Platonis philosophi quae exstant Graece ad editionem Henrici Stephani accurate expressa cum Marsilii Ficini interpretatione …

Ex Typographia Societatis, Biponti [Zweibrücken], 1781–87

A significant landmark in classical philology, particularly for the study of Plato’s works.

Description: 12 vols., contemp. half calf over buff paper boards. Spine divided into 7 compartments by horizontal rolls with contrasting green and red morocco labels lettered in gilt. Octavo: 20 × 13 cm; pp. (vol.1): [18], xcix, [1], 267; (vol.2): [18], 368; (vol.3): [6], vii, 370; (vol.4): [4], vii, [1], 390; (vol.5): [8], viii, 359; (vol.6): [2], iv, 380; (vol.7): [2], 424; (vol.8): [2], vi, 442; (vol.9): [2], vi, 437;(vol.10): [2], viii, 390; (vol.11): [2], xii, 483, [1]; (vol.12): [382]. With 11 engraved portraits on title pages. Text in Greek and Latin.

Ref.: Brunet iv/695; Graesse v/314

Condition: Bindings with some rubbing to extremities, slightly soiled and slight wear to the spine, vol. 12 well rubbed with some loss. Hinges are sound. Endpapers browned at corners and sporadically soiled. Internally in generally very good condition. Vol. 12 in poorer condition due to water damage to upper right corner: soiling and wormholes mainly affect the outer margin of the first half of the book.

Notes: Marsilio Ficino (1433–1499) produced the first complete Latin translation of Plato’s works in the 15th century (completed around 1468–1484). His translation was commissioned by Cosimo de’ Medici and became the standard for Western scholarship until the 19th century. Ficino translated all of Plato’s dialogues available at the time, including works like The Republic, Symposium, Phaedo, and Timaeus, as well as spurious or dubious texts (e.g., Epinomis). His translation covered the entire Platonic corpus as understood in the Renaissance, which was based on Byzantine manuscripts. The Biponti edition is distinguished by its juxtaposition of Ficino’s elegant Latin translation with the Greek text edition from 1758 by Henri Estienne (also known as Henricus Stephanus, 1531–1598). Estienne’s three-volume edition, Platonis Opera Quae Extant Omnia, published in Geneva in 1758, was considered the most authoritative edition of Plato’s works until the early nineteenth century. The page numbering system used in this edition, known as ‘Stephanus pagination’, is still used today when citing Plato’s works. For classical philologists, this edition remains a vital resource for studying Plato’s Greek text, its transmission, and its reception in Western intellectual history.