Greek & Latin Writers & Church Fathers
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A note on OCLC
As is now the norm, OCLC counts are tentative, at best, as we recognize that searches using different qualifiers will often turn up different results. Searches are now further complicated by the vast numbers of digital, microfilm, and even print-on-demand copies, which have polluted the database considerably, making it difficult, without numerous phone calls or emails, to determine the actual number of tangible copies. Hence, even though the counts herein have been recently checked, most all should be taken as a measure of approximation.
1. Ammonii Hermeae commentaria in qvinqve voces Porphyrii cum Graeco exemplari recens collata. Locis pluribus restitutis, ac resectis omnibus iis, quae superflua in aliis latinis codicibus legebantur. Venetiis: [Ottaviano Scoto], 1539.
$1,800
Small folio, collating A-E⁴, a-r⁸, s-t⁶, gathering g misbound but all leaves present; vignette title page, three large and many smaller historiated initials throughout; Ottaviano Scotto's printer's mark on final leaf; contemporary full parchment with raised bands on spine neatly restored, leather ties (replaced), and contemporary manuscript text on spine and upper cover, largely worn past legibility; endpapers renewed, ex libris of the Conuentus S. Francisci Vitellianae and Marquis C. L. Cavriani of Mantova, with Cavriani's arms reapplied, occasional underlining and marginal notes in a contemporary hand, in Latin, toning to the top right corner of last dozen or so leaves, very good.
Ammonius (ca. c. 440 – c. 520 AD) taught philosophy at Alexandria, where his father Hermeias had taught earlier. Known primarily for his commentaries on Aristotle, which were said to be of greater benefit than anyone else’s, he was also distinguished in geometry and astronomy. Himself a pupil of Proclus at Athens, at Alexandria Ammonius taught most of the important Platonists of the late 5th and early 6th centuries (paraphrased from several online sources).
Not in Adams. Not in BM-STC Italian..
2. Michaelou Apostoliou Paroimiai = Centuriae XII proverbioirum ex optimis auctoribus Graecis collectae à Michaele Apostolio, Byzantino; cum V.C. Petri Pantini, Tiletani, versione & notis ipsius ac aliorum doctorum, quibus adagia illustrantur & suis auctoribus assignantur. Cum indicibus locupletibus. Item Patriarchae Gregorii Cyprii Proverbia. Lugduni Batavorum [i.e. Leiden]: apud Johannem & Danielem Elsevier, 1653.
$450
Second Elzevir edition; 4to, pp. [16], 387, [15]; title page printed in red and black, printer's woodcut device, Greek and Latin in parallel columns; the Proverbs of Gregory, Patriarch of Cyprus, are given in Greek only; contemporary full parchment, covers with decorative gilt border enclosing a gilt lozenge central, above which the initials M.I.H.T., gilt-decorated spine with title in manuscript; the gilt is almost wholly tarnished and blackened; bottom 2 inches of spine cracked, with small piece of parchment missing; rubberstamp on title page of Fritz Carnap, under which in ink "Biblioth. Gymn. Gotting. 1729," and on the verso of the title, 2 18th- or early 19th-century institutional rubberstamps, both with small release stamps next to them. Bookplate of Otto Jahn on front pastedown.
Proverbs from 12 centuries collected from Greek authors by Michael Apostolius of Byzantium; translation and notes by Peter Pantinus of Tielt, as well those of other scholars. With comprehensive indices.
Copinger 102; Willems 153n.
3. Lysistrata ... A new version by Gilbert Seldes with a special introduction by Mr. Seldes and illustrations by Pablo Picasso. New York: The Limited Editions Club, 1934.
$5,500
Edition limited to 1500 copies signed by Picasso (this, no. 912); 4to, pp. 117, [1]; 6 original etchings and numerous drawings in the text by Picasso; a fine copy in original pictorial paper-covered boards after a design by Picasso; without the original glassine, chemise and publisher's box, contained in a nice blue cloth clamshell box, gilt spine label.
"The only American publication with original Picasso etchings, which are among his most important in the classical style" (The Artist and The Book).
LEC Bibliography 57; The Artist and the Book 226.
4. Arnobij disputationum aduersus gentes libri septem, recogniti & aucti. Antwerpiae: Ex officina Christophori Plantiti, 1582.
$750
8vo, pp. 285, [3]; woodcut device on title page, woodcut initials and decorations throughout; the final leaf is blank; contemporary full limp vellum, turned-in edges, 19th- or 20th-century manuscript titling on spine; while the textblock is sound, the vellum covers are almost loose. At the top of the title in a 16th-century hand: "Ex dono amantiss. cognati Samuelis. Ian. 20. 1598." The first 45 pages contain a number of early underlinings and annotations in the margins.
"Arnobius was born a pagan but had become a Christian by AD 300. He taught rhetoric at Sicca Veneria in Africa during the reign (284–305) of the Roman emperor Diocletian. Because of his former paganism, Arnobius was suspected, notably by the local bishop, and as a pledge of his conviction he composed the seven books Adversus nationes (c. 303; 'Against the Pagans')" (britannica.com).
"The seven Libri adversus gentes ... are a detailed attack on ancient paganism ... The work of Arnobius was for the first time edited by Faustus Sabaeus and printed in Rome, Franciscus Priscianensis, 1542. In his Lectori the editor of the Plantanian publication, Theodorus Canterus, explains that he followed this edition..."
Adams A-1996; BM-STC Dutch and Flemish, 1470-1600, p. 14; Voet 596.
5. Opera quaedam beati Basilii Caesariensis episcopi ... quae omnia diligenter recognita nunc primum impressa sunt. Venetiis: [per Stephanum de Sabio; sumptu expensis vero D. Damiani de Sancta Maria], 1530.
$4,500
First edition, folio (leaf 30.6 cm); [6], 192 [i.e. 182], [2] leaves; collating: *⁶ [alpha]-[pi]⁸ [rho]⁶ [sigma]-[chi]⁸ [psi]¹⁰; last two leaves blank; error in foliation with 175-182 numbered 185-192; text in Greek; printer's coat of arms on title page, featuring shield bearing a crown with caption "Sabio," flanked by printer's names "Stephanos" and "Sabios" on left and right, respectively; 3 large head-pieces in the Byzantine style: one in red at beginning of the work on leaf 1, and the other two in black on leaves 135 and 159; numerous smaller narrow rectangular head-pieces in red and black, featuring a garland of acanthus leaves; large ornamental red initials; text, initials, marginal notes, and head-pieces printed in red and black throughout; contemporary blindstamped calf over wooden boards, manuscript title in ink on bottom edge; calf peeling, bosses and clasps lost, the spine perished and rebacked at an early date in linen, the boards with some moderate worming; mild dampstain persists throughout at top margin, also on the prelims in the bottom margin, the occasional gathering toned; a good copy at best, but venerable, and beautifully printed in red and black throughout.
Adams B-345; Brunet (5e éd.), I, 688; Ebert 1735; Graesse I, 306; BM-STC Italian, p. 75.
6. Thesaurus elocutionis oratoriæ grecolatinus novus. Basileae: Heruagiana, per Eusebium, 1581.
$850
First edition, folio, mixed pagination; [alpha]-[beta]⁴ a-z⁶ A-I⁶ K⁴ L⁶ M⁸; wood-engraved printer's mark and initials; text in double column; blind-tooled pigskin over parchment, unadorned spine in 6 compartments, all edges red, remnants of parchment ties; extremities scuffed and rubbed; endpapers supplies, some marginal dampstaining.
Adams B684. Nine copies in OCLC, only the Newberry in the Western Hemisphere.
7. M. Tullii Ciceronis opera. Cum indicibus et variis lectionibus. Oxonii: e typographeo Clarendonioano, 1783.
$950
10 volumes, 4to, portrait frontispiece and a medallion portrait, index and inventory in back; contemporary diced calf, elaborate gilt and blindstamped ruled boards, gilt-decorated spine in 6 compartments, gilt title direct on spines, gilt turn-ins, marbled endpapers and edges, gilt supralibros of the Camperdown Library on the upper covers; light toning to spine and rubbing to joints and corners, the occasional light spotting, text clean and bright; a very good, handsome set. "A very elegant and correct reimpression of the text of Olivet" [Paris 1740] (Dibdin).
8. M. Tullii Ciceronis. Opera omnia: cum grvteri & selectis variorum notis indicibus locupletissimus, accurante C. Schrevelio. Amstelodami: apud Ludovicum et Danielem Elzevirios, 1661.
