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Home , Editio princeps

CHAPTER, FIVE

THE SIXTEENTH-CENTURY EDITIONS AND CORNARIUS' ECLOGAE

1. The Aldine The editio princeps of the Greek was published in by in September 1513, almost thirty years after the first edition of Ficino's translation (1484); the editorial work was done by . It was assumed that the main source of the Aldine could be identified as E, 's de luxe copy of the complete Plato (see, e.g., Campbell 92 f., Alline 316), until Post (41-44, 58 f.) drew attention to N, Bessarion's working copy (and the direct source of E) for R., Ti., Criti., Min., Lg., Epin., Epp. and to Venetus 186 for the other dialogues. Post records some in R. where the Aldine edition agrees with NE, or with N against E and the other MSS. Post's conclusions are fully backed up by my collation of the MSS and the Aldine. I will first quote some places where the Aldine agrees with NE against the other MSS;

329b6 tjWjE l tjW NE Aid. 331b3 lxdat &mi vat) &mi vat lxtfot NE Aid. 331d8 tq>T}) t(j)T}V NE Aid. 331e7 AEjEL) AEjOL N 51 E Aid. 516a6 xal alterum om. NPcE Aid. 516b9 OU'toi;) OU'tO<; &a'tLV N51 E Aid. 517c3 VOT}'tci> l 'tW VOTj'tW N 51 E Aid. 519d9 ov om. NPcE Aid. 615c6 EtT}) &v EtT} NE Aid. 617a4 'tOV tX'tOV) 'tOV tX'tOV U7tEp~a.AA&LV Ns1E Aid. 618e3 la.au] lav NPcE Aid.

That the Aldine goes back to N, and not to E, is proved by the follow• ing observations:

1. The Aldine does not share the (scanty) separative errors of E:

330c9 tq>T} habent N Aid.: om. E 391 b2 a1ttpxuou habent N Aid.: a1ttpxtou E 518a3 µt8ta't0tµ€vwv habent N Aid.: µt9ta'taµ€.vw E 616c6 &oa.µav'toi; habent N Aid.: &oa.vµav'toi; E THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY EDITIONS 243

2. In some places, the Al dine agrees with NEac against Epc ( the cor• rections and variant readings in E were added by Bessarion, who in 1468 gave his to the Marcian in Venice): 33267 -yt prius ha6et EPc: om. NEac Aid. 515e3 OUVot'tott ha6et EPC: OUVotV'tott NEac Aid.

3. In some cases, the Aldine has a which is found in N and some other MSS, but not in E: 387c2 OLt'tCltt] oI6v n N51 (0tim~pcvind.PC) Aid. 390e7 µ~vto~] µ~vtoo~ N 51 (xpc, alii) Aid. 518a2 -y(-yvov'tott] -y(-yvotv't' &v N51 (Sc.Ot) Aid. 6166 7 1tpotA86vn~] 1tpotA86v'tot~ N 51 (Par.) Aid. 4. Occasionally, the Aldine agrees with N against E and all the other MSS: 358e2 'tt ov n] 'tt n ov 'tlJ"Y'xcxvu Nim Aid. ( this reading is also found in the recent part of b, which stems from the first Basie edition) 40361 otU'tTJ ~ ~oov~] otu'tw ~oov~v Nim Aid. 409d3 XP1JO't0t~] CJO(?Ot~ N 51 Aid. 46566 ix~ouat] l~ouat N 51 Aid. 506a6 &v totl>'tWV l tfatp dxo~ -yvwvott OtU'tO: Nim Aid. 581e2-3 'trj~-xott] 'tO:~ o' IXAA.ot~ Nim: 'trj~ ~oovrj~ OU 7tCXVU 1t6ppw 'tO:~ o' IXAA.ot~ Aid.

But N is not the only MS used by Musurus for R.; Alline 316 mentions three other MSS which have been consulted for the Aldine; of these, Par. 1809 does not have the Republic; the other two, b and q, are mentioned by Campbell 93. b, however, can be dismissed, because the cases of agreement between the Aldine and b which are mentioned by Campbell occur in the recent part of b, which derives from the first Basie edition; the reading which is quoted by Campbell as occurring in q and the Aldine is also found in Par.~K; it is within this group that the auxiliary MS used by Musurus is to be sought. In a number of places, the Aldine shares a reading of Par.; I will quote some of these: 38768 'ta alterum om. Par. Aid. 390c7 ot' ] ouo' Par. Aid. 51466 ouxvuaaw] ouxvuaw Par. Aid. 516c6 otU'tOV] totU'tOV Par. Aid. 517 a3 7\xu] 7\xot Par. Aid. 518a7 ot7J8ttot~] dtµa8(a~ Par.Pc: dtµa8da~ Aid. 520c8 'tou] 'to Par. Aid. 619a5 'tWV 'tOtoU'tWV ~(ov] 'tOV 'tOtoU'tOV ~(ov Par. Aid. 621 a6 a"t€.-yuv] a"tt-yu Par. Aid. 62166 oux] OUOEV Par. Aid.