Erasmus' Translations of Plutarch's Moralia and The Ascensian Editio Princeps of Ca. 1513

Erasmus’ Translations of Plutarch’s Moralia
and the Ascensian editio princeps of ca. 1513
JORGE LEDO
The role of Erasmus as a disseminator of Plutarch’s Moralia has been

frequently studied. As far as the editorial history of the Moralia is concerned,
Erasmus, who had served as an assistant to Demetrius Ducas on the Aldine
edition of 1509, began to translate the opuscula in Cambridge. Until now,
these translations were thought to have been published for the first time in a
single volume by Johannes Froben in Basel (August 1514). This article proves
that not only did Erasmus send his translations to Badius, but that the latter
printed them before Froben, in a hitherto unknown editio princeps.*
1. Status quaestionis**
As with most of his fellow humanists from outside Italy up to the end
of the first decade of the sixteenth century, Erasmus’ knowledge of
Plutarch must have been limited to Latin translations of some Parallel
Lives, although he was aware of the existence of the Moralia, which he
even quoted, albeit rarely, in the Adagiorum collectanea.1 It was in
* I would like to express my gratitude to Erika Rummel for her kind answer when I
first showed her the Ascensian print of Erasmus’ Opuscula Plutarchi, to the Erasmus of
Rotterdam Society for inviting me to make known the finding in their panel at the Renais-
sance Society of America’s Annual Conference (Toronto, March 2019), and to such kind,
generous, and patient readers of the first versions of this manuscript as Andrew Ascherl,
Eric MacPhail, and Jon Nelson. To all of them, my warmest thanks.
** Recent scholarship has repeatedly appraised the role played by Erasmus as dissemi-
nator of Plutarch’s Moralia. Therefore, to introduce the problem of the first edition of
Erasmus’ Latin translation of a selection of Plutarch’s Moralia, I will provide only the
most general data found in contemporary bibliography. Abbreviations used: Allen = P.S.
Allen, H.M. Allen, H.W. Garrod (ed.), Opus epistolarum D. Erasmi Roterodami (Oxford,
1906-1958); ASD = Opera omnia Desiderii Erasmi Roterodami (Amsterdam, 1969- );
CWE = Collected Works of Erasmus (Toronto, 1974- ).
1 The Quattrocento translations into Latin of the Moralia have been studied by, among
others, R. Sabbadini, La scuola e gli studi di Guarino Veronese (Catania, 1896), 135-138;
R. Aulotte, Amyot et Plutarque. La tradition des Moralia au XVIe siècle (Genève, 1965),
22-26; F. Tateo, “Sulle traduzioni umanistiche di Plutarco. Il De virtute morali di Andrea
Matteo Acquaviva”, in M. Ciliberto, C. Vasoli (ed.), Filosofia e cultura. Per Eugenio
Garin (Roma, 1991), 198-211; C. Bevegni, “Teodoro Gaza traduttore del Maxime cum
principibus philosopho esse disserendum di Plutarco. Primi appunti per un’edizione
critica con particolare riguardo alla lettera dedicatoria ad Andrea Bussi”, in S. Feraboli
Humanistica Lovaniensia 68.2 (2019), 257-296 https://doi.org/10.30986/2019.257

258 JORGE LEDO
1508, during his stay at Aldus’s Νεακαδηµία in Venice, that Erasmus

had access for the first time to a Greek manuscript containing all the
Moralia.2 Erasmus’ words in one of the best known adagia of the
Chiliades, “Festina lente”, written in 1526, are quite eloquent about the
impact that the Moralia and other Greek manuscripts had on the
Adagia and on his education:
When I, a Dutchman, was in Italy, preparing to publish my Book of
Proverbs, all the learned men there had offered me unsought authors
not yet published in print who they thought might be of use to me,
and Aldus had nothing in his treasure-house that he did not share
with me. Johannes Lascaris did the same; so did Battista Egnazio,
Marco Musuro, Frate Urbano. I felt the benefit of kindness from
some people I knew neither by sight nor name […]. Just consider
what advantages I should have lost, had not scholars supplied me
with texts in manuscript. Among them were Plato’s works in Greek,
Plutarch’s Lives, and also his Moralia, which began to be printed
when my work was nearly finished; the Doctors at Dinner of
Athenaeus, Aphthonius, Hermogenes with notes, Aristotle’s Rhetoric
with the Scholia of Gregory of Nazianzus, the whole of Aristides
with Scholia, brief commentaries on Hesiod and Theocritus,
Eustathius on the whole of Homer, Pausanias, Pindar with accurate
commentary, a collection of proverbs under Plutarch’s name and
(ed.), Mosaico. Studi in onore di Umberto Albini (Genova, 1993), 33- 42; Id., “Appunti
sulle traduzioni latine dei Moralia di Plutarco nel Quattrocento”, Studi umanistici piceni
14 (1994), 71- 84; F. Stok, “Le traduzioni latine dei Moralia di Plutarco”, Fontes 1 (1998),
117-136; and F. Becchi, “Le traduzioni latine dei Moralia di Plutarco tra XIII e XVI
secolo”, in P. Volpe Cacciatore (ed.), Plutarco nelle traduzioni latine di età umanistica
(Napoli, 2009), 9-52. According to Bevegni’s census, in fifteenth-century Italy alone 32
titles of the Moralia were translated into Latin, in 60 renderings authored by 23 different
translators. In France, in 1505, Guillaume Budé published his translations of four
Moralia; see G. Sandy, “Guillaume Budé: Philologist and Polymath. A Preliminary
Study”, in Id. (ed.), The Classical Heritage in France (Leiden – Boston, MA – Köln,
2002), 83-87. Erasmus had a copy of this volume in his private library.
2 Erasmus’ stay at Aldus’s house in Venice has been studied from many different
points of view. There are documented introductions by D.J. Geanakoplos, “Erasmus and
the Aldine Academy of Venice. A Neglected Chapter in the Transmission of Graeco-
Byzantine Learning to the West”, Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies 3 (1960), 107-134;
reissued in Id., Greek Scholars in Venice (Cambridge, MA, 1962), 256-278, and J.-C.
Margolin, “Érasme et Venise”, in G. Benzoni (ed.), L’eredità greca e l’ellenismo
veneziano (Firenze, 2002), 189-213. A good summary of Erasmus’ tensions with Aldus’
press and its heirs over the years can be found in L. Perilli, “A Risky Enterprise. The
Aldine Edition of Galen, the Failures of the Editors, and the Shadow of Erasmus of
Rotterdam”, Early Science and Medicine 17.4 (2012), 446-466.
Humanistica Lovaniensia 68.2 (2019), 257-296

ERASMUS’ TRANSLATIONS OF PLUTARCH’S MORALIA 259
another ascribed to Apostolius, to which I was given access by

Girolamo Aleandro.3 (CWE 33, 14)
Erasmus and Girolamo Aleandro served, indeed, as proof-readers of the
first printing of the Greek text of Plutarch’s Moralia, edited by
Demetrius Ducas, one of the Byzantine scholars at Aldus’s house.4 This
edition was printed in March 1509, and one copy traveled with Erasmus
to England and remained in his personal library for good.5 Once he had
3 Adag. 1001, “Festina lente”: “Cum apud Italos aederem proverbiorum opus homo
Batavus, quotquot illic aderant eruditi, ultro suppeditabant autores nondum per
typographos evulgatos, quos mihi suspicabantur usui futuros. Aldus nihil habebat in
thesauro suo quod non communicaret, idem fecit Ioannis Lascaris, Baptista Egnatius,
Marcus Musurus, frater Urbanus. Quorundam officium sensi, quos nec de facie, nec de
nomine noveram […] Hic mihi cogita, quanta pars utilitatis abfutura fuerit, nisi docti
libros manu descriptos suppeditassent. In his erant Opera Platonis Graeca, Plutarchi Vitae,
eiusdem Moralia, quae sub finem operis mei coepta sunt excudi, Athenaei Dipnosophis-
tae, Aphthonius, Hermogenes cum commentariis, Aristotelis Rhetorica cum scholiis
Gregorii Nazianzeni, Aristides totus cum scholiis, commentarioli in Hesiodum ac
Theocritum, Eustathius in totum Homerum, Pausanias, Pindarus cum accuratis commen-
tariis, proverbiorum collectio titulo Plutarchi, rursus alia titulo Apostolii, cuius libri nobis
copiam fecit Hieronymus Aleander.” (ASD 2.3, 22-24)
4 Geanakoplos 1962 (as in n. 2), 223-224, 229, 264, 275, offers insights and relevant
bibliography on how Ducas worked on his text; M. Sicherl, “Die Aldina der Rhetores
Graeci (1508-1509) und ihre handschriftlichen Vorlagen”, Illinois Classical Studies
17.1 (1992), 109-134, at 126, traces parallels with Ducas’ edition of the Rhetores
Graeci. M. Dazzi, Aldo Manuzio e il dialogo veneziano di Erasmo (Venezia, 1969) and
N.G. Wilson, Da Bisanzio all’Italia. Gli studi greci nell’umanesimo italiano (Alessan-
dria, 2003), 192, do not provide further information in this regard. The prefatory materi-
als of the Aldine Moralia (1509) have been recently edited and translated by L. Ferreri
(ed.), L’Italia degli umanisti. I. Marco Musuro (Turnhout, 2014), 356-363. N.G. Wilson
(ed., tr.), Aldus Manutius, The Greek Classics (Cambridge, MA – London, 2016), 200-
207, offers the edition and translation of Aldus’ preface. Short introductions to the role
played by Greek émigrés in Renaissance culture and print and to relevant bibliography
can be found in M.I. Manoussakas, K.S. Staikos (ed.), L’activité editoriale des Grecs
pendant la Renaissance. De l’Italie à Genève, XVe-XVIe siècle (Athènes, 1988); M.I.
Manoussakas, Gli umanisti greci collaboratori di Aldo a Venezia (1494-1515) e
l’ellenista bolognese Paolo Bombace (Bologna, 1991); E. Layton, The Sixteenth
Century Greek Book in Italy. Printers and Publishers for the Greek World (Venice,
1994); and J. Monfasani, “Greek Renaissance Migrations”, Italian History and Culture
8 (2002), 1-14.
5 No. 208 in the Versandliste of 1536. F. Husner, “Die Bibliothek des Erasmus”, in
Historische und Antiquarische Gesellschaft zu Basel (ed.), Gedenkschrift zum 400.