$750
2 volumes, small 4to, 4 parts in 1; pp. [8], 51, [3], 636; [637]-1339, [53]; engraved title page, woodcut initials and ornaments; 3 sectional title pages at pages 188, 636, and 968; contemporary full mottled calf, neat, early rebacking in the 18th century with gilt-decorated spines in 6 compartments, morocco labels in 2; edges worn, corners showing, but in all, very good and sound. With the engraved bookplate of Robert Partridge, and the ownership signature of Henricus Hansell, Oxon.
The book was not printed by the Elzevirs in Amsterdam, but rather by Fr. Hackius in Leiden. Copinger 912; Willems 1268
9. Opera quae supersunt omnia. Ad fidem optimarum editionum diligentr expressa. Voluminibus XX. Glasguae: In aedibus academicis, excudebant Rob. et And. Foulis, 1748-49.
$2,000
20 volumes, foolscap 12mo, contemporary full speckled calf, red morocco labels on gilt-decorated spines, gilt lettering direct showing individual titles (sometime rubbed with minor loss); joints barely starting; very good and sound.
Edited by J. Oliveti. The set was also issued in pot 12mo. A handsome and complete set in a nice contemporary binding.
Gaskell, Foulis, 101.
10. Clementis Alexandrini, Viri Longe Doctissimi Qvi Panteni Qvidem Martyris Fvit Discipvlvs, præceptor vero Origenis, omnia, quæ quidem extant opera, à paucis iam annis inuenta, & nunc denuò accuratiùs excusa, Gentiano Herueto Aureliano interprete. Addita sunt in fine scholia, obscuriora quædam loca illustrantia, cum dublici indice . Parisiis: apud Michaelem Sonnium, 1572.
$900
Folio (leaf 33.6 cm), pp. [8], 242, [54]; printer's woodcut device oin title page, woodcut ornaments and initials, entire text block ruled in red throughout; small hole in *2 touching 2 letters; small, neat contemporary annotations on approximately 25 pages in the early sections of the text; contemporary full calf, gilt-decorated spine in 7 compartments, old morocco label in 1; upper joint starting at the extremities; a good, clean, sound copy. Armorial bookplate of Marmaducus Tunstall de Wycliff in Com. Ebor Armiger (the ornithologist) and an old and faint ownership signature of title page of Franc. Justini.
The works of Clement of Alexandria (147-c. 215) were first edited by P. Victorius (Florence,1550). Here, Charles IX grants the privilege (dated November 1570) to Michael Sonnium to print the works of Clement for six years.
Another edition also Paris 1572 was published with the same pagination by Sebastianum Nivellium. Of this Sonnium edition, 9 in OCLC, all overseas except the Folger.
Adams C-2109.
11. Klēmentos Alexandreōs ta heuriskomena = Clementis Alexandrini Opera, quae extant ... recognita & illustrata per Joannem Potterum. Oxonii: e Theatro Sheldoniano, sumptibus Georgii Mortlock, bibliopolæ Londinensis, 1715.
$750
First edition, large folio (leaf 39.1 cm), 2 volumes, pp. [16], 642; [2], 643-1060; [4], 206, [50]; text in Greek and Latin in parallel columns; engraved vignette of the Sheldon Theatre on title page; contemporary full paneled calf, gilt-decorated spines in 7 compartments, red morocco label in 1; joints cracked or starting, but the binding is firm and the text crisp and clean.
Clement of Alexandria (Titus Flavius Clemens) was born in 150 A.D. at Athens. He traveled extensively and had a wide acquaintance with Greek literature. Much of his writing is lost. "Clement's conception of Christianity has been criticized as tinged with Hellenism and humanism as doctrinally imperfect ... His writings, however, have much charm and are characterized by serenity and hopefulness" (OCD).
"A very splendid and elaborate edition, worthy of the celebrity of the place where it was published, and the erudition of the very learned prelate who hath so happily illustrated this miscellaneous writer ... The editor was afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury; and will be long remembered and reverenced for his acute and successful emendations of some of the most difficult of the Greek writers" (Dibdin).
12. Petri Criniti Viri docti. De honesta disciplina. Lib. XXV. De poetis Latinis. Lib. V. Et poematum. Libri II. Cu[m] indicib[u]s seu capitibus singulorum operu[m]. Cu[m]q[u]e tabellis alphabeticis rerum, dictorumq[ue] insigniu[m] ... ab Ascensio collectis & appositis. [Paris]: Venūdantur ab eo-dē Ascensio. [Colophon: Rursus ex aedibus Ascensianis ad cidus Feb. Anno MDXX, i.e. 1520].
$1,500
Folio in 8s, [8], cix, [1] leaves; collating a⁸, a-n⁸, o⁶; woodcut architectural border on title page with printer's woodcut device central; a plethora of decorative woodcut initials throughout, many rather large; ink splash on a8 and b1, manacle on d7v; a fresh, crisp, and clean copy in 20th-century full brown paneled calf, blindstamped lozenge central on both covers, unadorned spine in 6 compartments; a fine copy.
Fourth Ascensius edition (of five) of the three major works of the Florentine poet and biographer Pietro Crinito. The first edition of "De honesta disciplina" was published in 1504, and "De Poetis Latinis" in 1505 by Giunta in Florence.
Pietro Crinito (1474-1507) "was a Florentine humanist scholar and poet who was a disciple of Poliziano. He is best known for his 1504 commonplace book, De honesta disciplina. This has been taken to be a source for the work of Nostradamus. "He published in 1504 the Commentarii de honesta disciplina, a mammoth essay of erudition in 25 books that, along the lines of Aulus Gellius, dealt with Linguistics, Politics, Jurisprudence, and religious institutions. Despite some brilliant insights, however, the work is confusing and at times obscure, and the author often falls into the ridiculous or fabulous ... The following year De Poetis Latinis in five books came out, which set out in 93 short chapters to encyclopedically catalogue Latin writers from Livius Andronicus to Sidonius Apollinaris, which, while full of inaccuracies, is by far the first modern biography compilation of classical authors" (Wikipedia).
Adams C-2950 (noting the 1508 Ascencius edition, and 7 later editions, the last in 1598). Ebert 5458; Graesse II, 301. 17 copies of this 1520 edition located worldwide in OCLC, only Stanford in the US.
13. Tu en hagiois patros hēmōn Kyrillu Hierosolymōn archiepiskopu ta heuriskomena panta = S. Cyrilli archiepiscopi Hierosolymitani opera quæ exstant omnia et ejus nomine circumferuntur, ad manuscriptos codices nec. non ad superiores editiones castigata; Dissertationibus & Notis illustrata, cum nova interpretione & copiosis indicibus. Cura et studio Antonii-Augustinii Touttée. Parisiis: typis Jacobi Vincent, via S. Severini, sub signo Angeli., 1720.
$850
Large folio (leaf 42.8 cm), pp. [18], ccli columns, pp. cclii-cclxvi, [4], 472; Greek and Latin text in parallel columns, woodcut vignette on title page, woodcut initials and ornaments; 20th-century quarter red morocco over tan cloth-covered boards, black morocco label on spine; light wear, but generally a very good, sound, and clean copy. Bookplate of J. Kenneth Dowling.
"Antoine-Augustin Touttée (1677–1718) was a a French Benedictine monk of the Maurist Congregation ... He studied the humanities with the Oratorians at Riom, made vows at the Abbey of Vendome, October 29, 1698, and was ordained priest in December, 1702. He taught philosophy at Vendome from 1702 to 1704 and theology at St-Benoit-sur-Loire from 1704 to 1708 and at St-Denis from 1708 to 1712. He then withdrew to St-Germain-des-Pres to prepare a new Greek edition and Latin translation of the works of St. Cyril of Jerusalem. This was issued after his death by Prudent Maran ... It is preceded by three learned dissertations on the life, writings, and doctrine of was at the time the standard edition" (newadvent.org).
14. Diōnos Tu Chrysostomu Logoi P = Dionis Chrysostomi Orationes LXXX. Cvm Vetvstis Codd. Mss. Reg. Bibliothecae, sedulo collatae, eorúmque ope ab innumeris mendis liberatae, resitutae, auctae; Photii excerptis, Synesiiq[ue] censuar illustratae. Ex interpretatione Thomae Nageorgi, accuratè recognita, recentata, & emendata Fed. Morelli ... opera. Cum Is. Casauboni Diatriba, & eiusdem Morelli scholiis, animaduersionibus & coniectaneis .... Lutetiae [i.e., Paris]: ex officina typographica C. Morelli, 1604.
$750
First edition, 3 parts in 1, folio, pp. [8], 11, [1], [64], 670; [4], 106; [2],112, [2]; title page printed in red and black with printer's woodcut device, Greek and Latin text in parallel columns, woodcut initials and ornaments, sectional titles for Casaubon and Morelli; old calf rubbed and worn, with 20th-century rebacking in brown calf, spine in 7 compartments, unadorned. Bookplates of Samuel James, Baron Waring, and J. K. Dowling, Loras College.
