Aristotle’s De Caelo (On the Heavens) is the cornerstone of ancient cosmological thought—an inquiry into the structure and movement of the universe written in the 4th century BCE. Here presented with the celebrated commentary of the great Andalusian polymath Ibn Rushd (Averroes), this Venetian Giunta edition represents one of the finest Renaissance engagements with both Greek and Arabic philosophical traditions. Averroes (1126–1198), born in Córdoba, devoted his life to explicating Aristotle’s true meaning and defending philosophy as a sacred pursuit of reason. His commentaries became the principal gateway through which the Latin West encountered Aristotelian cosmology, forming the intellectual backbone of scholasticism and early modern science alike.
Within the Aristotelian corpus, De Caelo held a special fascination for alchemists, Hermetic philosophers, and natural magi. Its discussions of the elements, the circular perfection of celestial motion, and the distinction between the corruptible world below the moon and the incorruptible heavens above provided a metaphysical framework for the opus alchymicum. Medieval and Renaissance alchemists drew upon these cosmological principles to articulate the correspondence between the macrocosm and microcosm, the idea that the transformations of metals mirrored the harmonies of the stars. Aristotle’s Meteorologica, often studied alongside De Caelo, extended these insights into the intermediate realm between earth and sky, treating vapors, rains, and celestial exhalations as manifestations of the same elemental forces sought by the alchemist in the crucible.
Together, Aristotle and Averroes embody the chain of transmission by which classical cosmology, Arabic philosophy, and Renaissance Hermeticism intertwined. A superb Venetian printing from the Giunta press, uniting two of the greatest minds of antiquity and Islam in their shared pursuit of the divine architecture of the universe.
Aristotle. De Coelo cum Averrois Cordubensis Commentariis.Venice: Apud Iuntas (Giunta). (Volume V of XII). [1] 500. Small quarto (5 x 7⅓ inches). Illustrated with many woodcuts. Full contemporary vellum binding with manuscript title to the spine, blue edges; some soiling to the vellum, lacks ties. Text in Latin. A very good copy.
Aristotle’s De Caelo (On the Heavens) is the cornerstone of ancient cosmological thought—an inquiry into the structure and movement of the universe written in the 4th century BCE. Here presented with the celebrated commentary of the great Andalusian polymath Ibn Rushd (Averroes), this Venetian Giunta edition represents one of the finest Renaissance engagements with both Greek and Arabic philosophical traditions. Averroes (1126–1198), born in Córdoba, devoted his life to explicating Aristotle’s true meaning and defending philosophy as a sacred pursuit of reason. His commentaries became the principal gateway through which the Latin West encountered Aristotelian cosmology, forming the intellectual backbone of scholasticism and early modern science alike.
Within the Aristotelian corpus, De Caelo held a special fascination for alchemists, Hermetic philosophers, and natural magi. Its discussions of the elements, the circular perfection of celestial motion, and the distinction between the corruptible world below the moon and the incorruptible heavens above provided a metaphysical framework for the opus alchymicum. Medieval and Renaissance alchemists drew upon these cosmological principles to articulate the correspondence between the macrocosm and microcosm, the idea that the transformations of metals mirrored the harmonies of the stars. Aristotle’s Meteorologica, often studied alongside De Caelo, extended these insights into the intermediate realm between earth and sky, treating vapors, rains, and celestial exhalations as manifestations of the same elemental forces sought by the alchemist in the crucible.
Together, Aristotle and Averroes embody the chain of transmission by which classical cosmology, Arabic philosophy, and Renaissance Hermeticism intertwined. A superb Venetian printing from the Giunta press, uniting two of the greatest minds of antiquity and Islam in their shared pursuit of the divine architecture of the universe.
Aristotle. De Coelo cum Averrois Cordubensis Commentariis.Venice: Apud Iuntas (Giunta). (Volume V of XII). [1] 500. Small quarto (5 x 7⅓ inches). Illustrated with many woodcuts. Full contemporary vellum binding with manuscript title to the spine, blue edges; some soiling to the vellum, lacks ties. Text in Latin. A very good copy.