Todestage des Erasmus von Rotterdam (Basel, 1936), 240, and E. van Gulik, Erasmus and
His Books (Toronto – Buffalo, NY – London, 2018), 170, 339. Van Gulik mentions that
Erasmus’ personal copy of the Moralia (1509), containing his own handwritten marginal
notes, was held in the Old University Library of Franeker. Thanks to the finding in 2007
by G.C. Huisman of the printed catalogue of Franeker of 1601 (Paris, Bibliothèque de
l’Arsenal, 8-H-26084[3]; http://www.mpaginae.nl/Frnkroudstecat/Franeker1601.htm, B4),

260 JORGE LEDO
arrived in England, at least four reasons would have moved Erasmus to

translate a selection of the Moralia into Latin: their combination of
brevity, classical learning, and moral instruction; their more direct and
less problematic approach to morals than that of Lucian’s opuscules; the
scarcity of printed translations into Latin of the Moralia; and Erasmus’
interest in advancing his own study of Greek. Thus, he began the task
shortly after he settled in Cambridge in 1511.6 During his career,
Erasmus would translate eleven opuscules contained in the Moralia –
subsequently published as Opuscula Plutarchi –, and compose the
Parabolae sive Similia (1514) and the Apophthegmata (1531), both
relying heavily on Plutarch.
Returning to the Moralia: Erasmus published one of his first transla-
tions, Advice about keeping well (De tuenda bona valetudine praecepta),
at Richard Pynson’s press in London on 28 July 1513.7 Thereafter, he
dedicated How to tell a flatterer from a friend (Quo pacto possis adula-
torem ab amico dignoscere) to Henry VIII, and How to profit by one’s
enemies (Quo pacto quis efficiat ut ex inimicis capiat utilitatem) to
Thomas Wolsey, Bishop of Lincoln.8 It seems clear that Erasmus had
the hypothesis that Erasmus’ copy of Plutarch’s Moralia should have arrived in Franeker
after 1626 must be discarded – this could be inferred until now from M. Engels, “Erasmi-
ana in the Old University Library of Franeker”, Erasmus in English 12 (1983), 20a-b. In
his scholarly edition of the catalogue of 1601 and in further research, J. van Sluis has
shown that four Aldine editions of classical authors which pertained to Erasmus arrived in
Franeker when the library acquired the collection of Petrejus Tiara (†9 February 1586): J.
van Sluis, De academiebibliotheek te Franeker anno 1601. De oudste catalogus ingeleid en
opnieuw uitgegeven (Franeker, 2011), 193-198; Id., “Erasmus, Tiara en de eerste collectie
van de Franeker academiebibliotheek”, It Beaken 78 (2016), 141-142. These editions
were Dioscorides’ De materia medica, with Nicander’s Theriaca and Alexipharmaca
(1499); Plutarch’s Moralia (1509) and Parallel Lives (1519); and Galen’s Works (1525).
6 Erasmus arrived in England in 1509 and lived in London for a year and a half. His
appointment as a reader of Divinity and Greek at Cambridge was the main reason for
leaving the city. He had his residence in Cambridge from August 1511 to January 1514.
On his stay there, see D.F.S. Thomson, H.C. Porter (ed.), Erasmus and Cambridge. The
Cambridge Letters of Erasmus (Toronto, 1963); and R.J. Schoeck, Erasmus of Europe.
The Prince of Humanists. 1501-1536 (Edinburgh, 1993), 109-125.
7 For this and other works of Erasmus printed by Pynson, see A. Vanautgaerden,
“Érasme chez Richard Pynson (1513), imprimeur du roi à Londres”, Moreana 46.176
(2009), 199-201; and Id., Érasme typographe. Humanisme et imprimerie au début du
XVIe siècle (Genève, 2012), 219-228.
8 Respectively, Allen 272 (CWE 2, 250-252) and Allen 297 (CWE 2, 303-305).
Despite the outward appearance, in the catalogue of his works sent to Johann von
Botzheim (30 January 1523) Erasmus is not following the chronological order he adopted
for the translations of the Moralia (see J. Chomarat, Grammaire et rhétorique chez
Érasme, vol. 1 (Paris, 1981), 472; cf. GG 13 in the online catalogue Griechischer Geist

decided to proceed with his translations of Plutarch as he had done with

Lucian in 1506, addressing each translation to a potential patron in order
to increase the returns; but something happened that dissuaded him from
following this course. Thus, the rest of the Moralia translated by him
lack any dedicatory letters, with the exception of those he finished a
decade later.9 We can only guess at the reason behind this, but it is
probably related to Erasmus’ move to Basel in 1514, as it would have
seemed to him unnecessary and time-consuming to look for more
patrons in England when he was headed to the Continent, and the
absence of prefatory letters and dedications in print to his existing
English patrons between 1516 and 1520 is a rather telling hiatus.10
aus Basler Pressen, http://www.ub.unibas.ch/cmsdata/spezialkataloge/gg/), but rather

Froben’s table of contents of 1514: “From Plutarch I translated an essay called Quomodo
sit dignoscendus adulator ab amico, which I dedicated to the English king Henry, eighth
of that name. Besides that, one Quo pacto fieri possit ut utilitatem capias ex inimico; this I
dedicated to the man who is now cardinal-archbishop of York, who at that time was Lord
High Almoner but was already destined for great things, so much so that before I had an
opportunity to present it to him, I had to change my preface three times, and even so,
before it could be printed, he had already reached the dignity of a cardinal [Erasmus refers
to the summer of 1514]. Before those, I had translated Plutarch’s De tuenda valetudine,
Quod in principe requiratur eruditio, Quod cum principibus maxime versari debeat
philosophus, Utrum graviores sint animi morbi an corporis, Num recte dictum sit, Λάθε
βιώσας, De cupiditate divitiarum. These exercises I enjoyed all the more because they
contributed substantially to the building of character no less than to the learning of Greek;
for I have read nothing outside Scripture with such a high moral tone”, Allen 1, 16-30;
CWE 9 (1341a), 302-303.
9 E. Rummel, Erasmus as a Translator of the Classics (Toronto – Buffalo, NY –
London, 1985), 74: “The three translations were published by Froben in 1525 and 1526
respectively.” The dedicatory letters are Allen 1572 (That anger must be controlled [De
cohibenda iracundia] and On meddlesomeness [De curiositate], to Alexius Thurzo), and
Allen 1663 (On false shame [De vitiosa verecundia], to Francis Dilft).
10 Rummel 1985 (as in n. 9), 74, stresses the fact that his dedications to his English
patrons had been poorly rewarded, according to Erasmus’ standards, during his stay in
England. However, it should be noted that he was active behind the scenes with his
English patrons during this period, as C.H. Clough explained in “Erasmus and the Pursuit
of English Royal Patronage in 1517 and 1518”, Erasmus of Rotterdam Society Yearbook
1.1 (1981), 126-140, and that, after the hiatus, Erasmus did not cease dedicating works to
his English patrons, as demonstrated by the list provided by C.R. Thompson, “Erasmus
and Tudor England”, in C. Reedijk (ed.), Actes du Congrès Érasme organisé par la munici-
palité de Rotterdam sous les auspices de l’Académie Royale Néerlandaise des Sciences et
des Sciences Humaines. Rotterdam 27-29 octobre 1969 (Amsterdam – London, 1971), 34-
35, n. 27. There are valuable approaches to Erasmus and patronage in England in Garrod’s
and McConica’s essays mentioned in Thompson’s footnote, to which should be added
Clough’s cited essay and J.B. Trapp’s “Twelfth-Annual Birthday Lecture. Erasmus and
His English Friends”, Erasmus of Rotterdam Society Yearbook 12.1 (1992), 18- 44.

262 JORGE LEDO
Besides his project of publishing a new, enlarged edition of the

Adagia, Erasmus was interested in gathering his translations of the
Moralia into a single volume, as he had done with Lucian; he would do
this without delay in 1514.11 To Pieter Gillis, an editor at Martens’ press
and Erasmus’ editorial contact in Antwerp as well as one of his closest
friends at the time, Erasmus wrote the following words in autumn 1512:
Please see that this is delivered to Josse Bade as soon as possible. I
have got my work on proverbs ready [i.e., the revised version of the
Adagia], expanding it so much that I have quite changed its character
– and improved it a great deal, unless I am mistaken, though it was not
so bad before; so he has no need to fear editions by others. There had
been an understanding with Franz [Birckmann], the bookseller, that I
was to give him the manuscript; but he went off without coming to
greet me. I gladly accept the price proposed by him in his letter;
money, for what it is worth, does not greatly move me. He should take
all measures to ensure that the work emerges from his press in a style
that will make it difficult for anyone else to compete […]. I have not
yet seen any sign of the publication of Lucian’s Dialogues which I
sent him, while I do notice that some of them have been printed at
Louvain; I am anxious for information about this. I have translated
several works by Plutarch, which I shall revise and send in addition.12
(CWE 2, 234-235)
Three important statements made in this passage determine the editorial
history of Erasmus’ Opuscula Plutarchi. First, Erasmus declares that he
had an agreement with Franz Birckmann13 to collect the manuscript of
11 Both printed by Badius before Froben began publishing them. C.R. Thompson (ed.),
The Complete Works of St. Thomas More, vol. 3 (New Haven, CT – London, 1974), lvii-
lviii, offers descriptions of Erasmus’ and More’s Lucian printed in 1514 by Badius.
12 “Dabis operam ut haec quam primum ad Iodoci Badii manus perferantur. Paravi
Proverbiorum opus et ita locupletavi ut prorsus aliud reddiderim: at multo, ni fallor,

melius cum esset non admodum malum. Quare nihil est quod aliorum timeat aeditiones.
Convenerat cum Francisco bibliopola ut illi exemplar committerem, verum insalutato me
discessit. Precium quod in suis literis praescripsit, lubens accipio; nec enim magnopere
commoveor lucello. Ipse paret omnia, ut opus sic exeat ex ipsius officina ut non facile sit
cuipiam aemulari. […] Dialogos Luciani, quos ad eum misi, nondum prodire video. Video
quosdam ex illis excusos Lovanii; qua de re cupio certior fieri. Verti complusculos
Plutarchi libros, quos emendatos addemus.” (Allen 264, 5-13 and 22-25)
13 Besides the entry by Bietenholz and Guenther in Contemporaries of Erasmus,
further research on the role of Birckmann as a literary agent for Erasmus and as a scout
for Badius’ and Froben’s presses can be found in D. Shaw, “A Study of the Collaboration
between Erasmus of Rotterdam and His Printer Johann Froben at Basel during the Years

his revised version of the Adagia and deliver it to Badius Ascensius in

Paris, who was asking for it (Allen 263, 16- 49; CWE 2, 232-234), but
Birckmann did not come to see him. Second, he complains about the
lack of news on his translations of Lucian’s Dialogues sent to Badius to
be printed, a lack aggravated by the fact that they had already been
published by Martens in Louvain.14 Third and most important, Erasmus
promises to send, included with his next epistle to Badius, his translation
of some of the Moralia for publication: “which I shall revise and send in
addition” (“Verti complusculos Plutarchi libros, quos emendatos
addemus”).
There is no further mention of the translations of the Moralia in
Erasmus’ letters until 1 January 1513. This is the date of the dedicatory
letter to John Yonge appended to his translation of Advice about keeping
well (De tuenda bona valetudine praecepta; Allen 268; CWE 2, 239-
241). As I have already mentioned, the letter and the opuscule were
printed by Richard Pynson’s press in London (in July 1513) and soon
thereafter by at least one press on the Continent.15 That same July
Erasmus dispatched a brief letter to Thomas More (Allen 271; CWE 2,
249-250) to inform him about the progress he was making in translating
yet another opuscule by Plutarch: How to tell a flatterer from a friend
(Quo pacto possis adulatorem ab amico dignoscere or De discrimine
adulatoris et amici), which he dedicated to Henry VIII, remarking “I
shall finish it, God willing, within a week” (“Absolvam faventibus
superis intra dies octo”; Allen, 271, 8-9; CWE 2, 249).
Between July and December 1513, Erasmus took action with regard
to the publication of his Opuscula Plutarchi. In a letter to Andrea
1514 to 1527”, Erasmus of Rotterdam Society Yearbook 6 (1986), 49-51, 75-76; K.

