Aldana, Francisco de.

Dialago [sic] Intitulado Anthifortuna.

[Spain], c. 1580.

4to (202 x 146 mm.). Contemporary foliation: [i], 102, [1 blank] leaves. In a single cursive hand, speaking parts marked in the margin.

CONTEMPORARY ?SPANISH SHEEP decorated in blind with rules, rolls and fleurons (surface abraded, spine chipped), central ornament of repeated fleurons, evidence of four ties, edges sprinkled brown.

            Prudentio and Fortunio debate the role of chance, free will and the planets in our lives.
            The book is in three parts. The first two demonstrate that luck, good or bad, has little effect on human activities, as natural causes and circumstances can also explain wealth, military success, etc. The third section, on astrology, argues that the stars do not directly impact human affairs, which depend solely on the inscrutable will of God, “the real Fortune” (f. 102, tr.).
           The attribution of this dialog to the Neoplatonist and military commander Francisco de Aldana (1537-78) rests on the printing privilege granted in 1591 to his brother, Cosme (1538-?96), for a book titled Antifortuna. A fellow soldier and poet, Cosme gathered his brother’s scattered works and published some between 1589 and 1593. Salamanca University Library Ms. 2317 (ff. 65-165) is apparently another copy of this text. In good condition, with the stenciled arms, manuscript inventory number and printed spine label of Sir Thomas Phillipps (1792-1872; Catalogus librorum manuscriptorum 3988 & Bibliotheca Philippica (1973) 2106).
¶Rojo Vega, “Manuscritos y problemas de edición en el siglo XVI” in Castilla: estudios de literatura 9 (1994) 147; Aguilar, “Cosme edita a Francisco de Aldana” in Cánones críticos en la poesía de los Siglos de Oro ed. Ruiz Pérez 193-208; SDBM_24554.

Item #00483

Price: $8,500.00