Translated from the Greek by Thomas Nageorgius.
From the Oxford Classical Dictionary: "Dio Cocceianus, later called Chrysostomus ('the golden-mouthed') (ca. A.D. 40-after 112), Greek orator and philosopher. He was born in Prusa (now Brussa) in Bithynia of a family of high social standing in their city ... He gained renown as an orator and sophist, and was able to play a political role. In 82 he became involved in a political intrigue in Rome ... and was banished from Italy and his native province by decree of Domitian. He then wandered about for years in the Balkans and Asia, earning his livelihood by occasional humble work ... This sudden and complete change of life created an entire change of mind. He turned to philosophy, and based his life on the Cynic doctrine. Convinced of his divine mission ... as a doctor of the soul, he went about healing mankind by his example and his orations. Under Nerva he was allowed to end his exile. Henceforth he combined a new political career at home and a rhetorical one throughout the Empire with his work as a preacher and philosopher. His influence was at its height under Trajan, to whom he delivered the speeches 'On the duty of a prince'. He was a champion of Greek patriotism within the Roman Empire, and, like Plutarch, a representative figure of Greek culture in the late first century of Imperial Rome."
Dibdin I, p. 493: "This is the most copious and critical, as well as the most splendid edition of the whole of the Orations of Dio Chrysostom." Ebert 6150.
15. Διονυσίου Ἁλικαρνασσέως τὰ εὑρισκόμενα, ἱστορικά τε καὶ ῥητορικὰ, συγγράμματα = Dionysii Halicarnassei scripta quae extant, omnia, et historica, et rhetorica ... Opera & studio Friderici Sylburgii Veterensis. Francofurdi: apud heredes Andreae Wecheli, 1586.
$1,250
First edition of the author's complete works; folio, 2 volumes in 1, pp. [16], 792, 169, [3]; [12], 280, 94; woodcut printer's device on both title pages with initials AW, woodcut device on verso of last leaf in the first volume, but lacking in the second (leaf mm2); woodcut initials and head-pieces; chronological tables on pp. 750-771 in the first volume; volume I has Greek text and Latin translation in parallel columns; volume II has Greek text followed by a Latin translation. Engraved armorial bookplate of Sir George Shuckburgh, Bart. (1751-1804), the British mathematician and astronomer.
The text is preceded by Sylburg's dedicatory epistle to the Senate of Frankfurt and his preface to the reader. Dionysius of Halicarnassus (ca. 60 BC to after 7 BC) was a Greek historian and teacher of rhetoric. His history of Rome was his most important work, and he also wrote several books on rhetoric and style.
Adams, D-625; Brunet, II, 725; Graesse II, 400.
16. Conciones sive orationes ex Graecis latinÌsque historicis excerptae. Quae ex Graecis excerptae sunt, interpretationem latinam adiunctam habent, nonnullae nouam, aliae iam antea vulgatum, sed nuc demum plerisque in locis recognitam. Argumenta singulis praefixa sunt, lectori adiumento magno futura. Additus est index artificiosissimus & vtilissimus, quo in rhetorica causarum genera, velut in communes locos, singulae conciones rediguntur. [Parisiis]: excudebat Henri Stephanus, 1570.
$1,500
Folio, pp. [16], 194, [2], 278 (i.e. 288), [4]; printer's device on title page; contemporary full paneled calf, the panel surrounded by triple blindstamped borders incorporating small medallion portraits and floral devices, the whole neatly rebacked, blindstamped spine in 5 compartments, gilt-lettered in 2, endpapers renewed; original brass hasps but clasps not preserved, some dampstaining to bottom margin of the title page, occasional spots and stains, and a touch or worming towards the back, but overall a very good copy.
Collection of Greek speeches with Latin translations and Latin speeches edited, annotated, published and printed by Henri Estienne, mainly from Livy, others from Sallust, Tacitus, Herodotus, Thucydides, and Quintus Curtius. This copy with the uncorrected state of p. 288 which is numbered 278.
Adams C-2486; Renouard, p. 133-4; Schreiber, 176.
17. In M.T. Ciceronis quãplurimos locoscastigationes Henrici Stephani: partim ex eius ingenio, partim ex vetustissimo quodã & emendatissimo exemplari. [Geneva]: Ex Officina Henrici Stephani, 1557.
$1,250
Small 8vo, pp. [6], 114;
bound with: Estienne, Henri, Ciceronianum Lexicon Græcolatinum. [Geneva]: ex officina Henrici Stephani, 1557, first edition of Estienne's first original work, pp. [16], 200.
2 volumes in 1, full 20th-century blind-tooled calf, unlettered spine in 4 compartments, raised bands, all edges red; fine. Both title pages adorned with printer's device no. 12 (Schreiber). The 'h' gathering in the first volume cropped in the fore-margin.
The first title consists of a collection of comments and corrections made to the text of Cicero; the second, the author's first original work, consists of a Greek-Latin lexicon of words, phrases, and expressions taken from the Greek of Cicero; the second section of this brief work is of all the Greek texts, with Cicero's Latin translation parallel.
"Although Renouard states that [In M.T. Ciceronis] forms one volume with [Ciceronianum Lexicon Græcilatinum], it is in fact quite separate and distinct from it, having its own title page and preface. The two works are found bound together as often as they are not" (Schreiber).
Adams S1778 & S1755; Renouard, p. 116, no. 4; Schreiber 144 & 143.
18. [Estienne, Robert.] Quintus Horatius Flaccus. Lvtetiae [i.e. Paris]: ex typographia Rob. Stephani, 1613.
$1,250
12mo, 2 parts in 1; pp. [8], 227, [1], 69, [3]; woodcut device on title, notes by Joannes Rutgers; Renouard, 202.7;
bound with: D. Iunii Iuuenalis Satirarum libri v. Sulpiciae Satira. Noua editio. Cura Nicolai Rigaltii. Lutetiae, Rob. Stephani, 1616, pp. [40], 126; woodcut device on title; Renouard, 202.1;
bound with: Aulus Persius Flaccus, Lutetiae, Rob. Stephani, 1614, pp. 23; woodcut device on title; Renouard, 202.9.
Together three Estienne imprints in 1 volume, 18th-century polished tan calf, black morocco label on gilt-decorated spine; joints a bit rubbed, but in all a very good copy.
19. Euripidou Iketides [in Greek]. Euripidis drama Supplices mulieres, ad codd. mss recensitum: et, versione correct‚, notis uberioribus illustratum. Accedit De Graecorum quinta declinatione imparisyllabica, et inde formata Latinorum terti‚ quaestio grammatica. Cum explicatione locorum aliquot ex auctoribus graecis it latinis.. Londini: excudebat Gulielmus Bowyer, 1763.
$1,250
First Markland edition, 4to, pp. vi, [2], 288, [2]; parallel Greek and Latin texts; the final leaf contains 'Auctores qui in hoc scripto explicantur' and Corrigenda; a nice copy in contemporary full calf, elaborate gilt border on covers, black morocco label on gilt-decorated spine, sprinkled edges.
Edited by Jeremiah Markland and seen through the press by John Jortin. "This edition contains a very valuable grammatical treatise De Graecorum declinatione imparisyllabica et inde formata Latinorum tertia. It was printed and published at the expense of Markland's friend, Dr. Heberden. The correction of the press, in the absence of Markland (who was indisposed in the country), was undertaken by the famous Jortin … Only 250 copies were printed, according to a MS. note of Markland, found in one of his books" (Dibdin).
Dibdin, Greek & Latin Classics (4th ed.), I, p. 552. Lowndes I, 761. ESTC finds only 6 copies in the U.S. (N.Y. Public, Harvard (2), Duke, Huntington, and Cornell).
20. Hecvba, & Iphigeniain Aulide Euripidis tragoediae in latinum tralatae Erasmo Roterodamo interprete. Venetiis: in aedibus Aldi Mense Decembri, 1507.
$9,800
First Aldine edition, first edition of any of Erasmus's translations of Euripides, and only the second of his many translations of classical authors; 8vo (approx. 158 x 94 mm); [80] leaves; collating: pi8 a-i8; woodcut anchor & dolphin device on the title page; initial spaces with guide-letters; inverted A for V in 'Hecvba' on title page; Erasmus's name inked out on title page, and on leaves pi2r, a1r, d1r d2r, i1v and i4r; e8 with early repair in the bottom margin (without loss); contemporary brown paneled goat with gilt fleurons in the corners and "T Rasmi" in gilt central on the upper cover, a.e.g.; old small library rubberstamp on blank flyleaf; marbled endpapers look to be replaced in the 19th century; light overall wear; but for the eradications, clean and sound.