Crousaz, Érasme et le pouvoir de l’imprimerie (Lausanne, 2005), 24-25, 50-51, 55-57,
113-114; Vanautgaerden 2012 (as in n. 7), 207, 229-237, 240, 245, 250 n. 1, 258, 460; V.
Sebastiani, Johann Froben, Printer of Basel. A Biographical Profile and Catalogue of His
Editions (Leiden – Boston, MA, 2018), 44 n. 18, and 70; and Van Gulik 2018 (as in n. 5),
26-27, 335, 434.
14 Badius finally printed the Luciani Dialogi in June of 1514. See above, n. 11.
15 It was also printed by Thierry Martens in November 1513, in a volume which
included Erasmus’ translation of Lucian’s De luctu without any mention on the title page
of its incorporation in the volume; see Vanautgaerden 2012 (as in n. 7), 427, 503. Erasmus
kept a copy either from Pynson’s or Martens’ press, as the Catalogus librorum Erasmi
attests; see Van Gulik 2018 (as in n. 5), 455, 469.

264 JORGE LEDO
Ammonio (Allen 283; CWE 2, 267-275),16 he explains the progress he

has made (with the assistance of Franz Birckmann) as follows:
I had entrusted an emended and enlarged text [of the Adagia] to Franz,
who is accustomed to import almost every book into this country,
intending him to hand it over to Bade or, if he advised it, to another
publisher. That worthy immediately carried it off to Basel and put it in
the care of the man who had already printed it, so that he will publish
this edition only when he has sold all the copies of his own, that is, ten
years from now. Also there are several books translated from Plutarch
and Lucian which I had entrusted to him to give to Bade, to be added
to the previous books he has in his possession; and I suspect he has
given these also to the other man, and now he is asking me to send
more of them. There is German honesty for you! But there is a way in
which I can get my own back: a copy of the Adagia, and, in fact, a
rather more comprehensive one than the copy he took, has been kept.
He will find one Cretan can be a match for another.17 (CWE 2, 273)
Until now, textual evidence has allowed us to understand this passage
only in the following way: even if Erasmus trusted Birckmann to hand
over the manuscripts of the Moralia and the Adagia to Badius Ascen-
sius, the latter decided motu proprio to give them to Froben instead, no
doubt for economic reasons and probably with Erasmus’ tacit permis-
16 Ammonio died on 16 August 1517. For Erasmus’ friendship with him and Ammo-
nio’s activities while Erasmus was in England, see C. Pizzi, Un amico di Erasmo.
L’umanista Andrea Ammonio (Firenze, 1956); J.K. Sowards, “The Two Lost Years of
Erasmus. Summary, Review, and Speculation”, Studies in the Renaissance 9 (1962), 161-
186; J.D. Tracy, Erasmus. The Growth of a Mind (Genève, 1972), 112, 127-129, 135-137,
164; C.H. Miller, “The Epigrams of Erasmus and More. A Literary Diptych”, Erasmus of
Rotterdam Society Yearbook 1.1 (1981), 11-13; Schoeck 1993 (as in n. 6), ad indicem; H.
Yoran, Between Utopia and Dystopia. Erasmus, Thomas More, and the Humanist Repub-
lic of Letters (Plymouth, 2010), 39-44; M. Rospocher, “Genesi di un discorso politico. Un
interlocutore sconosciuto di Erasmo”, in E.A. Baldini, M. Firpo (ed.), Religione e politica
in Erasmo da Rotterdam (Roma, 2012), 88- 89, 97-98; D.R. Carlson, “Erasmus and the
War-Poets in 1513”, Erasmus Studies 34.1 (2014), 5-49, at 14-19; T.L. Ter Meer, “The
Miraculous Versatility of Apophthegms”, Erasmus Studies 34.2 (2014), 81.
17 “Commiseram exemplar emendatum ac locupletatum Francisco, qui libros ferme
omnes solitus est huc importare, ut vel Badio vel ex illius sententia committeret alii. Is
bonus vir recta Basileam deportavit, ei in manus dedit qui iam excuderat, ut haec tum
demum aedat cum sua divendiderit, hoc est post decennium. Complures item libellos ex
Plutarcho ac Luciano versos commiseram Badio tradendos, ut superioribus quos habet
adiungeret; et hos illi, uti suspicor, tradidit, utque plures mittam rogat. En Sicambricam
fidem; sed est quo me ulciscar. Servatum est Adagiorum exemplar, et quidem aliquanto
copiosius eo quod ille abstulit. Cretissabimus cum Cretensi.” (Allen 283, 154-164)

sion. Valentina Sebastiani18 has explained accurately that the tensions

between Badius’ and Froben’s presses contrasted with the friendship of
their respective proof-readers, Michael Hummelberger (or Hummelberg)
and Beatus Rhenanus,19 who met during their student years in Paris; thus
making it likely that everyone was aware of the situation that would
finally result in the edition of the Adagia printed by Froben.20
Nonetheless, if we pay attention to a couple of details in the passage
drawn from the letter to Ammonio, we can derive an alternate reading
which shows that the situation was somewhat more complicated.
Erasmus declares to Ammonio that he had trusted Birckmann to give
Badius “several books translated from Plutarch and Lucian […] to be
added to the previous books he has in his possession”. In other words, if
Erasmus began to translate Plutarch in 1512 and first mentions the
Plutarchi opuscula in the letters he wrote in autumn 1512 (to assert that
Birckmann had not handed them over to Badius), this would necessarily
mean that at some point between autumn 1512 and December 1513,
18 Sebastiani 2018 (as in n. 13), 40, 42 and n. 9.

19 Hummelberger kept up an assiduous correspondence with some of the greatest
German scholars and literary figures of his time. He corresponded frequently not only
with Beatus Rhenanus but also with Konrad Peutinger, Bruno Amerbach, Johannes
Reuchlin, Mutianus Rufus, and Heinrich Bebel, to mention just a few. He assisted Badius
until he left Paris to study in Rome (1514-1517), where his patron was John Goritz of
Luxemburg. Once back in Ravensburg as chaplain of St Michael’s church, he met
Erasmus in person in Constance in September 1522, became close friends with Johann
von Botzheim and grew to be an admirer of Erasmus’ work. See CWE 10, 282 n. 1, and
CWE 12, 448 n. 10.
20 If this hypothesis is correct, it would nonetheless be necessary to infer that Hummel-
berger kept silent about (or was unaware of ) the (unauthorised?) printing of the Opuscula
Plutarchi in Badius’ press. This fact alone would explain why Beatus Rhenanus, in a
letter addressed to Hummelberger on 2 September 1514, presented Erasmus’ translations
of the Moralia as an editorial premiere: “Erasmus of Rotterdam, a man of very high
erudition, recently came to Basel loaded with good books, among which: the complete
works of Saint Jerome, amended; the complete works of Seneca, amended; very abundant
annotations on the New Testament; the Parallels; many works of Plutarch in translation.
[...] Likewise the Adages, corrected and considerably increased. Some opuscules by
Plutarch, elegantly printed, will invade the shop these days” (my translation of “Erasmus
Roterodamus, summae eruditionis vir, nuperrime Basileam venit onustus bonis libris in
quibus sunt haec: omnia opera divi Hieronymi emendata; omnia opera Senecae emendata;
annotationes in Novum Testamentum copiosissimae; liber similium; Plutarchi multa
versa; […] item Adagia castigata et auctissima. Plutarchi opuscula aliquot hiis diebus
officinam aggredientur eleganter excusa”, in J. Hirstein (ed.), Beatus Rhenanus, Epistulae
Beati Rhenani. La correspondance latine et grecque de Beatus Rhenanus de Sélestat,
vol. 1 (Turnhout, 2013), 482- 486, spelling adapted). However, Beatus’ allusion to this
volume as “elegantly printed” (“eleganter excusa”), clearly an exaggeration, suggests that
he suspected that Badius had a copy of the Opuscula.

266 JORGE LEDO
Birckmann did in fact give some of Erasmus’ translations of Plutarch to

Badius, and – quite probably – to Johannes Froben.
However, it is widely accepted among Erasmus scholars that the
copies of the translations of the Moralia were given only to Froben, who
published them in Basel in August 1514, thus marking the beginning of
one of the most famous printer-author collaborations of the Renais-
sance.21 Valentina Sebastiani gives a description of the title page of what
has been considered (until now) the editio princeps:
Opuscula Plutarchi nuper traducta.|| Erasmo Roterodamo Interprete.||
Quo pacto q[ui]s dignoscere possit adu||latorem ab amico.|| Quo pacto
quis efficere possit ut ca-||piat utilitatem ab inimico.|| De tuenda bona
ualetudine praecepta.|| In principe requiri doctrinam.|| Cum principibus
maxime philoso-||phum debere disputare.|| Vtrum grauiores sint animi
morbi,|| quam corporis.|| Num recte dictu[m] sit, lathe biōsas, id est,||
Sic uiue ut nemo te sentiat uixisse.|| De cupiditate divitiarum.|| Gerar-
dou tou Listriou|| Tauta d’arēiphilōn Germanōn kosmos Erasmos|| Oios
leimōnōn drepsato ek danaōn.||.22
2. A new editio princeps of Erasmus’ translation of the Moralia

What I will argue in the remaining pages is that Badius Ascensius did in
fact print an edition of the Plutarchi opuscula translated by Erasmus,
and that this printing was, for reasons I shall mention, the editio princeps
of the collection, rather than Froben’s. For the description, I have
employed three volumes extant in the Universiteitsbibliotheek of Ghent:
two copies of the Ascensian edition, which I will suggest were printed in
1513 or at the beginning of 1514 (BIB.G.009091/-1, PLATE 1, and
BIB.G.009211, PLATE 2), and the Frobenian edition of the Moralia from
August 1514 (BIB.ACC.021196/-1, PLATE 3). As far as I know, the
Ascensian printing is neither registered in any catalogue of Erasmus’
21 S.J. Ryle, “Language and Silence in Erasmus”, Res Publica Litterarum. Studies in
the Classical Tradition 14 (1991), 205-206; Vanautgaerden 2012 (as in n. 7), 282, 503.
22 Sebastiani 2018 (as in n. 13), 197-199. The colophon (sig. d5v) reads: “Basileae in
aedibus Ioannis Frobenii Hammel||burgensis, mense Augusto, Anno domini mil-||lesimo

quingentesimo decimoquarto.”

works, nor was it used in A.J. Koster’s critical edition of the Opuscula
in ASD 4.2.23 The Parisian imprints share identical title pages:24
Opuscula Plutarchi nup[er] tradu-||cta. Erasmo Roterodamo interprete.||
De tuenda bona valitudine praecepta.|| In principe requiri doctrinam.||
Cum principibus maxime philosophum debere disputare.|| Vtrum
grauiores sint animi morbi q[uam] corporis.|| Num recte dictum sit
Λάθε Βιώσασ: id est|| Sic viue vt nemo te sentiat vixisse.|| De cupidi-
tate diuitiarum.|| [image]|| Vaenundantur vbi complura alia, & Plutar-
chi & Erasmi|| syntagmata, in aedibus Ascensianis.
None of them, however, offer any further information concerning when or
under which circumstances Badius received the translations; nor do they
include a colophon with a printing date. Luckily, a comparison of the
editio Ascensiana and the editio Frobeniana allows us to draw the conclu-
sion that the editio Ascensiana [henceforth OPAsc] was most likely
printed earlier than the editio Frobeniana of 1514 [henceforth OPFrob].
For the sake of both brevity and clarity, I will mention only the main
differences and similarities between the two editions, and will close with
a hypothetical reconstruction of the editorial history of both editions.
The first difference between them is the census of Moralia contained
in each volume. Only OPFrob includes How to tell a flatterer from a
friend (Quo pacto possis adulatorem ab amico dignoscere), accompa-
nied by the dedicatory epistle to Henry VIII, and How to profit by one’s
enemies (Quo pacto quis efficiat ut ex inimicis capiat utilitatem) with the
letter to Thomas Wolsey, Bishop of Lincoln. Both the Ascensiana and
the Frobeniana include the Advice about keeping well (De tuenda bona
valetudine praecepta) without the dedicatory epistle to John Yonge.
Therefore, the Ascensiana gathers nums. 3- 8 from ASD 4.2. This consti-
tutes a difference of 47 printed pages in OPAsc – involving some
artifice, as we will see – compared to the 101 pages of OPFrob.
23 P. Renouard, Bibliographie des impressions et des œuvres de Josse Badius Ascen-
sius, imprimeur et humaniste, 1462-1535, vol. 2 (Paris, 1908), 173, item 6. Renouard has
as item 5 another undated printing containing only In principe requiri doctrinam and Cum
principibus maxime philosophum debere disputare.
24 The digital copy held at the National Library of Romania (shelf mark XVI/II 127;
available online at http://www.manuscriptorium.com) shows no differences either.

