Title: De Mysteriis Aegyptiorum, Chaldaeorum, Assyriorum. Tr: Marsilius Ficinus. Add: Proclus: In Platonicum Alcibiadem; De sacrificio et magia; Porphyrius: De divinis et daemonibus; Synesius: De Somniis; Psellus: De daemonibus; Priscianus et Marsilius Ficinus…, 1497. The First Aldine Iamblichus
Author: Iamblichus; Marsilius Ficinus
Publisher: Venetiis: in aedibus Aldi, mense Septembri 1497
Condition: Very Good
A late 15th century and first Aldine edition of Iamblichus’s De mysteriis Aegyptiorum, also containing an important collection of Neoplatonic works, translated from the Greek by Marsilio Ficino and likely financed by Girolamo Biondo, a Florentine printer and merchant working in Venice. Ficino's preface is addressed to the young Cardinal Giovanni de' Medici
A veritable cornerstone of Renaissance esoterica and a profoundly influential volume in the transmission of ancient occult philosophy, this 1497 Aldine edition of De Mysteriis Aegyptiorum is among the most important printed sources for the late antique theurgical and Neoplatonic tradition—and a keystone in any occult library today. No other ancient text was so instrumental in legitimising magical, astrological, and daemonic practice within a framework of late antique philosophical theology. Its influence on Marsilio Ficino, Pico della Mirandola, and the broader Florentine Hermetic revival cannot be overstated. It is accompanied by a suite of profound occult and metaphysical writings as well as texts attributed to Plotinus, Proclus, Porphyry, Xenocrates, and others. Of especial interest to Hermetic and ritual-magical scholars are the first fourteen treatises of the Corpus Hermeticum and the Asclepius, here in Ficino’s translation—together forming a veritable summa of the esoteric tradition.
Quires g, h, i, O, R, are lacking, which contained parts of Proclus's De anima et daemone, Porphyry's De sacrificiis, Psellus's De anima, and Theophrastus's De phantasia.
One vellum bound volume in folio, 145 of 186 leaves
This volume is in very good shape, with minor rubbing and wear to the binding. Leaf L4 appears to be a shorter, stained example likely supplied from another 1497 copy. The title page is soiled and stained in places. There is very little foxing or staining throughout.