284J Aristotle , –Gualtherus Burlaeus. (Walter Burley (c. 1275–1344/5 ))

Expositio Gualteri Burlei super decem Libros Ethicorum Aristotelis (Contains the text of Robert Grosseteste’s translation of the Nicomachean Ethics)

Venice: Simon de Luere for Andreas Torresanus, 4 September 1500            Price $11,500

Folio, 12 1/4 X 8 1/2 in.    A8 a6b-x8 y10.  Second edition after the first of 1481.

This copy is bound in contemporary 1/4 blind-tooled goatskin over wooden boards with 3 (of 4) metal catches on front cover, rebacked retaining most of original backstrip, conspicuous termite damage on front cover, rear cover replaced with modern board, endpapers renewed; contents washed with residual soiling on opening leaves, worming through much of volume generally not impairing legibility, crude restoration in blank margins at beginning and end .

Ethica Nicomachea, Books 1-10, in the Latin translation of Robertus Grosseteste( 1175-1253) , incipit “[O]Mnis ars et om[n]is doctrina similiter aut[em] [et] actus [et] electio bonum quodda[m] ap=pete[re] videt[ur]. J[de]o b[e]n[e] enunciaueru[n]t bonu[m] q[uo]d omnia appetu[n]t”, b1r-y9v; colophon (Venetijs impresse arte Simonis de Leure: impensis v[ir]o domini Andree Torresani de Asula. Anno M.D. die v[er]o, IIIJ. Septebris.,), y10r; printer’s register, y10r. Wood cut diagrams.

Walter Burley, was one of the most prominent logicians and metaphysicians of the Middle Ages  “The first Latin translations of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, the Ethica vetus and the Ethica nova, are the object of six commentaries from the first half of the thirteenth century, presumably written by Parisian arts masters.  Typical for these early commentaries is the interpretation of Aristotle’s doctrine in the light of Christian religion.  In 1246/1248, Robert Grosseteste achieved a complete translation of the Nicomachean Ethics.  The first to write commentaries on it were Albert the Great (twice) and Thomas Aquinas. Both attempted to interpret Aristotle philosophically; the extent to which Aquinas nevertheless admitted theological views is disputed in scholarship. The commentary of Aquinas was a major source for many other commentaries of the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries. Long before the Renaissance recovery of Greek learning, the foundations of Aristotelian philosophy in England were laid at Oxford by a remarkable generation of scholars. Among them, Robert Grosseteste, Bishop of Lincoln, produced the first complete Latin translation of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, while Walter Burley, one of the most influential English philosophers of the fourteenth century, transformed that text into a practical instrument of university teaching. Together they helped establish Aristotle’s moral philosophy at the center of English intellectual life.

An ancient page from a book titled 'Ethicorum', featuring a flowchart that categorizes concepts of good and bad, appetites, and moral choices, alongside text in a classic typeface.

This edition preserves that distinctly English tradition. Although printed in Venice in 1500 by the great publisher Andrea Torresani, the text itself represents the mature product of Oxford scholarship: Aristotle’s Ethics in Grosseteste’s translation accompanied by Burley’s exposition. For generations of students, Burley’s commentary served as a guide to the study of ethics, political life, virtue, and human happiness. Through works such as this, Aristotle ceased to be merely an ancient authority and became an integral part of the curriculum that shaped English clerics, scholars, administrators, and teachers.

The volume thus stands at a pivotal point in the history of ideas. It links classical Greece to medieval Oxford and carries that tradition forward into the age of print. Few books illustrate more clearly how Aristotle was absorbed into the intellectual culture of England and transmitted through the university system that would influence education throughout the English-speaking world.

Open historical book displaying two pages of text in Latin, featuring detailed printed content with intricate formatting and a diagram.

Goff; b-1301 ; BMC 15th cent.,; v, 576 (ib. 24667); GW; 5779; ; Hain-Copinger; *4144; Harman, m. incunabula in the University of illinois library at urbana-champaign (1979); 191; ISTC (online); ib01301000; Proctor; 5269; Pellechet; 3080 lines df (2002)
https://data.cerl.org/istc/ib01301000
Locations: Boston Public Library
The Newberry Library
Free Library of Philadelphia
University of Illinois

For the first edition 1481 (Goff 1300) 2 Locations: Harvard University, St. Bonaventure University, Franciscan Institute, Holy Name Library.
Aristotle’s ethics in the italian renaissance (ca. 1300–1650): the universities and the problem of moral education. Brill, Leiden
Iacopo Costa. The Ethics of Walter Burley. Alessandro D. Conti. A Companion to Walter Burley. Late Medieval Logician and Metaphysician, A Companion to Walter Burley : Late Medieval Logician and Metaphysician, pp.321-346, 2013, Brill’s Companions to the Christian Tradition, ISSN : 1871-6377 ; 41. ⟨halshs-00843864⟩
Conti, Alessandro, “Walter Burley”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2016 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = <https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2016/entries/burley/&gt;.

An open historical book page featuring Latin text, with a diagram on the left page and densely packed paragraphs on the right page.
Open historical book pages featuring Latin text, with diagrams and annotations, placed on a wooden surface.
A historical text page featuring an excerpt from a work by Gualtieri Burlei discussing Aristotle's Ethics, with publication details and a decorative alphabet at the bottom.

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