426 Memvoirs of Aldus Manutius, or the Elder Aldus. [June i, 
2 folic size. In one of his letters writ- 
ten at Venice, 1501, to Currado Celta, 
and to Vincenzio Longino, he says; “ Ve- 
tus et novum Testamentum Graece, La- 
tine et Hebraice nondum impressi, sed 
parturio.” Of this important project, 
be executed only one proof sheet, of 
which a copy (perhaps the only one 
which has escaped destruction) is pre- 
served amongst the manuscripts in the Na- 
tional Library of France; it possesses great 
beauty, and it, is much to be lamented, 
that the disturbed state of those times, 
and the cavils which, Aldus says, were 
raised against him by the envious, pre- 
vented his realizing this project of being 
the first composer of a polyglot Bible: 
he would have surpassed, both in ele- 
gance and correctuess, that which was 
printed at Complutum in 1514-15-17, by 
the labours, and at the expence of the 
learned Cardinal Ximenes, who was 
perhaps indebted to the proof-sheet of Al- 
dus, for the first idea of bringing together 
the Holy Scripture 3n several different lan- 
guages upon a single page, 
About the year 1500, Aldus married 
the daughter of Andrea Torresano, a na- 
tive of Asola, who, had been a printer for 
_ twenty years at Venice, with some repu- 
tation. Aldus received pecuniary assist- 
ance from his father-in-law, who, being 
more opulent, furnished him with the 
means of extending his concerns. 
In 1506, the war which desolated part 
of Europe, and particularly Italy, obliged 
Aldus to quit, Venice, and consequently 
to suspend the labours of his press... He 
had been deprived of considerable pro- 
perty, and this year was employed in en- 
deavours to recover it; but his exertions 
were fruitless, and as he was returning to 
Venice from Milan, to which place he 
had been called by several learned men, 
he had the ill-fortune to be stopped by a 
partyofthe Duke of Mantua’s soldiers,who, 
believing him to be some spy, or at least 
a suspicious character, conducted him to 
a. prison at Caneto, a town in the duchy 
of Mantua. Through the kindness and 
intercession. of Jattredo Caralo, vice- 
chancellor of the senate at Milan, who 
was one of those that had entreated him 
- to visit that city, he was quickly released, 
and procured the restoration of a part 
of his property. 
It is probable that the loss of the great- 
st part of his possessions, and the incon- 
venience, which so long an absence oc- 
casioned, were the principal causes-of his 
associating with Andrea of Asola, whose 
pecuniary assistance was become more 
necessary than-ever. In 1507 he resumed 
his Jabours, but under the embarrass- 
ments which want of money must have 
produced; the year after, his father-in- 
law relieved his distress by taking a part- 
in his business. 
In the years 1510 and 1511, no Al- 
dine edition appeared. The disastrous 
war, which so many potentates of Europe 
were Carrying on against the republic of 
Venice, caused this long interval. His 
office was at length re-opened in 1512, 
the year when his third son, Paulus Ma- 
nutius was born, ‘ Pridie Idus Junii.” 
He had three other children; the eldest, 
Manutio de’ Manutii, was a priest and 
lived at Asola, on the family estate, be- 
loved by his brother Paulus, who fre- 
quently neglected the labours of his 
press,.to visit him. The second son, An- 
thony, cultivated letters, and if not a 
printer, as some have asserted, was at 
least a bookseller at Bologna, where he 
published several. editions, and died in 
that city in, 1558 or 1559. We are ig- 
norant.of the dates of their births, and 
of that of a daughter of Aldus, whose 
naine is likewise unknown, and concerning 
whom we are only informed by a letter of - 
Paulus Manutius, that she married Julio 
Catone, of Mantua, and hada son of the 
same name. The name of the wife of 
Aldus is also unknown. 
Aldas published many editions in 1513 
and 1514; he was preparing a greater 
number, when in 1515, death snatched 
him away from literature, and from his 
‘family, at the age of 70. His four chil- 
dren, who were under age, were educated 
by their mother at Asola, under the guar- 
dianship of their grandfather, who took 
the direction of the printing-ofhice, and 
conducted it, together with his sons, Fran- 
cesco, and Federico, until his death iw 
1529. 
We can scarcely form an idea of the 
ardent passion with which Aldus engaged 
in the reproduction of the great works of 
ancient literaiure, Atthis period of the 
revival of letters, and of the infancy 
of typography, most of the best ancient 
authors were not yet reprinted, and were 
consequently scarce and excessively ex- 
pensive. If Aldus discovered any ma- 
nuscript, still unedited, er which might 
improve a text already printed, he suf- 
fered it not to escape him. He spared 
_ no expence, solicitation, or trouble; and 
he had.the satisfaction of seeing, that ex- 
ertions were made by the learned men of 
his time, to gratify his wishes, by bringing 
within his reach; frequently without soli- — 
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