Erasmus's name was deliberately inked out or otherwise obscured in printed books by censors. This was a form of censorship, particularly during the Renaissance, to suppress or diminish the influence of his writings. Sometimes, whole passages by Erasmus were excised, or his name was blotted out on title pages or in running heads of books.
Adams E-1045; BM STC Italian, 239; Dibdin (1827), p. 374; Renouard, p. 51:1 ("volume tres rare et peu connu"); Ahmanson-Murphy 96.
21. Ekklēsiastikēs historias ... Ecclesiasticae historiae : Eusebii Pamphili lib. X, eiusdem de vita Constantini lib. V, Socratis lib. VII, Theodoriti episcopi Cyrensis lib. V, collectaneorum ex historia eccles. Theodori Lectoris lib. II, Hermii Sozomeni lib. IX, Euagrii lib. VI. Lutetiae Parisiorum: ex officina Roberti Stephani ... cum privilegio Regis, 1544.
$5,000
First edition of Eusebius's complete works, a collection of Greek writings on the early Church, written by Eusebius between 300-325 AD with continuations into the 5th century by Sozmen, Socrates (of Constantinople) and Theodoret, and the debut in print of the Grecs du roi typeface designed by Claude Garamond.
Folio, 2 parts in 1, ff. [4], 353 [i.e. 362], 181, [5] leaves (including the final blank); collating: **⁴ A-X⁸ Y-3E⁶ 3F⁸ 3G⁶, ²2A-3H⁶, P5; printer's woodcut basilisk device on title page and olive tree on verso of penultimate leaf, 47 large (9-line) woodcut initials, 7 woodcut headpieces; 18th-century full calf, double gilt rule on covers, gilt-paneled spine in 6 compartments, black leather labels lettered in gilt in 2; upper joint cracked, spine lightly chipped at the extremities, several minor worm holes in the blank fore-margins of the first third of the text; a very good, clean copy, Bookplate of William Markham, Esq. (1760-1815, private secretary to Warren Hastings), Becca Lodge, Yorkshire.
The most famous of all Greek types, known as the Grecs du roi or the Royal Greek Types, owe their origin to the scheme of Francis I to encourage Hellenic learning by making available in print Greek manuscripts in the French Royal Library. Conrad Neobar, who was the first to hold the official title "King's Printer in Greek," died in 1540 and was succeeded by Robert Estienne. In 1541, a Treasury grant was made to Estienne to obtain punches for a Greek font, which resulted in the Royal Greek Types. They were executed by Claude Garamond and were based on the calligraphy of the Cretan Angelo Vergecio, a copyist and cataloguer of the Royal manuscripts. The first book to be printed entirely in the new types was the Eusebius of 1544. Originally, it was intended to be cut only one size, the great primer, but a smaller and larger were soon prepared. Paradoxically, the enormous success of the new types had unfortunate consequences. They virtually arrested any development in Greek typography for the next two hundred years. To imitate the involved cursive hand of Vergecio, an enormous number of ligatures and contractions were required, and by no means all subsequent users of the types or their derivatives achieved the brilliant effect of Estienne's productions. The Eusebius is outstanding not only for its typographical importance and magnificence but, according to Updike, also for containing the most brilliant impression of the beautiful initials and headpieces which are based on the illuminated decorations with which Vergecio embellished his texts.
Adams E1903; Mortimer, French, 219; Schreiber, 77; Printing and the Mind of Man (exhibition catalogue) no. 3. Updike I, pp. 237-8.
22. Noctes Atticae. Praeterea Petri Mosselani in easdem annotationes. Basileae: per Henricum Petri, [1565].
$650
8vo, pp. 850, [44]; printer's woodcut device on title page and on verso of final leaf; Adams G363; 3 copies only of this edition in OCLC;
bound with: Sartorius, Georg. Analysis grammatica & familiaris expositio Carminum Phocylidis & Pythgagorae..., Gorlitz: Johannes Rhambau, 1595. pp. [16], 216; title within woodcut border; not in OCLC; not in Adams.
Together 2 volumes. in 1, contemporary full vellum, manuscript title on spine, edges stained blue; bookplate on front free endpaper, early manuscript notations on front pastedown, and on verso of front free endpaper.
The first is a rather scarce edition of Gellius's The Attic Nights, a second-century text written during the long nights of a winter spent in Attica. It is the author's commonplace book in which he recorded everything of unusual interest that he read or heard, from grammatical notes to observations on science and medicine. This edition has the annotations of P. Mosellani, one of the great scholars of the early 16th century.
23. Noctium Atticarum libri undeviginti [Noctes Atticae]. Venetiis: in aedibus Aldi, et Andreae Soceri, Mense Septembri, 1515.
$1,250
8vo (approx. 150 x 88 mm), ff. [32], 289, [51]; 372 leaves, with many errors in foliation; collating AA-DD⁸ a-z⁸ A-T⁸ V⁴; (including the blank leaf DD8); initial spaces with guide-letters; occasional 17th-century marginal annotations on a1r, a4r, b6v, f1r, f1v, i6v, t6v, t7v, u6r, and y2v; printer's anchor & dolphin device on first and final leaves; internally crisp and clean, in a later 18th-century binding of full mottled paneled calf, gilt-decorated spine in 6 compartments, red morocco label in 1, sprinkled edges; upper joint cracked, rear joint tender, spine ends chipped, the front free endpaper stained with show-through onto AA1; and but for that stain, a good, clean copy. Armorial bookplate of A. A. Tilley and a 20th-century bookplate of James Eckman on front free endpaper.
First Aldine edition, second (but correct) issue with "duernionem" on the recto of the final leaf, of Gellius's The Attic Nights, a second-century text written during the long nights of a winter spent in Attica. It is the author's commonplace book in which he recorded everything of unusual interest that he read or heard, from grammatical notes to observations on science and medicine.
Adams G-343; Renouard 73:9; Ahmanson-Murphy 138.5
24. Herodotou Halikarnasseos Historion logoi 9, epigraphomenoi Mousai = Herodoti Halicarnassei historiarum libri IX musarum nominibus inscripti. Gr. & Lat. cum interpretatione Laurentii Vallae. Ex MS. membrana Medicae post Aldi Manutii, Joach. Camerarii, Henri Stephani...Industria Jacobi Gronovii.... Lugduni Batavorum: Samuelem Luchtmans, 1715.
$850
Folio, pp. [20], 1000, [56] (final page blank); prefatory matter largely in Latin, Greek and Latin text in parallel column; inserted allegorical engraved title page showing a map of the Aegean Sea and the Peloponnese, printed title page in red and black; double-page engraved plate, woodcut initials, engraved tail-pieces, woodcut device on title; attractive contemporary binding of full blindstamped and embossed vellum, spine in 7 compartments, manuscript title in 1; slight cracking of the front joint at the top and bottom; in all a very good to fine copy.
Dibdin, Introduction to...the Greek and Latin Classics (1827) II, pp. 22-23. Ebert 9547: "A new recension after a Florentine MS., which was certainly a good one, but which Gronovius followed so strictly, that he received its manifest errors into the text. Valla's translation, often altered, sometimes deteriorated. Gronovius's notes contain almost nothing but the most vehement and unbecoming sallies against his predecessors. As to the rest, it is well printed and not common."
25. [Title in Greek:] Herodoti Libri nouem quibus Musarum indita sunt nomina Musarum nomina Clio, Euterpe, Thalia, Melpomene, Tersichore, Erato, Polymnia, Vrania, Calliope. Venetiis: in domo Aldi mense Septembri, 1502.
$7,500
Editio princeps of Herodotus's history of the Persian Wars, folio (approx. 303 xz 200 mm.), [138] of 140 leaves, collating AA-RR⁸ (-II1, -II7) SS⁴; Greek type; woodcut anchor & dolphin device on title page and verso of final leaf, initial spaces, with guide letters; 18th-century calf, gilt decorated spine in 7 compartments, label missing in 1; pastedowns loosening, calf split along the fore-edge of the upper cover, 2 flyleaves erose in the margins, old small library rubberstamps in the lower margins of front and rear flyleaves. The text is reasonably clean and crisp.
Herodotus, "the earliest historian ... was the first to collect his materials systematically, to test their accuracy as far as he could, and arrange his story in such a way as to appeal to, as well as inform, his readers" (PMM).
Adams H394; Ahmanson-Murphy 62; BM-STC Italian 326; Printing and the Mind of Man 41; Renouard 35:8: "Première et belle édition d' Hérodote, l'une des meilleurs qu'Alde a publiées d'aucun livre Grec."