Besides this copy and those mentioned by Renouard in the Bibliothèque de la Ville de
Lemans, in Limoges, and Universiteitsbibliotheek of Ghent, there is another one in the
Centrale Bibliotheek of Rotterdam (Erasmuszaal 11 E 1, dated 1510[!] in the catalogue).

268 JORGE LEDO
The second notable difference is that OPAsc is made up of three signa-

tures (a1r-a8v, b1r-b8v, c1r-c8v) with continuous foliation, and therefore
seems to have been composed from a single manuscript. OPFrob, on the
other hand, shows interesting issues that tell an unlikely story:
[1] How to tell a flatterer from a friend (Quo pacto possis adulatorem
ab amico dignoscere) and How to profit by one’s enemies (Quo pacto
quis efficiat ut ex inimicis capiat utilitatem) have their own signatures
(A1r-A6v, B1r-B8v, C1r-C8v, and D1r-D5v) and, strangely, How to
tell a flatterer from a friend has pagination (one number per page)
while How to profit by one’s enemies has foliation (only numbered on
the rectos).
[2] Moreover, the second set of texts, which coincides in order with
those in OPAsc, starts with a blank folio and has its own signatures
(a1r-a8v, b1r-b8v, c1r-c4v, and d1r-d5v) as well as independent
foliation (1r-25v). Therefore, it can be inferred that the two texts at the
beginning of OPFrob were included when the composition of the titles
that coincide with OPAsc was well advanced.
Notwithstanding the previous point, there is a striking particularity in
OPAsc that suggests that both OPAsc and OPFrob were composed under
similar circumstances and with similar expectations; that is, it appears
that Badius awaited further translations of the Moralia in order to
include them in the whole, and that those translations did not arrive, as
the results attest. This can be seen in how On love of wealth (De cupidi-
tate divitiarum) is printed in OPAsc: instead of respecting the text box
and the justification of the text – as with the other opuscules in the
volume – it presents random line breaks, and each line is headed by a
capital letter, as if it were written in verse (PLATES 4 and 5). This spreads
the book out over three full signatures with the same number of sheets,
and without presenting an excessive number of endpapers.
Another remarkable difference between OPAsc and OPFrob lies in
their approach to the use of marginalia (a full list in Appendix 3, below).
While there are plenty of these in OPFrob, OPAsc only includes them in
To an uneducated ruler (In principe requiri doctrinam) and A philoso-
pher ought to converse especially with men in power (Cum principibus
maxime philosophum debere disputare). When these two works are
compared in both editions, however, it is clear that they were composed
following two copies of the same manuscript (if not actually the same
manuscript). Any other possibility, such as Badius having copied the

Frobeniana, does not make sense: there is no reason why he would copy
only the marginalia of two opuscules when he could have included all
of them. The opposite possibility (namely, Froben having copied the
Ascensiana) is equally unlikely due to the detail of the marginalia
throughout the Frobeniana.
An exhaustive collation of OPAsc and the OPFrob, and their compari-
son with the critical edition of Koster for ASD as compiled in Appendix
2, only reinforces the idea that the texts included in both editions were
composed using, if not the exact same manuscript, quite a reliable copy
of the same translation. The differences are mainly due to orthographic
practices in Latin, poor readings of abbreviations – mundo vs. numero,
impium instead of ipsum, acceperunt instead of acceperit, parum instead
of rarum, quatinus instead of quatenus – and unavoidable typos that
originated in the printing process; thus it could easily be concluded that
the differences between opuscules present in OPAsc and OPFrob are
minimal. It will suffice to point out that both editions even present an
omissio ex homoioteleuto (line skip) in the same passage: “non sitientes
‹bibunt› neque esurientes edunt, etiam ea, quae sitientes atque esurientes
sumpserant” (ASD 4.2, 252, l. 30-32).
3. Conclusion
In sum, the presentation of this new, partial edition of the Opuscula
Plutarchi printed by Badius Ascensius’ press between 1513 and July
1514 allows us to shed light on some fundamental aspects related to the
editorial history of Erasmus’ translation of the Moralia. The hypothesis
presented in these pages can be summarized as follows: although it is
not directly stated in Erasmus’ letters, at some point between the end of
1512 and the summer of 1513, Franz Birckmann gave Badius Ascensius
a copy of six Moralia translated by Erasmus with their publication in
mind. As the letter from Erasmus to Andrea Ammonio suggests,
Erasmus was aware of this fact. That being so, Birckmann gave to
Iodocus Badius Ascensius and to Johannes Froben copies of Advice
about keeping well (De tuenda bona valetudine praecepta), To an uned-
ucated ruler (In principe requiri doctrinam), A philosopher ought to
converse especially with men in power (Cum principibus maxime
philosophum debere disputare), Whether affections of the soul are worse
than those of the body (Utrum graviores sint animi morbi q[uam]

270 JORGE LEDO
corporis), Is the saying “live in obscurity” right? (Num recte dictum sit
Λάθε βιώσας, id est, Sic vive ut nemo te sentiat vixisse), and On love of
wealth (De cupiditate divitiarum) to be printed. Considering the number
of texts handed over, this was probably done with the promise of provid-
ing the printers with yet two more translations of Plutarch – How to tell
a flatterer from a friend (Quo pacto possis adulatorem ab amico
dignoscere or De discrimine adulatoris et amici) and How to profit by
one’s enemies (Quo pacto quis efficiat ut ex inimicis capiat utilitatem) –
together with an enlarged and revised version of the Adagia.
Birckmann on his own, though most likely with Erasmus’ approval,
gave these last two promised manuscripts to Froben but not to Badius.
As Beatus Rhenanus’ letters to Hummelberger do not have any informa-
tion about this fact, nor about the new edition of the Adagia which
Badius was supposed to print, until September 1514, it is possible that
Badius became aware of the situation either through another informant
or by inferring it after Birckmann failed to appear with the promised
manuscripts. In either case, the news arrived at Badius’ press while the
manuscript of the Moralia was being composed and the extra transla-
tions were still expected.
As seems to have been the case with Froben’s editio princeps, Badius
probably intended to include the two latest translations at the end of the
volume. When Froben discovered that the two new opuscula accounted
for almost half the entire volume and that they had a dedicatory epistle
to Henry VIII and Thomas Wolsey, he realized that it made no sense to
place them after the shorter works. He solved this problem with new
infolios and two different signatures: capitals for the new opuscula (sig.
A1v-D5v) and lower-cases for the next six (sig. a1r-d5v). Badius proba-
bly had also reserved space at the end of the infolio and, upon receiving
the news that Froben had two new opuscula and he did not, opted for the
very inelegant solution of introducing random line breaks to fill as much
space on the paper as possible. This, together with the elision of margin-
alia in four of the six Moralia, allowed him to finish the work much
faster than Froben, and not lose his investment of time, ink, and paper.
Universidade da Coruña
[email protected]

Appendices
A.J. Koster published his magnificent edition of Erasmus’ translations

of Plutarch’s Moralia in ASD 4.2. The editions considered by Koster for
his critical edition were the following:
A ed. princ., Basel, Ioh. Frobenius, mense Augusto 1514
B ed. Basel, Ioh. Frobenius, mense Maio 1516
C ed. Basel, Ioh. Frobenius, mense Iulio 1518
D ed. Basel, Ioh. Frobenius, mense Iunio 1519
E ed. Basel, Ioh. Frobenius, mense Septembri 1520
BAS ed. Basel, H. Frobenius et N. Episcopius, Omnia opera, 1540
LB ed. Leiden, P. vander Aa, Opera omnia, 1703
As I have argued above, A should no longer be considered as the editio
princeps of Erasmus’ Plutarchi opuscula; that honour should now go to
the editio Parisina (Iod. Badius Ascensius, circa 1513). Although, in my
opinion, the opuscules contained in both volumes were composed using
closely similar copies, if not the same copy, they present some variants
and traits of interest.
The aim of the three following appendices is to highlight those differ-
ences and to favour further research. Thus, [1] I have rebuilt the table of
contents of both volumes, [2] I have compared OPAsc with the one in
ASD, and I have recorded every difference and compared it to OPFrob –
a direct comparison between OPAsc and OPFrob would show even more
differences useful for research on both editions, but not so much for the
present critical edition –, and [3] I have provided a full list of marginalia
in OPAsc and OPFrob. I believe that the coincidence of the marginalia
of In principe requiri doctrinam and Cum principibus maxime philoso-
phum debere disputare requires further research on how both texts were
composed – research that exceeds, once more, the aim of these pages.

272 JORGE LEDO
Appendix 1. Table of contents of both editions
OPAsc OPFrob
Invictissimo Anglorum regi Henrico Octavo.
Erasmus Rote[r]odammus, S.D., p. 1-2 (sig.
A1v-A2r).
Quo pacto possis adulatorem ab amico
dignoscere Plutarchi, Erasmo interprete,
p. 2-21 (sig. A2r-C7r).1
Blank page (sig. C7v).
Reverendissimo in Christo Patri D. Thomae
episcopo Lyncolniensi sereniss[imi]
Anglorum regis magno elemosynario.
Erasmus Roterodamus S.D., 22 (sig. C8r).
Quo pacto quis efficiat ut ex inimicis capiat
utilitatem, Plutarchi Chaeroniensis Erasmo
Roterodamo interprete, f. 22v-27v
(sig. C8v-D5v).
The running head (“Plutarchi De utilitate”)
is over the title. (PLATE 6)
Two blank pages (sig. D6r-D6v or a1r-a1v).
Putarchi [sic] De tuenda bona valetudine Plutarchi De tuenda bona valetudine
praecepta Erasmo interprete. Τὰ πρόσωπα. praecepta Erasmo interprete τὰ πρόσωπα
Moschion et Xeusippus, f. 2r-12r Moschion et Xeusippus, f. 2r-13v
(sig. a2r-b4r). (sig. a2r-b5v).
The running head (“de tuenda bo. vale”) is The running head (“de tuenda bo. vale”) is
over the title. (PLATE 7) over the title. (PLATE 8)
In principe requiri doctrinam Plutarchi In principe requiri doctrinam Plutarchi
commentarium, Erasmo Roterodamo commentarium, Erasmo Roterodamo
interprete, f. 12r-14r (sig. b4r-b6r). interprete, f. 13v-16r (sig. b5v-b8r).
Cum principibus maxime philosophum Cum principibus maxime philosophum
debere disputare Plutarchi, Erasmo debere disputare Plutarchi, Erasmo
interprete, f. 14r-16r (sig. b6r-b8r). interprete, f. 16r-18v (sig. b8r-c2v).
Vtrum grauiores sint animi morbi q[uam] Vtrum grauiores sint animi morbi q[uam]
corporis, Plutarchus Erasmo interprete, corporis. Plutarchus Erasmo interprete,
f. 16v-17v (sig. b8v-c1r). f. 18v-20r (sig. c2v-c4r).
The running head (“Plutarchi Cheronei”)
should not be on the title page. (PLATE 9)
Num recte dictu[m] sit Λάθε Βιώσασ, Num recte dictum sit Λάθε Βιώσασ:
i[d est]., Sic viue vt nemo te sentiat vixisse, id est, Sic uiue ut nemo te sentiat uixisse,
f. 17v-19r (sig. c1v-c3r). f. 20r-22r. (sig. c4r-d2r).
1
An edition of Christophe de Longueil’s translation of How to profit by one’s enemies
(Πῶς ἄν τις ὑπ᾿ ἐχθρῶν ὠφελοῖτο) which he entitled Quomodo quis possit ab inimicis
iuvari, with Erasmus’ handwritten translation reproduced on facing pages, titled Quo
pacto quis efficiat ut ex inimicis capiat utilitatem (ca. 1512), in R. Aulotte, “Une rivalité
d’humanistes. Érasme et Longueil, traducteurs de Plutarque”, Bibliothèque d’Humanisme
et Renaissance 30.3 (1968), 549-573. The manuscript is extant at Basel, Universitäts-
bibliothek, ms. AN. VI. I.

