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Andreas Gesner at Zurich prints Xylander’s Greek-Latin editio princeps of the Meditations

In 1558/59 Wilhelm Xylander’s Greek-Latin Meditations was printed at Zurich by Andreas Gesner, the editio princeps of the work later titled Ta eis heauton. In the causal graph this event sets in motion Digital Learning Access, a driver that weakens Learning Poverty Rate (low- and middle-income countries) — an improving welfare path.

Sources: [1][2]

Read the full account

In 1558/59 Wilhelm Xylander’s Greek-Latin Meditations was printed at Zurich by Andreas Gesner, the editio princeps of the work later titled Ta eis heauton.

Context

Marcus wrote notes, not a treatise for the Senate. Print converted a private exercise into a public philosophy school text. Wars, plague, and succession are other rows.

Marcus Aurelius is not the sole author of every later object, law, or museum label that uses the name. Shared work with courts, excavators, printers, spouses, officials, and later states does not erase a documented role, and it does not make an ancient person the signer of a twentieth-century statute.

Why it matters

Knowledge-access path. High confidence on the printing.

A printed notebook is not a statute.

Who was responsible

Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.

  • Marcus Aurelius

    Person

    Direct responsibility

    responsibility level 0.3 · verified

    The Greek text is his notebook as transmitted. Xylander and the Gesners made the first printed public book.

What changed

Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.

Evidence

The sources behind this fact and its verification state.

Verified2 sources on file
  1. 1.Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy — Marcus AureliusStanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy · High credibility · verified
  2. 2.Xylander 1559 Meditations — Bayerische Staatsbibliothek digitisationBayerische Staatsbibliothek / MDZ · High credibility · verified
What the sources establish

The Bayerische Staatsbibliothek digitises the Gesner-Xylander volume. SEP independently treats 1558/59 as the print starting-point.

Established: a Greek-Latin Meditations was printed at Zurich in 1558/59. Not established: that Marcus authorised print, or a literacy series for 1559.

Later competitions, monuments, translations, UNESCO listings, and museums are not converted into extra lifetime acts. That reading is an impact-path choice, not a property stored on the Fact itself. Confidence is stated on the impact path. A later English edition is not a recovered autograph. If a number is not in the two records named above, it is not supplied here.

Causal path

How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.

  1. ActorMarcus Aurelius
  2. contributed toFactAndreas Gesner at Zurich prints Xylander’s Greek-Latin editio princeps of the Meditations
  3. sets in motionDriverDigital Learning Access
  4. weakensIndicatorLearning Poverty Rate (low- and middle-income countries)

Cite this page

Factrail. (2026). Andreas Gesner at Zurich prints Xylander’s Greek-Latin editio princeps of the Meditations. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/ma-xylander-meditations-1559

https://factrail.ai/facts/ma-xylander-meditations-1559

Accessed 16 October 2026.

By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed

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