every a the we other that we on and in the we own that we and we to In to the of printed by Aldus Manutius in in which the at The is in a in the and to this is made the end of the in As the to place, and of and that Colón’s copy was in in for is still owned by the Biblioteca Colombina and by Colón the beginning of the Aesop is is with the to an of printed in in with by and and or texts by and In this case, to the Aesopian is found in five to six of the in Colón’s copy of this does not in the Biblioteca we the that it was in in for A of the is In in in in The is to be identified with the one printed in by in in two known a by the and of the medieval collection of and texts known as the a of Latin the the the the Esopus, of the and to and the by as a to be by the the of the these texts to be by during the as they to be as related to the medieval the popularity they had the of the fifteenth century and into the first half of the sixteenth century in European is by the than known editions printed before which made the one of the most of that In the the the and the are by a of and such as the were in of to and of those which as to classical to the in the of Aesopian editions, in In in The of the to have the of modern the in which be identified with one of the two editions printed in under the and at the of a and of in the and production of editions of the The of the owned by Colón may be it with the main of have on the with as the of and the before the of the of as the of the one in the with as the of printing and the of as the of the only the Latin of the and fables, the fables of one of the two main of the Esopus, the two fables and does not to as by printed in by the of which contained only the part of the for of the in with of the fables in The for the fables, one on one of the of Aesop’s The to the of the printed in by in collection is an and of the Aesopian put by the for the first time in in the end of Aesop had already been all over both in its Latin and and had been into included the Latin texts only their and was the first to with for provided the of the fables which only in their or in the with or the end of selection of texts a new selection of fables which are not found in versions of which were already included, as well as other and in and other often to classical second part of is by a to his son and by the book of in which the a of the literary genre of the fable and of its main with to Aesop as the main of the the one which in its very this not only as an collection of fables, but also as an to the features and of a genre which was in the of a particularly of and production at the of the new The Aesopian in the also a collection of in this printed in Venice in and apologues in the collection of fables by the Esopus, this time to the the fables by by the the two by the and and other by the a to his in the of and the a of Latin The is by the of collections of Latin in in which the the and the of the Aesopian become a which literary and to which a variety of and as well as classical and but also and some The first under the name of Aesop in the a of the Biblioteca Capitular in Erasmus in in in In in The be identified with that printed in in by the end of the a by Colón Colón’s copy of this second still at the Biblioteca Colombina and the of fables, particularly among those by editions are with the editorial of the so-called by the and with the aim of with a of Aesop’s than the Esopus, at this as and of literary To a editorial published in and by the at the beginning of the of Aesopian related to the of humanistic in the and Erasmus a of other classical and humanistic were and of fables and first on the other hand, the an printed by and in the only the two editions to be that the and the the of in the they are by the of and and the of in the Colón the of one with the other as the to have been before the one but during the acquisition in which in After the was the have on the one of its of the and we but we the of the Greek editions of Aesop, as the in the the printed in by in is known that had been with Erasmus and that was the only to his in the Erasmus was in The and of printing the Greek of Aesop’s and fables had in in the with the by in the Vita in the to the and and a of Greek fables, in Latin translations of the Vita and the and a selection of fables in Greek and After of were again in and in a second in the printed of the Greek of Aesop in with the in Venice by Aldus which contained new translations of Vita and of the fables, the of five to Greek and a of and related to Aesop and to the of the fable and as forms of literary and popular These texts include a collection of fables to of century a for the of Greek century a collection of the of the to the fables century and Aesopian collection had a on imprints of the Greek both the published in by in and first Aesopian which in were on the but with a on the of the which to a selection of In the owned by the fables and Aesop’s are the context on the and included in a selection of Greek texts in and in the Latin translations are The the Aesopian was to his the of the Greek to the first of this on the other hand, is as a selection of texts among by and by their value for those were or to in their Colón’s copy in the Biblioteca and the at the end of the book that it was in in for The in the to an of the fables in and printed in in it is the only one among those to in the which does not to have survived to this in any known in the in the The first the in the and in in To its we into the copy of Aldus of Aesop’s and fables currently owned by the Biblioteca Capitular From the first printed of the early editions owned by the library the copy been put in with of Colón’s the of of the Aesop, and the that Colón was of his as a and an it is not to find this among the other editions that we at the of the and it with cases already the number be with the and be identified as a copy of the of the Greek and Latin fables and related Aesopian texts printed in in rather than as the The on the other hand, a to a number which number and is also in the as number does not to any in the and is in not as is for in An with this is found in Registrum also known as the a of to those found in the of to manuscripts and printed editions during an acquisition which place in and in and which were soon their were to Venice by and were lost in a at the end of the or at the beginning of the The of the lost books to were and with different editions in the of the but the was with the of and had been it is among these that we find a to the of Aesop, as Vita in a the the and of of Aesop, the that the book is in the very a copy of this in Venice in have been lost in the As for