Plutarchus, De cupiditate diuitiarum, Plutarchus, De cupiditate diuitiarum

Desi[derio] Eras[mo] Rote[rodamo] Desiderio Erasmo Roterodamo interprete,
interprete, f. 19r-24r (sig. c3r-c8r). f. 22v-25v (sig. d2v-d5v).
Same as above, the running head (“Plutarchi
Chaeronei”) is over the title. (PLATE 10)
The volume has neither colophon nor Colophon: “Basileae in aedibus Ioannis
register of signatures. Frobenij Hammelburgensis, mense Augusto,
Anno domini millesimo quingentesimo
decimoquarto”, f. 25v (sig. d5v).
There is no register of signatures in the
volume.

274 JORGE LEDO
Appendix 2. Complete list of variants between ASD and OPAsc
ASD IV.2 OPAsc OPFrob ASD IV.2

(page; line) (‘A’ in ASD IV.2) Text
[III.] De tuenda bona valetudine praecepta Erasmo interprete. Τὰ πρόσωπα.

Moschion et Xeusippus
189; 1-4 Putarchi De tuenda Plutarchi De tuenda Plutarchi
bona valetudine bona valetudine Chaeronensis De
praecepta Erasmo praecepta Erasmo tuenda bona sanitate
interprete. Τὰ interprete. Τὰ precepta Erasmo
πρόσωπα. Moschion πρόσωπα. Moschion Roterodamo
et Xeusippus et Xeusippus interprete. Moschion
et Zeuxippus2
189; 8 praeberem praeberem preberem
189; 9 medica vir ille medica vir ille medica ille vir
[transposed]
189; 11 aequandus aequandus equandus
189; 15 ausos esse nos ausos esse nos ausos nos esse
189; 25 musicaeque musicae musicaeque
190; 30-31 de mundo de mundo de numero
disciplinarum disciplinarum disciplinarum
liberalium liberalium liberalium
190; 47 Rursum si ea quae Rursum si ea que Rursus si ea quae
foras vergunt foras vergunt foras vergunt
190; 54 quos aegrotantibus quos aegrotantibus quos egrotantibus
191; 59 necessum erit necessum erit necessum sit
191; 61 aestate aestate estate
192; 78 quorum de mundo quorum de numero quorum de numero
Titus erat imperator Titus erat imperator Titus erat Imperator
192; 83 apparant conuiuio apparant conuiuio apparent conuiuio
accipere aut futurum accipere aut futurum accipere aut quibus
est est futurum est
192; 87-88 inter inuitatiunculas inter inuitatiunculas inter inuitatiunculas
illorum, te impium illorum te ipsum intra illorum te ipsum intra
intra mediocritatem mediocritatem mediocritatem
192; 95-96 Philippus submisit, Philippus submisit, Philippus submisit,
qui singulos amicos qui singulos amicos qui singulos
admoneret admoneret admoneret
192; 103 praesentibus praesentibus presentibus
193; 118-119 simulque voret simulque voret simulque voret
opsonia. Adduxeram opsonia. Adduxeram obsonia. Addux⟨it⟩
autem autem autem
2
The distinction between Xeusippus and Zeuxippus [sic] is omitted from now on,
although it is consistent throughout the text.

193; 122 hominibus Rhiglum hominibus Rhiglum hominibus Rhiglum

pacratiasten pancratiasten pancratiasten
commemoraueram commemoraueram commemorau⟨it⟩
193; 125 paedagogica paedagogica pedagogica
193; 133 Nam quod natura Nam quod natura Nam quod natura
delectat delectat delectet
194; 139 Caeterum qui iam Caeterum, qui iam Caeterum, qui iam
acceperunt acceperit acceperit
194; 147 uti corpus adigas cum uti corpus adigas cum vti corpus cum cibis
cibis habere cibis habere adigas habere
conuicium conuicium commercium
[adigas cum cibis has
been transposed]
194; 154 Caeterum Phryne Caeterum Phryne Caeterum Phrynae
Laidiue persoluto Laidiue persoluto Laidiue persoluto
argento argento argento
194; 155 Porro magnum sit ad Porro magnum est ad Porro magnum est ad
mirum mirum mirum
194; 160-161 Iam vero illius Iam vero illius Iam vero cupiditates,
cupiditates, quae cupiditates, quae quae prepostere ab
praeposterae ab praeposterae ab animo scatent in
animo scatent in animo scatent in corpus congutque
corpus coguntque corpus coguntque illius affectibus
affectibus obsequi et affectibus obsequi et obsequi et inseruire,
inseruire nulla ratione inseruire nulla ratione nulla ratione fieri
fieri potest fieri potest potest
[illius transposed]
194; 166 praebent animo praebent animo prebent animo
194; 167-168 hae nimirum et hae nimirum et eae nimirum et
stupidae sunt stupidae sunt stupidae sunt
194; 168 Quoties igitur parum Quoties igitur rarum Quoties igitur rarum
aliquod aut nobile cibi aliquod aut nobile cibi aliquod aut nobile cibi
genus fruendum genus fruendum genus fruendum
appositum fuit appositum fuit appositum fuerit
194; 174 desyderanti desideranti desideranti
194; 176 etiam si etiam si etsi
195; 185 nos coniicias nos coniicias nos conicias
195; 188 et tumultum ac et tumultum ac ac profluuium et
perluuium perluuium tumultum
195; 189 opsoniorum opsoniorum obsoniorum
195; 194 opsonia opsonia obsonia
195; 198 Attellanis Attellanis Atellanis
intemperantiam intemperantiam intemperantiam
195; 198-199 ad voluptatem excites ad uoluptatem excites ad voluptatem excites
atque irrites an atque irrites an an gustum odoribus et
gustum odorius et gustum odoribus et lauticiis prouoces
lauticiis prouoces lauticiis prouoces
196; 203 de multitudine ac de multitudine ac de multitudine et
magnitudine magnitudine magnitudine
196; 218 Nam verissime quis Nam uerissime quis ⟨Sed⟩ verissime quis
dixerit dixerit dixerit

276 JORGE LEDO
196; 218-219 bonam valetudinem bonam valetudinem bonam valetudinem

maxime diuinum maxime diuinum diuinum longeque
longeque longeque
196; 222 synceraque synceraque sinceraque
196; 236 non in tempore non in tempore non in tempore
sumptam sumptam sumptum
196; 238 praeclara negocia praeclara negocia preclara negocia
196; 239 ut dolor quidem ut dolor quidem vt dolor quidam
197; 251-252 opsoniorum opsoniorum obsoniorum
197; 255 aestus aestus estus
197; 259 humorum abundantia humorum abundantia humorum abundantia
iam ante collecta iam ante collecta iam ante collecta
corpus exhibent ac corpus exhibent ac corpus exhibet ac
tradunt tradunt tradit
197; 262 coenum coenum caenum
197; 263 Proinde cauendum Proinde cauendum Proinde cauendum
est, ne sicuti boni est, ne sicuti boni est, ne sicuti ⟨mali⟩
naucleri naucleri naucleri
198; 270 praesentitur praesentitur presentitur
198; 272 Immo plaerique Immo plaerique Imo plerique
198; 272 praenuncient praenuncient prenuncient
praecurrantque praecurrantque precurrantque
198; 276 adhaerent adhaerent adherent
198; 277-278 ad lectulum quietem ad lectulum quietem ad lectulum quietem
pertrahat, tamen alii pertrahat, tamen alii pertrahat, tum alii
gulae deliciarum gulae deliciarum gulae deliciarum
intemperantia in intemperantia in intemperantia in
balnea se coniciunt balnea se coniciunt balnea se coniciunt
198; 290 agas quam tractus ad agas quam tractus ad agas quam vt tractus
balneum balneum ad balneum
199; 310 ita condimentum esse ita condimentum esse ita condimentum
optimum appositi cibi optimum appositi cibi optimum esse appositi
cibi [transposed]
199; 314 haec haec hec
199; 318 in aedes irrumpant in aedes irrumpant in edes irrumpant
199; 320 obsonia obsonia opsonia
200; 331 caelo caelo celo
200; 334 perfluuio perfluuio profluuio
200; 341 praecipere ac praecipere ac precipere ac
praecauere praecauere precauere
200; 343 praeter praeter preter
200; 346 inaequalis inaequalis inequalis
200; 352-353 vt facile ut facile vt et facile
commoueantur commoueantur commoueantur
200; 353 lachrymanturque ac lachrymanturque ac lachrymenturque ac
moerent moerent moereant
200; 356 consyderent considerent Considerent
200; 360 morbi causam, non ita morbi causam, non ita morbi causam non ita,
sane vti sophistice sane uti sophistice vt sophistice
praeterque rem de praeterque rem de preterque rem de
densitatibus densitatibus densitatibus