26. S. Hippolyti episcopi et martyris Opera non antea collecta, et partem nunc primum e mss. in lucem edita graece et latine; accedunt virorum doctorum notae et animadversiones ... Dissertationes integrae virorum clarissimorum Francisci Blanchini et Jo. Vignolii, atque ex Virginii Valsechii et Philippi a Turre scriptis excerpta S. Hippolytum spectantia ... Curante Jo. Alberto Fabrico. Hamburgi: sumtu Christiani Liebezeit, 1716-18.
$750
First edition, 2 volumes in 1, folio (leaf 35.0 cm), pp. xxii, [2], 284, 52; [6], 421, [7]; title pages printed in red and black, Greek, Latin and some Arabic in parallel columns; 3 engraved portraits, engraved numismatic plate, tables in the text, woodcut initials and ornaments; title page in volume II with temoine; contemporary full paneled calf, spine in 7 compartments, morocco label in 1; slight cracking of the joints, text a bit spotted and toned, but in all a very good, sound copy. Bookplate of Samuel James, Baron Waring.
Includes commentary of Claudius Salmasius, Leo Allatius, and Petrus Possinus. Hippolytus of Rome (c. 165 – c. 235 AD) was "one of the most important Christian thinkers of the second and third centuries. He was slain in Sardinia where he had been exiled for being elected as an antipope, the first in the history of the Church" (catholic.org/saints).
Ebert 9770b
27. [The Iliad and the Odyssey in Greek =] Tes tou Homerou Iliados ho tomos proteros [denteros].. Glasguae: in aedibus academicis, excudebant Robertus et Andreas Foulis, 1756-58.
$3,500
4 volumes in 2, foolscap folio, pp. xi, [1], 312; [4], 333, [3]; [8], 297, [3]; [4], 334, [2]; without the general title page in volume I ("rarely found") but preserving leaf 4F2 (blank) in volume I of The Odyssey; contemporary full French mottled calf, recently rebacked with old gilt spine laid down, labels renewed in French after the originals, a.e.g.; spines scuffed and rubbed; text clean; very good and sound.
The book was also issued in a larger demy folio format. It "was awarded the Silver Medals of the Select Society of Edinburgh in 1756 and 1757" (Gaskell, citing Murray). "One of the most splendid editions of Homer ever delivered to the world, and I am informed that its accuracy is equal to its magnificence" (Dibdin, quoting Harwood).
Gaskell 319.
28. [The Iliad in Greek:] Tes tou Homerou Iliados. Glasguae: In aedibus academicis, excudebant R. et A. Foulis, 1756.
$2,000
2 volumes, demy folio, pp. xi, [1], 312; [4], 333, [3]; without the general title page in volume I ("rarely found"); contemporary full calf, red and blue morocco labels on gilt-decorated spines; joints barely starting; very good and sound.
Edited by James Moor and George Muirhead. Engraved bookplate of Sir Archibald Grant of Monymoske. The Odyssey wasn't published until 1758, although Gaskell includes it as part of his entry for Homer's Works. The book was also issued in a smaller foolscap folio format.
See Gaskell 319.
29. ̔Ομηρου ̓Ιλιας συν τοις σχολιοις. Homeri Ilias ad veteris codicis Veneti fidem recensita. Scholia in eam antiquissima ex eodem codice aliisque nunc primum edidit cum asteriscis, obeliscis, aliisque signis criticis, Joh. Baptista Caspar d'Ansse de Villoison. Venetiis: ypis et sumptibus fratrum Coleti, 1788.
$2,500
Large folio (leaf 39.3 cm), pp. [4], lx, 120, 532; woodcut device on title page, Greek text in double column; full contemporary calf, double-ruled borders on covers, blindstamped spine in 6 compartments, red morocco label in 1; upper joint broken, calf rubbed, but the text is clean and the sewing structure is sound.
Text and commentary in Greek. A scholarly edition published after Villoison's discovery of the tenth century codex known as Venetus A, featuring ancient scholia and marginalia.
"This is the magnificent and very valuable edition which presents us with the facsimile of the text and Scholia of a Venetian MS. in the library of St. Mark, written in the 10th century. The preface of Villoison, containing learned prolegomena, is held in high estimation; and the edition has been of singular service to Wolf, Heyne, and the Oxford edition of 1800" (Dibdin).
Dibdin, Greek & Latin Classics (4th ed.) II, pp. 66.
30. [Horatius Flaccus, Quintus.] Q. Horatius Flaccus, ex recensione & cum notis atque emendationibus Richardi Bentleii. Editio altera. Amstelaedami: apud Rod. & Gerh. Wetstenios HFF, 1713.
$1,250
4to, 2 parts in 1; pp. [22], 442; [2], 443-717, [1], 239, [1]; engraved vignette title page printed in red and black, engraved frontispiece, woodcut initials, sectional title for Pars altera after page 442; contemporary full paneled calf, spine in 7 compartments, maroon morocco label in 1; a very good, sound, and clean copy.
The second (and best) Bentley edition of Horace, following the London edition of 1711, an edition more complete and correct than the first, benefiting from the addition of the voluminous 240-page index of Terter as corrected by Verburgius, and the printing of the commentary conveniently on the same page as the text.
"Probably no other poet's works have been so often copied or printed, and hundreds of versions in every modern language have been made of the least translatable of poets. Certainly Horace far outstrips all competitors when it comes to pocket editions: all over the world, where the libraries or even the smaller collections of personalia of the great have been preserved, a well-worn pocket Horace is very frequently among them ... But one of the most remarkable uses to which Horace has been put is shown in the present edition. In 1711 Bentley was fighting against the angry fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge, who were petitioning the College Visitor, the Bishop of Ely, to remove him from the Mastership. Bentley wished to enlist the support of the Crown (which appoints the Master), and he did it - by dedicating his edition of Horace to Harley, then Prime Minister.
"Bentley (1662-1742) was and remains the greatest of English classical scholars. His reputation was made by his Dissertation on Phalaris, the final crushing blow in the 'Battle of the Books.' His immense learning was combined with an equal control in its deployment. Although he here restricted himself entirely to criticism of the text, and refrained from comment or explanation, in fact his feeling for Horace is revealed in the seven or eight hundred emendations, many of which have found permanent acceptance. Bold yet sensitive, deeply learned and at the same time understanding, his edition is a compound, as Bentley was himself, of temerity, authority and subtlety" (PMM).
Mills College Check List, 430; Riedel-Horatiana A-140; Dibdin, Greek and Latin Classics (4th ed.) II, pp. 101-105; Printing and the Mind of Man, 178.
31. [Horatius Flaccus, Quintus.] Opera omnia, a Pet. Gualt. Chabotio viro In omni literatura perfectissimo, admiranda ingenii & iudicii dexteritate, eruditionis varietate, & linguarum elegantia, triplici artificio explicata. Nunc vero A J. Jac. Grassero C. Rom. ex ipsius Chabotii Lucubrationibus manuscriptis ... accessit index rerum & verborum copiosissimus. Colon. Munatianae [i.e., Basel]: apud Ludovicum Regem, 1615.
$1,250
Folio, 3 volumes in 1; pp. [30]. 454; [2], 231, [1]; [2], 274, [48] index; engraved architectural title page printed in red and black by Mathaeus Merian the Elder; sectional woodcut vignette title pages for the second and third volumes; text in double column; contemporary full parchment; somewhat soiled, manuscript titling on spine considerably faded; early leaves with some toning; a very good, sound copy. Engraved armorial bookplate of Arthur Atherley (1772-1844), an English Member of Parliament, four times elected to represent Southampton as M.P. in 1806, 1812, 1831 and 1832.
Complete edition of the works of Horace in an imposing folio format. "By far the best edition - under the care of Grasserus: for it is both enriched and enlarged with many ms. lucubrations of Chabot, 'so that a more ample commentary can hardly be desired by any one.' Most copious indexes of words and things conclude the volume. From the preface, we learn that Chabot had devoted sixty years of his life to these Horatian Commentaries. A copy of this valuable book is in the library at Althorp" (Dibdin).
Mills College Check List 280; Riedel-Horatiana A-79; Dibdin, Greek and Latin Classics (4th ed.), II, p. 99.
32. [Horatius Flaccus, Quintus.] Q. Horatius Flaccus: cum commentariis & enarrationibus commentatoris veteris, et Jacobi Cruquii Messenii ... Accesserunt, Jani Dousae Nordovicis in eundem commentariolus, unà cum Succidaneâ appendice ad superiorem commentariolum. Item auctarium commentatoris veteris à Cruquio editi. Lugduni Batavorum: ex officina Plantiniana, apud Franciscum Raphelengium, 1597.