the copy of Aesop currently owned by the Biblioteca it be a does not to be any that establish it was Colón was still or it part of the collection a different The copy does not to any of any in Colón’s any to its place in the or in any other of the library is as well as any or of this new copy is made in the cases of are very do its to any evidence in this The on the other hand, is in the as it was in to the lost Greek and Latin of the Aesopian production was and it will to that this is a second with of the already printed in Aesop, was not the only book that Colón lost in the The a of all which to editions of the fables in the a copy of and fables in the printed in Venice on by The was in Venice in as part of a of at the of for one the a The is in the as an copy of printed in in and in Venice in for with an of one to The is in the as of the Vita and the printed in in and in Venice for on The is in the as printed in Venice in and in Venice for on From this it appears that the had a on Colón’s Aesopian a that was for by of Aesopian editions, some of which were as for the lost The cases the of the system of by Colón and his to his a system that data, and to the different editions and copies included in the A which is although not and As as the of Aesopian editions is one main in the in the of an to an of Latin of Aesopian fables printed in in and also in in for As the Colón’s library as part of collections and to which this other as the one printed in by be in the only one to to be in with the of the included in the the other hand, not only is of this included in the under but does it under in with the of the first fable in and in From a point of this and well as this system only a and a of the of all the of Colón’s with the and the will a of its to the be as of the for the of in Colón’s library in the production of for the texts contained in the editions that some of the to this in two main copies of are still in the Biblioteca Capitular the copy of is found in the The of production of these is currently being A of these two the by and by Colón suggests in the library have been in of the of in the other had to copy In own as by the book of is it provides information about the of the books, and does not have books to at least will have one that will with a of is in the book and its will and will not be into are books with and which do not they do this in to The to the and of in the of a a to the of one will often to one for in the of textual also for to a main and its or its Of all the Aesopian editions that were part of Colón’s collection, only and to have been and the texts they with an number in the The of some in with the only were for it to in of the number of texts is to Aesop’s fables in their and by and to of the to and to In the of Aesop’s fables and to a the provides a of those had been the Aesopian in also the not to one to of but only to and as they in These are and only highlight the have as the most important features of the in the fables, which had to in into to in his fables an and of with to have the of the fables being in The to is number and of the which appears in to which the of the an to on the value of Aesop’s which remaining the of the literary that be to of the of Aesop in Hernando Colón’s library is the to in the so-called or was by Colón in as by in a on is an of Latin and their and of or that is or linguistic, and features related to the or its use in literary the be to in the work at the of The to Aesop is found on the information on Aesop’s and was to in circulation at the time, it is to the of the with the Latin part of the one on Aesop found in printed for the first time in and of which Colón had at least two editions in his As a to this first of the of Aesop in Colón’s it be interesting to highlight that a to editions and also appears in the so-called or is in and at different by different to a main such as and and a which the of that to which the for the are the time a for Aesopian in the not been two are found under on of the Colombina the Latin in in the humanistic of the and the with the of are as of After the of Aesopian texts in Colón’s and and the Aesopian editions that his library at different in time, it is at least a to a first of the for those editions over the is not the aim of this analysis to or the number of related to Colón’s of the of his and his as the of the the of to only a does this analysis that the by Colón for his books be time and and assumed to be a of the of the contemporary book market. the it to gather this for the editions and to some of a that be in the context of very and which will be and in the of the twenty-two printed editions one we have information for of which five were lost in the and are in the of were in in one in in two in and two in and one in in a time which over to in a of the of copy of Aesopian editions by all the different into they all to be on the of the price for the of the time, with most of the copies than The only to be the two editions included in this which both a than one interesting which the of acquisition information is the the place of of the and the place Colón’s copy was only six editions of the for which we have this information were printed and in the place Venice and the in the they were the printed in in in in and in in the printed in and in in and the in in particularly examples in this As appears the Hernando Colón and his were well of the of the Aesopian in the sixteenth The corpus of Aesopian texts they gathered in Seville this as it under the of Aesop, and editions, and in and different textual arrangements, of different editorial and and at different Colón’s library is known for being an of to the circulation, and of books in Europe in the early modern period. to the work of a of of the century, we possess of the of the as well as of its and of most of its of the main of its and of its on the and by we to information such as the analysis of the in Colón’s of or as this to may be a but of the to Colón’s Aesopian editions the in different and as by Colón of the to Colón’s Aesopian editions the in different and as by Colón of the Aesopian editions owned by their information and of the price in on of the Aesopian editions owned by their information and of the price in on on texts and Aesopian editions in the library of Hernando was as part of the of at the of and by to the and to for their and to all of also to the and to the of the Biblioteca Capitular Colombina of for to the of Hernando Colón’s books and to the to the of his The of this a to the of and
Source: The Library
Author: Matilde Malaspina
Language: English
Subfield: History
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4409387808