Erasmus’ Translations of Plutarch’s Moralia and the Ascensian editio princeps of ca. 1513

Abstract

The role of Erasmus as a disseminator of Plutarch’s Moralia has been frequently studied. As far as the editorial history of the Moralia is concerned, Erasmus, who had served as an assistant to Demetrius Ducas on the Aldine edition of 1509, began to translate the opuscula in Cambridge. Until now, these translations were thought to have been published for the first time in a single volume by Johannes Froben in Basel (August 1514). This article proves that not only did Erasmus send his translations to Badius, but that the latter printed them before Froben, in a hitherto unknown editio princeps.