Extremely rare first edition of the poem - Lot 203

Extremely rare first edition of the poem "Chrysopœia" or the way to make gold, by the alchemist poet AUGURELLI. Post-incunabulum of 1505 printed by Aldus. [Alchemy]. AUGURELLI (Giovanni Aurelio). I. Aurelius Augurellus. Venetiis, in ædibus Aldi, mense Aprili 1505 (as indicated in the colophon). Small in-8° of 124 (/126) ff. unencrypted, 2 bl. ff. (Signs: a7, b-l8, m7, n-q8). Printer's mark on verso of last leaf. Royal blue half-chagrin corners, spine with 5 raised bands decorated with gilt small irons, title gilt title, cold fillet on covers, gilt head (19th century binding). siècle). First edition, with the exception of the first book of the Carmina printed by ALDE in 1491, of the collection of poems by the Italian humanist and alchemist Giovanni Aurelio AUGURELLI (1454-1537), scholar and personal friend of friend of Bernardo and Pietro BEMBO, and of Marsile FICIN. The collection contains Ioannis Aurelii Augurelli iambicus liber primus [secundus] ; Sermonum liber primus [secundus] ; Carminum liber primus [secundus] et Libellus iambicus super additus. The poem "Chrysopœia" (k1r-k3v) on the philosopher's stone is particularly particularly interesting, in its very first edition, Sermon XI of Book II of the Sermons; it prefigures the major work AUGURELLI's 1515 work of the same title, dealing with the transmutation of metals into gold. In addition, most of the poems are addressed addressed to friends or notable public figures, including ALDE himself. One of the poems laments the death of Roberto MALATESTA in 1482, which dashed AUGURELLI's hopes of returning to Rimini. Rimini; another poem dedicates the first book of poems to Pandolfa MALATESTA; another salutes and praises Pietro BEMBO. In compositions, AUGURELLI sings of his life, his friendships, his relationships with BEMBO and Nicolò FRANCO, thus constituting a valuable biographical source. Born in Rimini, he studied classics in Padua Padua and became a professor of Greek and Latin in Venice. He was famous among his contemporaries for his cultured Latin style, and it is said that BEMBO consulted him on his own compositions. He devoted most of his time and fortune to his alchemical hobbies, which is also a recurrent theme in his poetry. On the last three blank pages (q7-8), a contemporary hand has elegantly penciled the table of poems from the beginning of the collection at the end of the 1st book of the Carmina. A most interesting Mexican provenance. With a letter from Mexican poet Alfredo CHAVERO to his compatriot compatriot Joaquín Demetrio CASASUS: "Al elegante traductor latinista Joaquin D. Casasus. Recuerdo de su amigo Alfredo Chavero. Mexico City, November 8, 1898". Alfredo CHAVERO (1841-1906), lawyer, poet, playwright, historian, archaeologist and politician, was member of the Academia Mexicana de la Lengua. Joaquín Demetrio CASASUS (1858-1916), Mexican economist, jurist, banker, politician politician, diplomat and writer, was a leading member of the Los Cortes a leading member of the Los Científicos group. He was twice Mexican ambassador to the United States, founder of the Mexican Mexican Central Bank and a member of the Academia Mexicana de la Lengua which he joined in 1904, and of which he was president from 1912 until his death. Author of literary works in verse and prose, he also translated such authors such as HORACE, VIRGILE and CATULLE. Adams A2152; Goldsmid, Aldine Press at Venice, 73, "Rare"; Renouard, Aldus, 49.2. The binder has omitted the blank a2 leaf, as well as the m8 leaf where the end of ode XXI and the beginning of ode XXII from Book I of the Carmina. Some rubbing to binding, spine unstained.