200; 363 praecipue praecipue precipue

200; 364 cum in febrim cum in febrim quum in febrim
inciderit inciderit inciderit
200; 367-368 desyderet desideret desideret
201; 379 aegritudinum aegritudinum egritudinum
201; 380 Proinde praeclare Proinde praeclare Proinde preclarum
dictum est illud dictum est illud dictum est illud
202; 388 praecepta praecepta precepta
202; 390-391 palaestricum palaestricum palestricum
202; 399 faecis faecis fecis
202; 407 inaequalis ille spiritus inaequalis ille spiritus inaequalis illae
spiritus
202; 411 aequabilem aequabilem equabilem
202; 412 Sit autem hic factus Sit autem hic factus Sit autem hic frictus
modus modus modus
202; 413 Quisquis adhuc Quisquis adhuc Quisquis ad hunc
composuerit composuerit modum composuerit
202; 422 quaeras quaeras queras
202; 428 praemiis praemiis premiis
202; 433 gutturi infixa coepit gutturi infixa coepit gutturi infixa coepit
exerceri exerceri exercere
202; 435 Ac spina quidem At spina quidem At spina quidem
204; 448 haereant haereant hereant
204; 461 cum apponuntur cum apponuntur cum apponantur
204; 463 plaeraque plaeraque pleraque
204; 468 carnium esum carnium esum carnium esum
desyderet desyderet desideret
204; 472 vt praeter naturam sit ut praeter naturam sit vt preter naturam sit
204; 475 aliisque opsoniis aliisque opsoniis aliisque obsoniis
205; 491 aestuant aestuant estuant
205; 497 minuendus est etiam minuendus est etiam minuendus est cibus
cibus cibus
205; 497 subtrahendum subtrahendum substrahendum
206; 512 At Minos et tybiam At Minos et tybiam Ac Minos et tibiam
submouit a sacris submouit a sacris summouit a sacris
206; 513 tybiis tybiis tibiis
206; 514 laedatur laedatur ledatur
206; 519 abiiciet abiiciet abiciet
206; 523 Graecus Graecus Grecus
206; 527 oculis arrodebant oculis arrodebant oculis arrodebat
bellaria bellaria bellaria
206; 530 Caeterum quum Caeterum quum Caeterum cum
vndique undique vndique
206; 535 Dialectica vero Dialectica uero Dialectice vero
edulium edulium edulium
206; 540 in Xysto siue in in Xysto siue in im xysto siue in
palaestra palaestra palestra
206; 542-543 nempe pingues et nempe pingues et nempe pingues ac
saxeos saxeos saxios
208; 578 delitiis delitiis deliciis

278 JORGE LEDO
208; 584 exhulcerationibus exhulcerationibus exulcerationibus

208; 592 Graecorum Graecorum Grecorum
208; 594 dum eiectis consuetis dum eiectis consuetis dum ei⟨ciendis⟩
consuetis
208; 595 item aliarum rerum item aliarum rerum itemque aliarum
rerum
208; 609 foetumque perdant foetumque perdant fetumque perdant
209; 615 Praestabilius Praestabilius Prestabilius
209; 615 praescripto praescripto prescripto
209; 617 praesensio praesensio presensio
209; 618 praeparatam praeparatam preparatam
209; 625 me quidem inquiebam me quidem inquiebam me quidem inqui⟨t⟩
209; 626 otii otii ocii
209; 631 praestanda praestanda prestanda
210; 636-637 bonam corporis bonam corporis bonam corporis
constitutionem constitutionem institutionem
210; 640 inquiebam inquiebam inqui⟨t⟩
210; 641 praecipere praecipere precipere
210; 642 otium otium ocium
210; 646 Cum interim nihil Cum interim nihil Quum interim nihil
210; 656 negotiis negotiis negociis
210; 658 remissus sit et otiosus remissus sit et otiosus remissus sit ac
ociosus
210; 659 praeclara et ardua praeclara et ardua preclara et ardua
negotia negotia negocia
210; 660 detrectans detrectans detractans
210; 661 otio otio ocio
210; 663 negotia negotia negocia
210; 666 plaerique plaerique plerique
210; 670-671 desyderet studium desideret studium desideret studium
210; 671 praecepit praecepit precepit
211; 677 delitias delitias delicias
211; 681-682 desyderant desyderant desiderant
211; 686 negotiis negociis negociis
211; 689 negotiis in otium sese negociis in otium sese negociis in ocium
receperint receperint sese receperint
211; 705 accipiat quam sicca accipiat quam sicca accipiat an sicca
212; 713 opsoniorum opsoniorum obsoniorum
212; 717 negotii negotii Negocii
212; 721 quod non meminerint quod non meminerint quod non meminerint
iis his his
212; 728-729 ne studiosis aut ne studiosis aut ne studiosis aut
rempublicam rempublicam rempublicam
administrantibus viris administrantibus viris administrantibus
accidat accidat accidant

212; 743 praemii praemii premii

212; 747 τέλοσ τέλοσ Finis
[IV.] In principe requiri doctrinam Plutarchi commentarium, Erasmo Roterodamo

interprete
217; 1-3 In principe requiri In principe requiri In principe requiri
doctrinam Plutarchi doctrinam Plutarchi doctrinam Plutarchi
commentarium, commentarium, commentarium,
Erasmo Roterodamo Erasmo Roterodamo Erasmo Roterodamo
interprete interprete interprete
217; 6 felices foelices foelices
217; 7 ac *morosam esse ac morosum esse ac morosum esse
217; 7 felicitatis foelicitatis foelicitatis
217; 8 difficile est iis difficile est his difficile est his
217; 11 qui, cum primus qui, quum primus qui, quum primus
217; 16 Theopompus ex Theopompus ex Thepompus ex
imperio velut e imperio uelut magno imperio velut magno
magno flumine flumine deductis riuis flumine deductis riuis
deductis riuis
217; 27-28 At ineruditi duces ac At ineruditi duces ac At ineruditi reges ac
principes principes principes
218; 32 admota quatinus sibi admota quatenus sibi admota quatenus sibi
congruunt congruunt congruunt
218; 44 negotii negocii negocii
218; 45 atque ea cura negotia atque ea cura negocia atque ea cura negocia
218; 47 Polemon dicebat Polemon dicebat Polemo dicebat
218; 63 iustitiam tuetur iusticiam tuetur iusticiam tuetur
218; 69 aequitatem, iustitiam, aequitatem, iusticiam, aequitatem, iusticiam,
veritatem ueritatem veritatem
219; 72 Non enim felix est Non enim foelix est Non enim foelix est
deus vitae spatio deus uitae spatio deus uitae spatio
219; 75 Clito iustitiam Clito iusticiam Clito iusticiam
219; 78 Ioui iustitia, sed ipse Ioui iusticia, sed ipse Ioui iusticia, sed ipse
iustitia fasque est iusticia phasque est iusticia phasque est
219; 83 vt ii maxime ut hi maxime vt hi maxime
219; 86 vt iis, quibus imperat ut his, quibus imperat vt his, quibus imperat
220; 88 sed iis quae sed his, quae sed his, quae
custodiunt custodiunt custodiunt
220; 108 Quemadmodum in Quemadmodum in Quemadmodum in
caelo coelo coelo
220; 109 repraesentet, ostendit representet, ostendit representet, ostendit
iis his his
220; 110 iustitiae iusticiae Iusticiae
221; 138 supplicia peruertunt supplicia peruertunt supplicia praeuertunt

*accusatisnes accusationes accusationes
221; 144 malitia malicia malicia
222; 153 Cimoni vinum Cimoni vinum Cimoni vinum
obiiciebatur obiiciebatur obiciebatur

280 JORGE LEDO
[V.] Cum principibus maxime philosophum debere disputare

225; 1-3 Cum principibus Cum principibus Cum principibus
maxime philosophum maxime philosophum maxime philosophum
debere disputare debere disputare debere disputare
Plutarchi Erasmo Plutarchi Erasmo Plutarchi Erasmo
226; 18 quaecumque quaecumque quaecumque
aggreditur, negotiosa aggreditur, negotiosa aggreditur, ac
viuaque viuaque negotiosa viuaque
226; 34 iustitia iusticia iusticia
226; 35 qui cum eis habent qui cum eis habent qui cum iis habent
commercium commercium commercium
226; 36 haerbam herbam herbam
226; 37-38 haerbam herbam herbam
226; 46 At Catho Ac Catho Ac Catho
226; 52 Pauli Aemylii Pauli Aemylii Pauli Aemilii
228; 72 Mercurium Mercurium Mercurium
negotiatorem negociatorem negociatorem
228; 75 Clio gaudere iis Clio gaudere his Clio gaudere his
228; 84 gloriae desyderabit gloriae desiderabit gloriae desiderabit
228; 84 quantum satis est ad quantum satis est ad quantum satis est ad
conciliandum illi in conciliandum illi in conciliandam illi in
rebus gerendi rebus gerendi rebus gerendi
authoritatem authoritatem authoritatem
228; 85 quae nascitur inde quae nascitur inde quae nascitur ex eo,
quod vir optimus quod uir optimus quod illi creditur
creditur creditur
228; 86 neque facile prodesse neque facile prodesse neque facile prodesse
siquis nolit prodesse siquis nolit prodesse iis, qui nolint alium
sibi prodesse
228; 88 quam iis qui vident quam his, qui uident quiam his, qui vident
228; 88-89 potius quam iis, qui potius quam his, qui potius quam his, qui
non negligunt non negliguntur non negliguntur
228; 89 publicis negotiis publicis negociis publicis negociis
228; 93-94 potentiam regiam nec potentiam regiam nec potentiam regiam non
oportet oportet oportet
228; 97 adest decor et forma adest decor et forma adest decor ac forma
228; 106 Verum cum iis, qui Verum cum his, qui Verum cum his, qui
cupiunt cupiunt cupiunt
230; 118 Ageliae Ageliae Aglaiae
230; 128-129 execrabiles execrabiles exsecrabiles
230; 130 sic ii sic hi sic hi
230; 148-149 Quisquis hunc Quisquis hunc Quisquis hunc
instituendum instituendum instituendum
acceperit vir ciuilis et acceperit vir ciuilis et acceperit vis ciuilis et
aptus principibus aptus principibus aptus principibus
[VI.] Utrum graviores sint animi morbi quam corporis

235; 17 pelle cum pardo pelle cum pardali pelle cum pardali
certaret certaret certaret

235; 19 illa contra flauor illi contra flauor illi contra flauor
235; 20 videbis me pardo uidebis me pardali videbis me pardali
magis uersicolorem magis uersicolorem magis versicolorem
235; 22 compluries quidem. O compluries quidem. O compluries quidem,
homo morbos homo morbos homo, morbos
236; 31 ratio sana praecipit ratio sana praecipit ratio sana percipit
236; 32 at in animi morbos at in animi morbos at in animi morb⟨i⟩s
236; 39 perniciosores sunt ii pernitiosores sunt hi pernitiosores sunt hi
236; 40 lathargus lethargus lethargus
238; 86 Ascreo Ioui Lydorum Ascreo Ioui Lydorum Ascraeo Ioui
Lydorum
Finis Τῷ θεῷ χαÏρισ Finis Τῷ θεῷ χαÏρισ ————————
[sic] [sic] —
[VII.] Num recte dictum sit Λάθε Βιώσας, id est, Sic vive ut nemo te sentiat vixisse
241; 1-2 Num recte dictum sit Num recte dictum sit
Num recte dictum sit
Λάθε Βιώσασ, id est, Λάθε Βιώσασ, id est,
Λάθε Βιώσας, id est,
Sic uiue ut nemo te Sic uiue ut nemo te
Sic uiue ut nemo te
sentiat uixisse sentiat uixisse sentiat uixisse
241; 7 dosonatores nobiles obsonatores nobiles
obsonatores nobiles
241; 13-14 gloriam velut auersi gloriam uelut auersi
gloriam veluti auersi
242; 23 Abi, coniice Abi, coniice Abi, conice
242; 26 ceu pulsum quendam ceu pulsum quendam ceu pulsum quendam
exhibire iis exhibire his exhibire his
242; 33 Hunc contra negant, Hunc contra negant,
Nunc contra negant,
occultant occultant occultant
242; 44 ocium arti otium arti otium arti
243; 63 Refulgescit enim cum Refulgescit enim Refulgescit enim
res quum res quum res
244; 69 putescunt putescunt putrescunt
244; 69-70 qui in ocio degunt qui in otio degunt
qui in otio degunt
244; 78 nouo in die versantes nouo in die uersantes
nouo in die versantes
⟨homines⟩
244; 98 quod tenebrae illi quod tenebrae illi quod tenebrae illi
suspectae terrorem suspectae terrorem suspectae terrorem
incutiant incutiant incutiunt
246; 112 barathrum quoddam barathrum quoddam barathrum quoddam
praecipitantes praecipitantes praecipitans
[VIII.] De cupiditate divitiarum