$2,500
4to, pp. [16], 695, [17]; collating: *⁴, **4 A-Z⁴, a-3u⁴; printer's woodcut device on title page; woodcut initials; text in double column; contemporary full limp parchment with extensive ink notation on upper cover and titling on spine; early ownership inscription at the bottom of the title page of Zanius Dacier dated 1602. The cover notes quote Martin Marie Charles de Boudens Vanderbourg who edited an edition of Horace in 1812, so this quote likely dates to after 1812.
The complete annotated Horace by the humanist Cruquius (1520-1584) who was Latin schoolmaster at Bruges. The 'commentator vetus' (known as Commentator Cruquianus) "is a collection of scholia, published by Cruquius from various mss., notably the four codices blandinii, which were destroyed by fire in 1566 with the Benedictine abbey Blandigny near Ghent" (OCLC).
"'Cruquius,' says Dr. Harwood, 'is deservedly esteemed one of the best commentators on Horace. Consult the notes in these editions on any of the difficult passages in Horace, and you will have your doubts satisfactorily solved.' Barthius and Tanaquil Faber think but slightly of Cruquius: they observe, and in this observation Mitscherlich seems to concur, that he has performed little more than the old commentators, Acro and Porphyrio. Harles thinks that Cruquius is not equal to Lambinus in research, ingenuity, and general critical knowledge: yet Baxter has not scrupled to call Lambinus, Cruquius and Torrentius, the 'tria Horatii lumina'" (Dibdin).
Adams H-946; Dibdin, Greek and Latin Classics (4th ed.), II, 96; Graesse III, 352; Mills College Check List 250; Riedel-Horatiana A-61.
33. [Horatius Flaccus, Quintus.] Quintus Horatius Flaccus. [Carminum. Epodon. Carmen Seculare. Sermonum. Epistolarum. Ars Poetica curis Joannis Livie]. Birminghamiae: Johannis Baskerville, 1770.
$1,750
First Baskerville quarto edition, 4to, pp. [2], 344; lacking the half-title; frontispiece, vignette title page, 4 plates by Gravelot; 19th-century full parchment by Henderson & Bisset, gilt thistle central on both covers, attractive red and brown morocco label on spine, yapp edges, a.e.g., salmon endpapers; slight cracking of the upper hinge, but overall a very good, clean and sound copy. Bookplate of Herbert Asquith.
2A1 is a cancel, as per Gaskell and the state in which last line of title page is not damaged. Gaskell notes that the plates were included in only about half the copies he examined. This is the first of the classical authors issued by Baskerville, and by all accounts the rarest. "A very beautiful and extremely scarce work, the rarest of all Baskerville's editions"’ (Dibdin, Greek and Latin Classics, 4th ed., 1827, II. 111).
Mr. Livie, "an elegant scholar," carefully revised and edited the 1762 Baskerville edition of Horace, and it is likely that he was involved in revising the text for the 1770 edition as well. "In 1762 appeared ... the lovely 12mo ‘Horace,’ which Harwood calls ‘the most beautiful book, both in regard to type and paper, I ever beheld. It is also the most correct of all Baskerville's editions of the classics; for every sheet was carefully revised by Mr. Livie, who was an elegant scholar’ (Editions of the Classics, p. 226). Shenstone had some share in bringing it out; the engravings especially were under his supervision (Letter to Graves in Works, 1791, iii. 334)" (Henry Tedder in On-line DNB).
Gaskell 39. Mills College Check List 719; Riedel-Horatiana A-213.
34. [Horatius Flaccus, Quintus.] Q. Horatius Flaccus, ex antiquissimis undecim lib. ms. et schedis aliquot emendatus et plurimis locis cum commentariis antiquis expurgatus et editus, opera Jacobi Cruquii Messenii. Antverpiae: ex officina Christophi Plantini, 1578.
$1,500
4to, pp. [18], 648, [24]; collating: *⁴ 2*⁴ A-Z⁴ a-z⁴ 2A-2Z⁴ 2a-2p⁴; text in double column; printer's woodcut device on title page, the woodcut illustration of the 13th-century seal and counter-seal on leaf 2*4r represent the city of Bruges, and are made by Hubertus Goltzius; 18th-century full speckled calf, spine in 6 compartments, red morocco label in 1, sprinkled edges; nice copy.
Extensive commentary by the Flemish humanist Jacob van Cruyck (1520-1584), and dedicated to the city of Bruges.
Adams 928 (for a 1579 issue); Mills College Check List 210; not in Riedel-Horatiana.
35. [Horatius Flaccus, Quintus.] Bernardini Parthenii Spilimbergii in Q. Horatii Flacci carmina atq. epodos commentarii quibus poetae artificium, & uia ad imitationem atq[ue] ad Poetice scribendum aperitur. Venetiis: apud Dominicum Nicolinum, 1584.
$1,200
2 volumes in 1; 4to, [14] p.l., 178 (i.e., 176); 61 leaves; collating: *-**⁴, ***⁶, ****⁴ (****3v and ****4 blank), A-Z⁴, Aa-Xx⁴; A4, B-G8, H10; engraved title page, woodcut initials and ornaments, Greek, Italic and Roman types throughout; leaves N3 and S3 with temoins;
bound with, as issued, Sermonum libri quatuor, Venetiis, 1584; with printer's woodcut device on title page and colophon.
Together, 2 titles in full maroon 18th-century goat, gilt-decorated spine in 6 compartments, gilt-lettered direct in 1; title page mounted and with small loss at one corner, but for the most part this is a very good, sound, and clean copy. Bookplate of Joannis Szasz.
Adams H-934; Mills College Check List 226; not in Riedel-Horatiana.
36. [Horatius Flaccus, Quintus.] Qvinti Horatii Flacci opera. Londini: aeneis tabvlis incidit Iohannes Pine, 1733-37.
$2,500
2 volumes, 8vo, pp. [32], 264, [2]; [24], 191, [15]; text and illustrations engraved throughout by Pine, including frontispieces, plates, head- and tail-pieces, in-text vignettes, and decorated initials; contemporary full calf, smooth gilt-decorated spines laid out in 6 compartments, red morocco label in 1, a.e.g., pink silk book marker; corners worn, small crack starting at the top of the upper joint on both volumes, the text in volume II slightly toned; all else very good, clean, and sound. Engraved armorial bookplates in each volume of Mareschal Marchionis de Bievre (1719-1747), and the later memorial bookplate of Caroline Furness Jayne, and with her initials in pencil on the flyleaf of the second volume.
"Complete edition of the works of Horace, illustrated from gems and other antiquities, and the whole work engraved on copper plates." This is the second issue with the with error 'post. est.' on the vignette at the top of p. 108 of volume II corrected to 'pot. est,' and without the 'List of Antiques,' as usual.
Mills College Check List, 507; Riedel-Horatiana A-162; Brunet III, 320; Dibdin, Greek and Roman Classics (4th ed.) II, p. 108; Graesse III, 354; Lowndes III, 1113; see Rothschild 1546-48.
37. [Horatius Flaccus, Quintus.] Vita di Quinto Orazio Flacco. Prato: tipografia Aldina, 1841.
$850
8vo, pp. xcix, [1]; original printed tan wrappers bound in at the back; early 20th-century three-quarter brown morocco over marbled boards by Alfred Smith & Co.; fine copy of a rare book.
University of Torino only in OCLC.
38. D. Junii Juvenalis et Auli Persii Flacci. Satyrae. Tabulis Aeneis illustravit, ert notas variorum selectas, suasque addidit G. S. [i.e. edited by William Sandby.]. Cantabrigiae. Prostant venales Londini, apud Gul. Sandby ... Cantabrigiae: apud G. Thurlbourn & J. Woodyer, 1763.
$750
Small 8vo, pp. [12], 207; title page printed in red and black, 2 engraved portraits and 13 engraved plates all signed "P. S. L. sc"; printer's imprint on p. 229: "Cantabrigiae: typis academicis excudebat Josephus Bentham." A nice copy in contemporary full red goatskin, gilt floral border on cover, gilt-decorated spine in 6 compartments, black gilt-tooled morocco labels in 2; a very nice copy in a handsome binding.
This copy with a distinguished American provenance, bearing the engraved armorial bookplates of Edward Everett, the Unitarian clergyman and statesman, and also that of a William Everett, likely related.
39. Decimus Junius Juvenalis, and Aulus Persius Flaccus translated and illustrated, as well with sculpture as notes. By Barten Holyday. Oxford: printed by W. Downing, for F. Oxland Senior, J. Adams, and F. Oxland Junior, 1673.
