[351] See especially the preface to Aristotle, vol. i. 1495; vol. v. 1498.
[352] See Preface to Thesaurus Cornucopiæ, quoted by Didot, p. 80; and cf. pp. 210, 221, 521, for further hints about selfish bibliomaniacs, who tried to hoard their treasures from the public and refused them to the press. Aldo, as a genuine lover of free learning, and also as a publisher, detests this class of men.
[353] See Pannizzi's tract on 'Francesco da Bologna,' published by Pickering, 1873. He was probably Francia the painter.
[354] In a letter to Marcello Virgilio Adriani, the teacher of Machiavelli, he mentions some books 'Cum aliis quibusdam communes,' as distinguished from others which were his private property. Didot, p. 233.
[355] On the subject of patents, privileges, and monopolies see Didot, pp. 79, 166, 189, 371, 479-481.
[356] Μουσαῖον τὸν παλαιότατον ποιητὴν ἠθέλησα προοιμιάζειν τῷ τε Ἀριστοτέλει καὶ τῶν σοφῶν τοῖς ἑτέροις αὐτίκα δι’ ἐμοῦ ἐντυπησομένοις. This πρόδρομος, or precursor, appeared without a date; but it must have come out earlier than 1494.
[357] John Lascaris had edited four plays of Euripides for Alopa in 1496. This Aldine edition contained eighteen, one of which, the Hercules Furens, turned up while vol. ii. was in the press. The Electra, not discovered till later on, was printed at Rome, 1545.
[358] The Adagia were first printed in 1500 at Paris by John Philippi. After the Aldine edition eleven were issued between 1509 and 1520 by Matthew Schürer, ten by Froben between 1513 and 1539, while seven or eight others appeared in various parts of Germany.
[359] See the passage quoted by Didot, pp. 297-299.
[360] Didot, pp. 147-151, 436-470, gives ample details concerning the foundation, constitution, and members of the Aldine Academy.