251; 1-3 Plutarchus, De Plutarchus, De Plutarchi Chaeronei
cupiditate diuitiarum cupiditate diuitiarum De cupiditate
Desiderio Erasmo Desiderio Erasmo diuitiarum Desiderio
Roterodamo Roterodamo Erasmo Roterodamo
251; 4 Ippomachus Ippomachus Hippomachus
251; 8 felicitatem felicitatem foelicitatem
251; 9 felicitas felicitas foelicitas
251; 10 felicitatem felicitatem foelicitatem
251; 16 Cum potus sedat sitim Quum potus sedat Quum potus sed⟨e⟩t
sitim sitim

282 JORGE LEDO
251; 18 offenditur ac disiicit offenditur ac disiicit offenditur ac disicit

251; 21 Nam illae cum Nam illae quum Nam illae quum
susceperint susceperint susceperint
251; 22 et obsonio quolibet et opsonio quolibet et opsonio quolibet
252; 30 quemadmodum ii quemadmodum hi quemadmodum hi
252; 30-32 non sitientes ⟨ ⟩ non sitientes ⟨ ⟩ non sitientes ⟨bibunt⟩
atque esurientes atque esurientes neque esurientes
sumpserant sumpserant edunt, etiam ea, quae
sitientes atque
esurientes sumpserant
[both editions skip
from the first to the
second esurientes].
252; 32 sic ii, dum sic hi, dum sic hi, dum
252; 36-37 multumque biberit multumque biberit multumque biberit
expletus, adit medicos nec unquam nec vnquam
percontatus expleatur, adit expleatur, adit
medicos percontatus medicos percontatus
252; 39 totidem quo emat totidem coemat totidem coemat
252; 40 non tamen explet non tamen expletur non tamen expletur
252; 42-43 qui, cum nondum qui, quum nondum qui, quum nondum
biberit biberit biberit
aut amici cuiuspiam aut amici cuiuspiam aut amici cuiuspiam
ope ⟨ ⟩ liberatus a ope ⟨ ⟩ liberatus a ope persoluto aere
foeneratore. Ast qui foeneratore. Ast qui alieno liberatus a
plura plura foeneratore. Ast qui
plura
252; 51-52 Neque tamen huius Neque tamen huius Neque enim huius
morbus morbus morbus
252; 53-54 seu malum seu malum ceu malum
transuersim transuersim transuersim
252; 58-59 Nos igitur, cum Nos igitur, quum Nos igitur, quum
viderimus hominem uiderimus hominem viderimus hominem
252; 59-60 A nulla turpidine A nulla turpitudine A nulla turpitudine
252; 61 Cum domos habeat, quum domos habeat, quum domos habeat,
agros, armenta agros, armenta agros, armenta
252; 67 Alioqui ⟨ ⟩, qui Alioqui hi, qui Alioqui hi, qui
sapiunt, ii naturae sapiunt, hi naturae sapiunt, hi naturae
modum modum modum
252-253; 67-68 habent praescriptum habent praescriptum habent praescriptum
adestque finis ⟨ ⟩ adestque finis ⟨ ⟩ adestque finis aliquis
veluti stimulo et veluti stimulo et vsus veluti stimulo et
interstitio interstitio interstitio
circunscriptus circunscriptus circumscriptus
253; 75 Sed iidem in malis Sed iisdem in malis Sed iisdem in malis
sunt in quibus sunt, in quibus ⟨est⟩, in quibus
Thrasonides ille Thrasonides ille Thrasonides ille
253; 76 Quemadmodum Quemadmodum quemadmodum solent
solent ii, qui solent hi, qui hi, qui insanissime
insanissime amant insanissime amant amant
253; 77 negociatoribus negociatoribus negotiatoribus

253; 80 Sophocles Sophocles Sophocles

interrogatus, possetne interrogatus, possetne interrogatus, possetne
ingredi cum muliere ingredi cum muliere congredi cum muliere
253; 81 ab inclaementibus ab inclaementibus ab inclementibus istis
istis istis
254; 87 luxuriem taxauit, cum luxuriem taxauit, luxuriem taxauit,
diceret quum diceret quum diceret
254; 89-90 tanquam splendidi, tanquam splendidi, tanquam splendidi,

vtuntur autem utuntur autem sordidi, vtuntur autem velut
tanquam sordidi et et labores tolerant, sordidi et labores
labores tolerant, cum quum careant tolerant, quum careant
careant voluptatibus uoluptatibus voluptatibus
254; 90 Itaque cum Demades Itaque quum Itaque quum
Demades Demades
Demiror te, Phocion Demiror te, Phocion Demiror te, ⟨ ⟩ inquit,
inquit, qui inquit, qui qui rempublicam
rempublicam rempublicam administres, quum
administres, cum administres, quum possis ad istum
possis ad istum possis ad istum prandere modum
prandere modum prandere modum
254; 96-97 infelicissime, si cum infoelicissime, si infoelicissime, si
possis quum possis quum possis
254; 97 ad modum ⟨ ⟩ vitam ad modum uiuere ad modum viuere
uitam vitam
254; 98 nemini quicquam nemini quicquam nemini quicquam
impartiens, tam impertiens, tam impertiens, tam
incomis in amico incomis in amicos incomis in amicos
254; 100 submittis te, cum submittis te, quum submittis te, quum
tantum tantum tantum
254; 101 Narrant Bizantium Narrant Biçantium Narrant Byzantium
quendam, cum quendam, quum quendam, quum
moechum moechum moechum
254; 106-108 satellitium alunt, satellitium alunt, satellitium alunt,
munera mittunt, alunt munera mittunt, alunt munera mittunt, alunt
exercitus, sociorum exercitus, sociorum exercitus, dum, qui
auxilia redimunt. Tu auxilla redimunt. Tu singulari certamine
vero tantum negotii uero tantum negocii congrediuntur,
sustines, perturbans sustines, perturbans, ⟨e⟩munt. Tu vero
ac distorquens te ac distorquens te tantum negocii
ipsum ipsum sustines perturbans et
distorquens te ipsum
254; 110 qui cum ligna qui quum ligna qui quum ligna
sarmentaque deportet sarmentque deportet sarmentaque deportet
254; 113 Atque haec dixerim, Atque haec dixerim, Atque haec dixerim
aduersus insanam aduersus insanam aduersus asiniam
istam ac formicarum istam ac formicarum istam ac formicarum
vitae uitae vitae
254; 116 pluribus negotiis pluribus negociis pluribus negociis
254; 117 Atque haec omnia Atque haec omnia Atque haec omnia
cum faciat quum faciat quum faciat

284 JORGE LEDO
254; 120 capientes ex iis capientes ex his capientes ex his

254; 121 infensos esse iis infensos esse his infensos esse his
254; 123 cum abundant et quum abundant et quum abundant et
255; 125 Demosthenes iis Demosthenes his Demosthenes his
255; 131 nihil impartiunt nihil impertiunt nihil impertiunt
255; 134 ut ii quoque ut hi quoque vt hi quoque
255; 138 comminuto alio comminuto alio comminuto alio
diuitias auertat ⟨ ⟩ aut diuitias auertat ac diuitias auertat ac
donet deriuet aut donec deriuet aut donec
255; 140 Non tamen seruorum Non enim seruorum Non enim seruorum
tantum liberi tantum liberi tantum liberi, iuxta
nascuntur lasciui, nascuntur lasciui, Euripidis sententiam,
verum etiam uerum etiam verum etiam
sordidorum sordidorum sordidorum
256; 147 Atqui istud non est Atque [atqui?] istud Atque istud non est
instituere non est instituere instituere
256; 150 Ac auarorum liberi At auarorum liberi At auarorum liberi
256; 155 non sinant eos viuere non sinunt eos uiuere non sinunt eos viuere
256; 157-158 et tamquam de alieno et tanquam de alieno et tanquam de alieno
impartiunt amicis impertiunt amicis impertiunt amicis
256; 160 vitae spes uitae species vitae species
256; 160 austerus atque austerus atque austerus atque
ineffabilis ineffabilis inaffabilis
256; 167-168 libertatem et otium? libertatem et ocium? libertatem et ocium?
256; 170 tanquam praeproperas tanquam praeproperas tanquam praeproperas
rugas et canas rugas et canas rugas et canos
inducens animo inducens animo inducens animo
256; 171 negotiis negociis negociis
256; 171-172 per quae marcessit per quae marcescit per quae marcescit
marcescit alacritas alacritas alacritas
256; 184 ita stragulas purpuras, ita stragulas purpuras, ita stragulas
mensas purpuras mensas preciosas purpureas, mensas
preciosas preciosas
257; 188 Interea atque Intereatque Intereatque
257; 190 eiiciatur eiiciatur eiciatur
257-258; 193-194 Imo his, inquit, felices Imo his, inquit, Imo his, inquit,
sumus ac beati foelices sumus ac superuacaneis foelices
beati sumus ac beati
258; 204 habundantem abundantem abundantem
258; 209-211 Cum debueris Quum debueris Quum debueris
submouere purpuram submouere purpuram submouere purpuram
⟨ ⟩ vt illa desineret ⟨ ⟩ ut illa desineret ac cultum, vt illa
delitiarum iterumque delitiarum rerumque desineret delitiarum
peregrinarum amore peregrinarum amore rerumque
laborare laborare peregrinarum amore
laborare
258; 213 felicitatem foelicitatem foelicitatem
258; 215 quae scitu sunt scitu quae scitu sunt quae scitu sunt
necessaria necessaria necessaria
Si nemo videat nec Si nemo uideat, nec Si nemo videat nec
aspiciat verae cerae aspiciat uerae caecae aspiciat, ver⟨e⟩ caecae

sunt et orbae luce sunt sunt, et orbae luce sunt et orbae luce sunt
diuitiae sunt diuitiae diuitiae
258; 221 Siquidem diues, cum Siquidem diues, quum Siquidem diues, quum
solus coenat solus coenat solus coenat
258; 222 negotium mensis negocium mensis negocium mensis
conuiualibus conuiualibus conuiualibus
258; 223 plebeis plaebeis plaebeis
258; 225 lebetesque tripodes lebetesque tripodes lebetesque tripodas

286 JORGE LEDO
Appendix 3. A full list of the marginalia in OPAsc and OPFrob

ASD 4.2 OPAsc OPFrob
(page; line) (‘A’ in ASD 4.2)
[III.] De tuenda bona valetudine praecepta Erasmo interprete. Τὰ πρόσωπα.