$1,250
Folio, pp. [12], 341, [3]; title page printed in red and black; 1 engraved map, 3 engraved plates (1 double-p.), 32 engravings and 15 woodcut illustrations in the text; mild dampstain pervades fore-margin and entering text, otherwise a good, sound copy in contemporary calf, rubbed, worn, and chipped, but sound.
Sectional title-p. for Satyres: translated into English by Barten Holyday ... Oxford, printed for J. Adams, and F. Oxland Senior, and F. Oxland Junior, 1673, and with the uncommon final leaf [Xx4] with the vertical half-title reading "Dr Holyday on Iuvenal." Preface to Persius contains a biography of the author.
Brueggmann, p. 680; Madan, III, 2979; Wing J1276.
40. D. Junii Juvenalis et auli Persii Flacci Satyrae.. Birminghamiae: Johannis Baskerville, 1761.
$750
4to, pp. 240, collating as in Gaskell; with suppressed leaves at E2, K4, U4, and Z3 rather than cancels; later full polished tan calf, neatly and sympathetically rebacked, gilt-decorated spine, red morocco label; with gilt prize medallion on upper cover (College of Fort William, Canada, and dated Feb. 6, 1803), red morocco book label of T. Hamilton; edges rubbed and worn; good and sound, or better. Gaskell 15.
41. The satires of Juvenal: translated and illustrated by Francis Hodgson, A. M., Fellow of King's College, Cambridge. London: printed by T. Bensley, for Payne and Mackinlay, 1807.
$950
First edition of this translation, large 4to, pp. [8], xxxix, [1], 572; nice copy in full contemporary diced calf, gilt lettered direct on gilt-paneled spine, sprinkled edges. With the early armorial bookplate of Westport House.
A profusely annotated and well-printed verse translation of Juvenal, by a close friend of Lord Byron, whose name appears in the 4-page list of subscribers. Hodgson was 27 when this volume was published, and it is his first book, and a very substantial one it is: the notes at the back total more than 270 pages.
Lowndes, II, 1250: "A translation, says Lord Byron, displaying unquestionable genius. Dr. Drake, in speaking of Gifford and Hodgson's versions, observes they are 'two such excellent, nervous, spirited, and faithful translations of this satirical poet, that it is a very difficult task to adjudge the palm of superiority'."
42. L. Cœlii Lactantii Firmiani Divinarum institutionum libri septem. De ira Dei, liber I. De opificio Dei, liber I. Epitome in libros suos liber acephalos. Phœnix. Carmen de dominica resurrectione. Venetiis: In aedibus Aldi, et Andreae soceri mense Aprili, 1515.
$3,000
First Aldine edition, 8vo (6½" x 3¾"), [16], 376, [12] leaves; collating: aa-bb⁸ a-z⁸ A-Y⁸; numerous spaces with guide letters left for capitals; the text ruled in red throughout; Aldus' anchor & dolphin printer's mark on title page, and on first and last pages of the appended Tertullianus (see below):
bound with, as issued: Tertullianus, Quintus Septimius Florens. Tertullianus. [Apologeticvs Adversvs Gentes.] Venetiis: In aedibus Aldi, et Andreae soceri mense Aprili, 1515. 8vo, [4], 48 leaves; collating [*]4, AA-FF8; numerous spaces with guide letters left for capitals; the text ruled in red throughout.
Together, 2 parts in 1, in 18th-century Italian (?) mottled calf, gilt-decorated spine in 6 compartments, 5 with triads of horizontal stars, red morocco label in 1; early ownership inscription on a1: "Ex lib. B. Marie Mondider / Ord S. Bened. ..."; early bookplate of the Domus Acheolana, Societatas Jesu, with their small blue stamp on the title page, old typed library sticker on spine, and library pockets on rear endpapers, old ink accession number on rear pastedown. Library markings aside, a clean, crisp and venerable copy in an appropriate binding.
This is only the second book published at the Aldine press following the death of Aldus the Elder February 6, 1515. Appropriately enough, this edition of Lactantius contains a eulogy on him in the preface.
Adams L16; Renouard; 1515, no. 2; UCLA-Aldine, 132.
43. Corpus iuris canonici emendatum et notis illustratum: Gregorii XIII. Pont. Max. iussu editum. Nunc indicibus nouis, & appendice Pauli Lanceloti Perusini adauctum. Parisiis: [Compagnie de la Grand Navire], cum licentia, 1587.
$2,500
Folio, pp. [50], 454, [12]; title printed in red and black, printer's ship device on title page, woodcut initials and ornaments, full-page woodcuts on [alpha]6v, [gamma]8v, ll2, and ll3 (the last 2 with small damstains at the top). Not found in Adams.
Bound with, as issued: Gregorious IX, Papa. Decretales D. Gregorii papae IX suae integritati restitutae. Parisiis: cum licentia, 1587. Folio, pp. [2], 459-727, [1]; title printed in red and black, printer's ship device on title page, woodcut initials and ornaments. Not found in Adams.
Bound with, as issued: Bonifatius VIII, Papa. Liber sextus Decretalium D. Bonifacii Papae VII. Parisiis: cum licentia, 1587. Folio, pp. [8], 731-885, [1]; title printed in red and black, printer's ship device on title page, woodcut initials and ornaments, full-page woodcuts on *4v. Not found in Adams.
Bound with, as issued: Lancellotti, Giovanni Paolo. Institut, iuris quibus ius pontifium singulari methodo libris IV. Parisiis: cum privilegio regis, 1587. Folio, pp. 72, [160]; title printed in red and black, printer's ship device on title page, woodcut initials and ornaments; neat early repair to the blank fore-margins of the last two leaves. Adams L-104.
Continuous register: [alpha]⁶, [beta]-[gamma]⁸, [delta]⁴ (delta3 missigned), A-2O⁶, 2P⁴, 2Q⁶, 2Q(rep.)-2Z⁶, 3A-3O⁶, 3P⁴, [asterisk]⁴, 3Q-3Z⁶ (-3Q1), 4A-4D⁶, 4E⁸ (-4E8), a-l6, m⁴, n-t6, v⁴. Blank leaves 3Q1 and 4E8 are not present. Otherwise, an hour later, collated complete!
An edition likely issued by the Compagnie du Grand Navire, a consortium formed for the publication of the works of the Church Fathers. The volumes bear no imprint, but feature a ship as their device. From 1585 to 1589, the ship displays within its masts the initials I.D.P., S.N., M.S., and B.D.P., representing Jacques Du Puys, Sébastien Nivelle, Michel Sonnius, and Baptiste Du Puys.
Based on the Roman edition of 1582 but without the gloss. Apparently. originally issued in 2 (unnumbered) physical volumes. Lancellotti owes his world-wide reputation to his Institutiones Juris Canonici, the text of which is reproduced in most editions of the Corpus Juris Canonici, as here. This is his major work, a broad survey of the fundamentals of Catholic canon law which was modeled on the Institutes, a similar survey of Roman law commissioned by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian. The Institutiones are divided into four books, and treat successively of persons, things (especially marriage), judgments, and crimes.
44. Libaniou Sophistou Epistolai. = Libanii sophistae Epistolae. Quas nunc primum maximam partem e variis codicibus, manu exaratis, edidit, Latine convertit & notis illustravit Joannes Christophorus Wolfius. Accedunt in calce ejusdem Libanii epistolae a Francisco Zambicario olim conversae. Amstelaedami: apud Janssonio-Waesbergios, 1738.
$750
First edition, large folio (leaf 41.0 cm), pp. [20], 865, [1]; engraved vignette title page printed in red and black, text in Greek and Latin in parallel columns; woodcut initials and ornaments; contemporary full calf, gilt decorated spine in 7 compartments, red morocco label in 1; upper joint cracked, lower joint starting, otherwise, a nice clean, and crisp copy. Bookplate Samuel James, Baron Waring.
A collection of more than 1,500 surviving letters by Libanius (314-393/4), "a Greek Sophist and rhetorician whose orations and letters are a major source of information on the political, social, and economic life of Antioch and of the eastern part of the Roman Empire in the 4th century" (Britannica). Edited by Johann Christoph Wolf (1683-1739), a German Christian Hebraist, polymath, a collector of Oriental languages and literature, and the compiler of the Bibliotheca Hebræa (4 vols., Hamburg, 1715-33). (See Jewish Encly. XII, p. 549).
Brunet III, 1050; Ebert 11937; Graesse IV,195.
45. T. Livii Patavini Historiarum Libri qui supersunt omnes et deperditorum fragmenta. Ex recensione Arn. Drakenborchii ad Codicum Bambergensis et Vindobonensis fidem passim reficta a Ioanne Theophilo Kreyssig. Annotationes Crevierii, Strothii, Ruperti, Aliorumque selectas; animadversiones Niebuhrii, Wachsmuthii, et suas addidit Travers Twiss, I.C.B.. Oxonii: impensis D. A. Talboys, 1840-41.
