VII. CHAP. instance of Lorenzo, into the east, by Giovanni Lascar, produced a great number of rare and valuable works. On his return from his second expedition, he brought with him about two hundred copies, many of which he had procured from a monastery at Mount Athos; but this treasure did not arrive till after the death of Lorenzo, who in his last moments expressed to Politiano and Pico, his regret that he could not live to complete the collection which he was forming for their accommodation (a). Stimulated by the example of Lorenzo, other eminent patrons of learning engaged in the same pursuit. Those who parti cularly distinguished themselves were Matteo Corvino king of Hungary, and Federigo duke of Urbino (6), to both of whom Lorenzo gave permission to copy such of his manu-` scripts as they wished to possess; nothing being more consonant to his intentions than to diffuse the spirit of literature as extensively as possible. Introduction of printing in Florence. The newly discovered art of printing, contributed also in an eminent degree, to accelerate the progress of classical literature. This art was practised very early in Florence, and some of the Florentine authors have even been desirous plicit evidence, in a letter from him to Lorenzo, first published by Fabroni, σε (a) Non nihil etiam tunc quoque jocatus nobiscum, quin utrosque intuens nos; Vellem ait distulisset me saltem mors hæc ad eum diem quo vestram plane bibliothecam absoluissem. Pol. Ep. lib. iv. Ep. 2. (b) Pol. Ep. lib. iii. Ep. 6. Fabr. in vitâ Laur. v. i. p. 154. VII. desirous of conferring on one of their countrymen, the CHAP. merit of its invention (a); but this acute people have too many well-founded claims on the gratitude of posterity, to render it necessary for them to rely on doubtful commendation. It is however certain, that whilst Venice solicited the assistance of Nicolas Jensen, a native of France, and Rome began to practise the art under the guidance of the two German printers, Sweynheym and Pannartz, Florence found amongst her own citizens, an artist equal to the task. Taking for his example the inscriptions on the ancient Roman seals (b), or more probably stimulated by the success of his contemporaries, Bernardo Cennini, a Florentine goldsmith, formed the matrices of his letters in steel; by means of which, with the assistance of his two sons, Domenico and Piero, he began in the year 1471 to print the works of Virgil, with the commentary of Servius, which he published at Florence in the following year (c). Lorenzo (a) Manni, della prima promulgazione de' Libri in Firenze. Fir. 1761. (b) Ibid. p. 3.. (c) At the close of the Bucolics in this edition, is the following inscription: AD LECTOREM Florentiæ vii, Idus Novembres. MCCCCLXXI. Bernardus Cenninus Aurifex omnium judicio præstantissimus & Dominicus ejus F. egregiæ indolis adolescens: expressis ante calibe caracteribus, ac deinde fusis literis, volumen hoc prium impresserunt. Petrus Cenninus Bernardi ejusdem F. quanta potuit cura & diligentia emendavit, ut cernis. Florentinis ingeniis nil ardui est', And at the close of the volume is another inscription, with the date of October 1472. CHAP. VII. Early editions of the classic authors. Lorenzo de' Medici saw the importance of a discovery, which had been wanting to the completion of the generous views of his ancestors, and availed himself of it with a degree of earnestness, which sufficiently shews the motives by which he was actuated. At his instigation, several of the Italian scholars were induced to bestow their attention, in collating and correcting the manuscripts of the ancient authors, in order that they might be submitted to the press with the greatest possible accuracy. In the dialogues of Landino, published by him under the name of Disputationes Camaldulenses, to which we have had occasion to refer (a), that author has devoted his third and fourth books to a critical dissertation on the works of Virgil, particularly with a view of explaining such parts as are supposed to contain an allegorical sense; but he soon afterwards performed a much more grateful office to the admirers of the Roman poet, by correcting the errors with which his works abounded, and endeavouring to restore them to their original purity. In the proeme to this work, which he has inscribed to Piero de' Medici, the son of Lorenzo, he recapitulates the favours which the ancestors of his patron have bestowed on men of learning, and particularly recommends to his imitation, in this respect, the example of his father. He adverts to the assassination of Giuliano de' Medici, and attributes the preservation of Lorenzo at that critical juncture to his own courage and magnanimity (6). Returning (a) Vol. i. p. 103. (6) Dabis, suavissime Petre, hoc in loco roganti mihi veniam, si barbari. cam illam, & omnium sceleratissimam ac sine exemplo conjurationem silentio præterierim: qua in templo marmoreo inter sacra solemnia & Julianus frater "more Returning to his immediate subject, he thus proceeds: "In my dialogues of Camaldoli, I have given a philosophical comment on the works of Virgil. I now mean "to perform the office of a grammarian and critic on this "author. In my former attempt, as the subject is of more dignity, I have introduced your father as one of the disputants; but these observations, which are intended "to inculcate a knowledge of the Latin language, I con"sider as more properly addressed to a young man of your "promising talents and cultivated understanding (a).” In the year 1482, Landino published also an edition of the works of Horace, with numerous corrections and remarks, which he inscribed to Guido da Feltri, the son of Federigo, duke of Urbino (6), to whom he had dedicated, in terms of the highest commendation and respect, his Disputationes Camaldulenses. Landino was one of the first scholars who, after the revival of letters, devoted himself to the important task of restoring and elucidating these favourite authors, and his labours were received with unbounded applause. Of his observations on Horace considerable use has been made by many subsequent editors. On their publication, Politiano accompanied "sævissime trucidatus, et ipse Laurentius, inter strictos, et undique eum petentes gladios jam jam casurus, ita elapsus est, ut non humano, sed divino "auxilio, et sua animi præstantia, quæ audacissimum quemque terrere pote (b) Impressum per Antonium Miscominum, Florentiæ, anno Salutis MCCCCLXXXII. nonis Augusti. These commentaries were republished at Venice, per Joannem de Forlivio & Socios, in the following year, and several subsequent editions have taken place. CHA P. VII. CHAP. accompanied them with the following ode, not unworthy of the poet whose praises it is intended to celebrate (a): VII. AD HORATIUM FLACCUM. Vates Threicio blandior Orpheo, Seu malis fidibus sistere lubricos Qui princeps Latiam sollicitas chelyn, Quis te a barbarica compede vindicat? Quis frontis nebulam dispulit, et situ O quam nuper eras nubilus, et malo Obductus senio, quam nitidos ades Nunc vultus referens, docta fragrantibus Cinctus tempora floribus! Talem purpureis reddere solibus Laetum pube nova post gelidas nives Serpentem, positis exuviis, solet Verni temperies poli. Talem te choreis reddidit et Lyrae, LANDINUS, veterum laudibus æmulus, Qualis tu solitus Tibur ad uvidum Nunc (a) This ode is not printed in the works of Politiano, and is very rately given by Bandini. Spec. Lit. Flor. It is here republished from the edition of Horace by Landino, Ven. MCCCCLXXXIII. inaccu |