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2) 453J Diogenes Lærtius , (Tr: Ambrosius Traversarius 1386-1439.)

Diogenis lærtii historiographi de philosophorum vita decem per q[uam] fecundi libri ad bene beateq[ue] viuendu[m] co[m]motiui. 

Paris : Guy or  Jean Marchant, for Jean Petit, [about 1509]. {Venundantur Parisius in vico Diui Iacobi apud Leonem Argenteum. :              Price:  $3,600

Quarto. 20 x 14.5 cm. Signatures: A⁸, a-y^8/4, z⁶ .Portrait of a weary philosopher at his writing table on verso of title page.(see back cover of this catalogue.  Charming woodcut on last page (Marchant’s device). Some nice woodcut initials. Marginal annotations and underlinings. Wormholes. Modern binding in ¾ calf, marbled boards, marbles end leaves. With the  Ex libris of Jos Nève.   Lærtius divides all the Greek philosophers into two classes: those of the Ionic and those of the Italic school. He derives the first from Anaximander, the second from Pythagoras. After Socrates, he divides the Ionian philosophers into three branches: (a) Plato and the Academics, down to Clitomachus; (b) the Cynics, down to Chrysippus; (c) Aristotle and Theophrastus. The series of Italic philosophers consists, after Pythagoras, of the following: Telanges, Xenophanes, Parmenides, Zeno of Elea, Leucippus, Democritus, and others down to Epicurus. The first seven books are devoted to the Ionic philosophers; the last three treat the Italic school.

The work of Diogenes is a crude contribution towards the history of philosophy. It contains a brief account of the lives, doctrines, and sayings of most persons who have been called philosophers; and though the author is limited in his philosophical abilities and assessment of the various schools, the book is valuable as a collection of facts, which we could not have learned from any other source, and is entertaining as a sort of pot-pourri on the subject. Diogenes also includes samples of his own wretched poetry about the philosophers he discusses.

Diogenes is generally as reliable as whatever source he happens to be copying from at that moment. Especially when Diogenes is setting down amusing or scandalous stories about the lives and deaths of various philosophers which are supposed to serve as fitting illustrations of their thought, the reader should be wary. The article on Epicurus, however, is quite valuable, since it contains some original letters of that philosopher, which comprise a summary of the Epicurean doctrines. IEP

https://data.cerl.org/istc/id00226000         GW VII Sp.436a

Goff D226; H 6197?; Moreau ICP vol I p.317 nº68; Günt(L) 2256; Walsh 3631b; BMC(Fr) p.135;  BM STC (F) S. 135; Renouard (M) Iehan Petit 833;  Renouard (M) Jean Marchant 708) 

§ Jean Petit’s 4th device on t.p.; Guy Marchant’s device (Silvestre 39) IA,; 153.795;). 

Holdings
AustriaKlagenfurt, Archiv der Diözese Gurk, Bischöfliche Gurker Mensalbibliothek
FranceMoulins, Médiathèque Samuel Paty
Orléans, La Médiathèque
Poitiers, Médiathèque François Mitterrand
GermanyDarmstadt, Universitäts und Landesbibliothek (Inc-II-205)
Leipzig, Universitätsbibliothek
München, Universitätsbibliothek (4 Inc.lat. 983)
München, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek (2)
HungaryPannonhalma, Főapátsági Könyvtár / Bibliotheca Archiabbatiae Ordinis S. Benedicti de Sacro Monte Pannoniae
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandLondon, British Library (9039.e.16(3))

United States of AmericaCambridge, MA, Harvard University, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Schlesinger Library

Number of holding institutions. 11

Here are two pages included in the book.