Moschion et Xeusippus
189; 8-9 Ansam praebere/ Homerus
190; 18 Prouerbium
190; 27 Carmen Homericum Homeri uersus prouerbialis
190; 30 Laus medicinae
190; 53-54 De cibis aegrotantibus
exhibendis
191; 68-69 Aureum praeceptum
192; 78 Titus balueo [i.e., balneo]
etinctus
192; 90 Adagium
192; 92 Festiuus Philippi iocus
193; 128 Socrates
194; 154 Phrynes dicterium
194; 158 Plato. Voluptates ab animo in
corpus scatentes
pernitiosissimae
194; 170 Simonides
194; 176 Apophthegma
194; 179 Attende sordidorum naturam.
Adagium
195; 183 Cratetis prouerbialis sententia
195; 195 Arcesilai scomma
196; 217 Prodicus
196; 218-219 Bona ualetudo bonum
diuinum
196; 223 ἁρπαλέον
196; 225 Demades
196; 232 Lisimachus ob sitim hostibus
se dedidit
197; 249 musica coenula
197; 250 Timothei dictum
197; 251 Lepidum Alexandri dictum
197; 258-259 Humorum abundantia corpus
ad morbos propensum reddit
198; 267 Prouerbium
198; 270 Hesiodus
198; 273 Hipocrates
198; 287 Catho
199; 308-309 Laconum mos
199; 325 Exacta uitae ratio inutilis
200; 334 Indicia febris futurae
200; 339 Democritus

200; 346 Somnus et insomnia

consyderanda
200; 349-350 De affectibus animi
200; 365 Platonis dictum
201; 380 Memorabile dictum
202; 387 Studiosorum exercitatio
202; 395 Attende commoda exercitii
uocis
202; 401 Lectionis exercitatio
202; 422 Socrates
202; 425 Repletis et lassatis non
conuenit forte exercitium
203; 437 Non utendum frigidis balneis
204; 458 Aluus auribus caret
204; 460 Cibi multi nutrimenti
204; 462 Leuibus cibis immorandum
204; 465 Carnium eius temperandus
est
204; 472 Consuetudo in naturam
transit
204; 477 Lac grauedinem adducit
204; 480 Euripidis laus uini
204; 486 Aqua uino miscenda
205; 504 Lenis aquae potus
206; 510 Διονύσῳ νηφάλια θύειν, id
est, Dionyso sobria
sacrificare
206; 512 Minos
206; 516 Lydorum institutum
206; 525 Attende adolescentulorum
honestum pudorem
206; 534 ἐγκέφαλος Φοίνικος, id est,
phoenicis cerebrum
206; 543 Venustum Aristonis dictum
207; 555 µενόεικες
207; 557 Studiosorum secundae
mensae
207; 563 Aristotelis opinio
208; 573 Vomitus et alui subductiones
uitandae
208; 580 Peculiare uomitus malum
208; 594 Grana Cnidia et scamonea
208; 601 Optima comparatio
208; 603 Leniter cientibus aluum
utendum
210; 643 Admonitio Platonis
210; 651 Theophrastus
210; 653 Animus corporis inquilinus
210; 662 Versus senarius ex poeta
quopiam
210; 671 Heraclitus

288 JORGE LEDO
211; 680 Studiosis non uacat

meminisse uoluptatum
211; 684 Iocus Epaminondae
211; 692 Tiberius Caesar
211; 699 Sui cuilibet pulsus attendendi
212; 730 Contra studiosos corpori non
parcentes
212; 733 Festiuus apologus
[IV.] In principe requiri doctrinam Plutarchi commentarium, Erasmo Roterodamo

interprete
217; 11 Sententia Theopompi
217; 14 Imperium non spatio, sed Imperium non spatio, sed
stabilitate metiendum stabilitate metiendum
217; 20 Bona similitudo
218; 31 Comparatio principis ad
regulam
218; 34 Sententia Sententia
218; 38 Mos Persarum Mos Persarum
218; 40 Lex omnium regina Lex omnium regina
218; 47 Princeps quid sit Princeps quid sit
218; 57 Iustitiae laus Iustitiae laus
218; 61 Gestamen regis Gestamen regis
218; 79 E poeta quopiam E poeta quopiam
219; 79 Mira iustitiae vis
220; 88 Epaminondas Epaminondas
220; 91 Cato Vticensis Cato Vticensis
220; 94 Clearchus
220; 95-96 Aristodemus
220; 115 Attende Alexandri ad
Diogenem dictum
221; 131 Carmen Carmen
221; 134 Mira similitudo Mira similitudo
221; 139 Versus senarii Versus senarii
222; 142 Similitudo Similitudo
[V.] Cum principibus maxime philosophum debere disputare

225; 12-13 Ariston Chius
226; 31 ὀαριστὴς
226; 32 Reges deorum discipuli Reges deorum discipuli
226; 35 Mirum de capris Mirum de capris
ἐρύγγιον
226; 45 Qui principes quos doctos Qui principes quos doctos
habuerint habuerint
226; 50 Ironia Ironia
226; 56 ἡγεµόνος
227; 59 Prouerbialis senarius Prouerbialis senarius
228; 71 Prouerbium κοινοÃν Ἑρµῆν Prouerbium κοινοÃν Ἑρµῆν

228; 81 ὁµοίωσις
229; 108 Senarii e tragoedia quapiam Senarii e tragoedia quapiam
230; 114 Epicurus
230; 116 Sententia
230; 117 Nomina Gratiarum Nomina Gratiarum
230; 118 Ab alacritate gaudio et Ab alacritate gaudio et
florulentia florulentia
230; 124 O diuinitus dictum[!]
230; 140 Similitudo Similitudo
230; 146 Maligne de Pompeio
231; 160 δεοµἐνοις
[VI.] Utrum graviores sint animi morbi quam corporis

235; 17 De uulpe Aesopica
235; 22 Sententia aurea
236; 30 Animi mala latere
236; 33 Dementia praecipuus animi
morbus
236; 43 Prouerbium
236; 58 Ex poeta quopiam
[VII.] Num recte dictum sit Λάθε Βιώσας, id est, Sic vive ut nemo te sentiat vixisse
241; 6 Sententia prouerbialis
241; 7 Philoxenus
242; 26 Veteres aegrotos palam
curabant
242; 57 Similitudo
243; 60 Epaminondas
243; 63 Sophoclis uersus
244; 66 Vita sedentaria marcorem
conciliat
244; 89 Sol Delius
244; 91 Ἄ[Ι]δῃς
244; 93 φῶς
246; 120 λήθη ἄβυσσος
[VIII.] De cupiditate divitiarum

252; 66 Solon
256; 169 Hesiodus
256; 183 Agathon tibias ex conuiuio
relegauit
256; 187 Versus Hesiodi
258; 206 Homeri versus

290 JORGE LEDO
PLATE 1: Plutarch’s Moralia translated by Erasmus,

printed by Badius Ascensius, presumably in 1513 or early 1514.
Gent, Universiteitsbibliotheek, BIB.G.009091/-1, title page.


Gent, Universiteitsbibliotheek, BIB.G.009211, title page.

292 JORGE LEDO

printed by Johannes Froben in August 1514.
Gent, Universiteitsbibliotheek, BIB.ACC.021196/-1, title page.


Gent, Universiteitsbibliotheek, BIB.G.009211, sig. c3r.

294 JORGE LEDO

Gent, Universiteitsbibliotheek, BIB.G.009211, sig. c3v.


Gent, Universiteitsbibliotheek, BIB.ACC.021196/-1, sig. C8v.

Gent, Universiteitsbibliotheek, BIB.G.009091/-1, sig. a2r.

Gent, Universiteitsbibliotheek, BIB.ACC.021196/-1, sig. a2r.

296 JORGE LEDO

Gent, Universiteitsbibliotheek, BIB.G.009091/-1, sig. b8v.

Gent, Universiteitsbibliotheek, BIB.ACC.021196/-1, sig. d2v.

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Erasmus’ Translations of Plutarch’s Moralia

and the Ascensian editio princeps of ca. 1513

The role of Erasmus as a disseminator of Plutarch’s Moralia has been

Humanistica Lovaniensia 68.2 (2019), 257-296 https://doi.org/10.30986/2019.257

1508, during his stay at Aldus’s Νεακαδηµία in Venice, that Erasmus

Humanistica Lovaniensia 68.2 (2019), 257-296

another ascribed to Apostolius, to which I was given access by

Historische und Antiquarische Gesellschaft zu Basel (ed.), Gedenkschrift zum 400.

Humanistica Lovaniensia 68.2 (2019), 257-296

arrived in England, at least four reasons would have moved Erasmus to

Humanistica Lovaniensia 68.2 (2019), 257-296

decided to proceed with his translations of Plutarch as he had done with

aus Basler Pressen, http://www.ub.unibas.ch/cmsdata/spezialkataloge/gg/), but rather

Humanistica Lovaniensia 68.2 (2019), 257-296

Besides his project of publishing a new, enlarged edition of the

Proverbiorum opus et ita locupletavi ut prorsus aliud reddiderim: at multo, ni fallor,

Humanistica Lovaniensia 68.2 (2019), 257-296

his revised version of the Adagia and deliver it to Badius Ascensius in

1514 to 1527”, Erasmus of Rotterdam Society Yearbook 6 (1986), 49-51, 75-76; K.

Humanistica Lovaniensia 68.2 (2019), 257-296

Ammonio (Allen 283; CWE 2, 267-275),16 he explains the progress he

Humanistica Lovaniensia 68.2 (2019), 257-296

sion. Valentina Sebastiani18 has explained accurately that the tensions

18 Sebastiani 2018 (as in n. 13), 40, 42 and n. 9.

Humanistica Lovaniensia 68.2 (2019), 257-296

Birckmann did in fact give some of Erasmus’ translations of Plutarch to

2. A new editio princeps of Erasmus’ translation of the Moralia

aedibus Ioannis Frobenii Hammel||burgensis, mense Augusto, Anno domini mil-||lesimo

Humanistica Lovaniensia 68.2 (2019), 257-296

23 P. Renouard, Bibliographie des impressions et des œuvres de Josse Badius Ascen-

available online at http://www.manuscriptorium.com) shows no differences either.

Humanistica Lovaniensia 68.2 (2019), 257-296

The second notable difference is that OPAsc is made up of three signa-

Humanistica Lovaniensia 68.2 (2019), 257-296

Humanistica Lovaniensia 68.2 (2019), 257-296

Humanistica Lovaniensia 68.2 (2019), 257-296

A.J. Koster published his magnificent edition of Erasmus’ translations

Humanistica Lovaniensia 68.2 (2019), 257-296

Appendix 1. Table of contents of both editions

Humanistica Lovaniensia 68.2 (2019), 257-296

Plutarchus, De cupiditate diuitiarum, Plutarchus, De cupiditate diuitiarum

Humanistica Lovaniensia 68.2 (2019), 257-296

Appendix 2. Complete list of variants between ASD and OPAsc

ASD IV.2 OPAsc OPFrob ASD IV.2

[III.] De tuenda bona valetudine praecepta Erasmo interprete. Τὰ πρόσωπα.

Humanistica Lovaniensia 68.2 (2019), 257-296

193; 122 hominibus Rhiglum hominibus Rhiglum hominibus Rhiglum

Humanistica Lovaniensia 68.2 (2019), 257-296

196; 218-219 bonam valetudinem bonam valetudinem bonam valetudinem

Humanistica Lovaniensia 68.2 (2019), 257-296

200; 363 praecipue praecipue precipue

Humanistica Lovaniensia 68.2 (2019), 257-296

208; 584 exhulcerationibus exhulcerationibus exulcerationibus

Humanistica Lovaniensia 68.2 (2019), 257-296

212; 743 praemii praemii premii

[IV.] In principe requiri doctrinam Plutarchi commentarium, Erasmo Roterodamo

221; 138 supplicia peruertunt supplicia peruertunt supplicia praeuertunt

Humanistica Lovaniensia 68.2 (2019), 257-296

[V.] Cum principibus maxime philosophum debere disputare