The last book published before Aldus' death in 1515 was Lucretius’ famous poem, De rarum natura (On the Nature of Things), the greatest Latin statement of Epicurean philosophy: a world made up of atoms which combine to make all things, a world not directed by divine providence, a world in which our concern should be happiness and not worry about the afterlife or the gods. In the prefatory letter to Alberto Pio of Carpi, his pupil and patron, Aldus notes that much of the poem is offensive to a Christian, but that there is so much good in it that is is worth reading anyway. The Aldine Dolphin & Anchor are found on the title page and on p272.
View the pages of the 1515 Lucretius
Format:
Octavo