400 Things about the Treasures of the Pembroke Library and Archives

Every weekday until our anniversary date of 29th June, the Pembroke Library will be sharing a new item from the archives and library collections, and telling you ten things about each object - by 29th June, that will be 400 things about the Library and Archive treasures!

Today's object is a translation of Aristotle's De Animalibus, printed in 1476. Read on to find out more about it, and follow the Pembroke Library social media (@pembrokeoxfordlibrary on Instagram, and Pembroke College Library, Oxford on Facebook) to keep up with the rest of the series!

Aristotle's De Animalibus, translated by Theodorus Gaza (1476)

Pembroke is remarkably fortunate to have a significant collection of incunabula—books printed before 1500. This is one of two from the same year that have a claim to be the oldest. As we don’t have the exact printing date, we’ve chosen this one to be our oldest.

Ten things about this book:

1. This is a translation of Aristotle’s De Animalibus made by Theodorus Gaza.

2. Originally from Thessaloniki in Greece, Gaza worked in Rome for the Pope, translating Aristotle and other Greek authors into Latin. Gaza died in 1475.

3. This book was printed in 1476 in Venice.

4. It is 330mm by 220mm in size.

5. It was printed by the workshop of Johannes de Colonia, who was originally from Cologne in Germany. He would go on to own one of the dominant printing workshops in Venice.

6. Unusually, the binding is original, and still shows signs of the original metalwork. Holes and unfaded patches show where studs would have been, and half of each of the clasps has survived.

7. The leather of the covers is stamped with various motifs, including birds and a Pegasus.

8. The text itself has frequent marginalia, commenting on the text, and occasionally adding the original text in Greek to its Latin translation.

9. Inside the front and back covers, there are pages from an earlier manuscript that has been used as part of the binding (picture 5

10. This book was purchased by Prof. Chandler, a 19th century Fellow of Pembroke, who was an avid book collector. This won’t be the last book from his collection that we feature over the course of our 400 Things.