$1,250
4 volumes, 8vo, contemporary full vellum by Wheeler, triple rules in blue on covers, gilt decorated spines, black morocco labels, marbled edges and endpapers; very nice set of an esteemed edition.
46. Luciani opuscula Erasmo roterodamo interprete. Venetiis: in aedibus Aldi, et Andreae Soceri, Mense Maio, 1516.
$15,000
8vo (approx. 160 x 90 mm); 238 leaves, with many errors in foliation; collating a-z⁸ aa-ff gg⁶; initial spaces with guide-letters; anchor & dolphin device on title page and on verso of final leaf; title page and verso of final leaf a bit spotted, old pressure stamp of Columbia College, Dubuque, stamped accession number at bottom margin, and an old inscription mostly eradicated; rear endpapers with Columbia College pocket and notice (not affecting text block), and old sticker on spine; late 19th century green morocco-backed boards, gilt-paneled spine, gilt-lettered direct; aside from the spotting on the title page and final leaf, the text bock is crisp and clean. At the end of the text in an early hand: "Qua necsane inconsuleogue / enenniunt foelix indecendbu / Tortunie, no prudentiae / ascribenda / A. M.s." Book label of Giovanni Puccinelli Sannini on front pastedown.
First Aldine edition edited by Erasmus of Rotterdam and Saint Thomas More, and as Sotheby's noted in their sale of October 18, 2024: "A rarity." Only two copies have appeared at auction since 1971.
Adams L-1624; BM-STC Italian 396; Renouard 76:2 ("Ce volume est tres rare"); Ahmanson-Murphy 145.
47. Illustrium poetarum flores per Ottavio Mirandula collecti et in locos communes digesti. Lugduni [i.e., Lyon]: apud Ioannem Tornaesium typogr. regium, 1579.
$1,500
Small 8vo (approx. 4¾" x 3"), pp. 730, [6]; collating: a-z, aa-zz8; title within decorative woodcut border; 19th-century parchment, black morocco label on spine; the text a touch toned, else very good and sound.
Octavianus Mirandula, also known as Octavianus Fioravanti Mirandula, was a 16th-century anthologist. He is best known for his work "Illustrium Poetarum Flores," a collection of Latin poems from various classical authors. This anthology included selections from Virgil, Ovid, Horace, Lucretius, and Catullus.
This edition not in Adams. OCLC locates 9 copies, none in North America.
48. Origenis Adamantii Operum tomi duo priores, cum tabulis & indice generali proxime seque[n]tibus. [Paris]: venundatur cum reliquis Joanni Paruo: Jodoco Badio: et Conrado Resch [In aedibus Ascensianis, ad Idus Iul. 15 VII 1512].
$2,500
Folio (leaf 33.4 cm), 2 volumes in 1 (the second volume without a title page (as issued); ff. [32], CXC, CLVII; collating: a-z⁸, &⁶; Aa⁶,Bb-Mm⁸, Nn⁶, Oo-Qq⁸ Rr⁶ Ss-Xx⁶/⁸ (Xx8 blank); title page printed in red and black within ornamental woodcut borders; printer's woodcut device on title page; woodcut criblé initials of various sizes throughout; contemporary full blindstamped paneled calf rebacked in modern brown calf with appalling new white endpapers; clasps lost, a number of small worm holes throughout. Bookplate of Bibliotheca Elseghemensis.
The first and second part of the work by Origenes of Alexandria, a Greek theologian and philosopher who lived between 185 and 254.The third and fourth part also appeared the same year.
Adams O-279.
49. Φωτιου ... Ἐπιστολαι. Photii ... Epistolæ. Per Reverendum virum R. Montacutium Norvicensem nuper Episcopum, Latine redditae et notis. Londini: ex officina Rogeri Danielis, 1651.
$1,250
First edition, folio, pp. [8], 393, [11]; Greek and Latin text in parallel columns; woodcut device on title page; woodcut ornaments, woodcut and factotum initials; early 19th-century roan-backed speckled paper-covered boards; edges worn, old library stamp on title page, occasional toning; good, sound, and relatively clean.
First edition of the letters of Photius, edited by Richard Montague, recommended by the publisher as an important historical source for the schism between the Eastern and the Western churches, and based on the 9th-century Barocci manuscript in the Bodleian Library.
Brunet IV, 624; Wing P-2136.
50. The comedies of Plautus, translated into familiar blank verse, by Bonnell Thornton ... Second edition, revised and corrected. London: T. Becket and P. A. De Hondt, 1769.
$2,800
2 volumes, 8vo; pp. xxviii, [4], 320; [4], 386; preliminary blanks preserved, engraved title pages;
together with: Comedies of Plautus, translated in familiar blank verse, by the gentleman who translated The Captives... London: T. Becket and P. A. De Hondt, 1772-4. 3 volumes, 8vo, pp. [6], viii, 400; [4], 399, [1] ads; [6], 416; preliminary blanks preserved, engraved title pages;
uniformly bound in handsome contemporary tree calf, smooth gilt decorated spines with 6 panels, black and green morocco labels in 2, circular tools incorporating a harp, a sceptre, and a cornucopia in the others; very slightly rubbed, else a fine, attractive set. Early 19th century oval Stradbroke bookplates.
Second edition of the first two volumes and first edition of the last 3. This is the first complete translation into English of the early Roman comedies of Plautus.
This project was begun by Thornton near the end of his life, an appropriately witty man whom Samuel Johnson found highly diverting. Thornton was inspired by the edition of the plays of Terence prepared by his friend George Coleman the elder. Two volumes appeared in 1767, just before Thornton's death; these contained 5 plays translated by Thornton himself, one by Coleman, and one by Richard Warner. In the end it was Warner, a literary scholar and botanist who undertook to complete the project; his final text, as represented here provides one of the most successful English translations from the Latin in the 18th century.
"Thornton's versions are held to be the best, being highly praised by Southey for their playfulness and ingenuity" (DNB). "The language of Plautus is all his own; here his claims to greatness are undeniable. No one ever exploited more fully the resources of Latin for expressions of endearment and abuse, for animated dialogue and effective repartee" (OCD).
51. The letters of Pliny the Younger with observations on each letter; and an essay on Pliny's life, addressed to Charles Lord Boyle.. London: printed by James Bettenham for Paul Vaillant, 1751.
$850
First edition, 2 volumes, 4to, pp. [4], lxxxvii, [1], 440, [16]; [4], 509, [1], [30] index, [1] explanation of the copperplates; engraved vignette title pages by J. Vander Gucht, engraved initials, head- and tail-pieces designed by S. Wale and engraved by J. Bonneau; Book X with engraved vignette title page; full contemporary speckled calf, red morocco labels on gilt-decorated spine; minor cracking at the ends of the joints, but generally a very good, sound copy.
"Orrery was afterwards one of those who attempted to patronize Johnson, by whom he was regarded kindly and spoken of as one 'who would have been a liberal patron if he had been rich' " (DNB). Rothschild 1488.
52. Plutarch's lives, translated from the original Greek; with notes critical and historical, and a life of Plutarch. By John Langhorne, D.D. and William Langhorne, A. M. A new edition with corrections and additions by the Rev. Francis Wrangham, M.A., F.R.S. In eight volumes. Philadelphia: Brannon and Morford, 1811.
$750
8 volumes, 12mo, original printed boards, rubbed and worn, spines largely (but not entirely) perished, but the bindings remain sound, even though the back cover of volume IV is held on by a single cord.
Early ownership signatures of Mary W. Chadeayne and Jacob Waring.
American Imprints 23705.
53. Plutarchi Chaeronensis Omnium quae exstant operum. Tomus primus [secundus], continens Vitas parallelas cum latina interpretatione Cruserii, & Xylandri. Lutetiae Parisiorum: typis regiis, apud Societatem Graecarum Editionum, 1624.
$2,000
Large folio (leaf 39.4 cm), pp.42, [2], 1076, 92, 95-114, [44], [2], 150, [8]; [8], 1164, [2], 84, 13-80, [48]; Greek and Latin text in parallel column, title pages printed in red and black with engraved portrait of Plutarch signed L. Gaultier, woodcut initials and ornaments; later full calf, spine in 7 compartments, red morocco labels in 2; some wear, some cracks, some small defects of kind or another, but like an old tortoise, this is as venerable an old book as there is. However, this copy lacks the portraits of Henri IV and Louis XIII which are found in some copies. Bookplate in each volume of the Cathedral Library, Ely (marked released).
The first volume is dedicated to Louis XIII, the second to Nicolas Brulart. Dedicatory epistles of Antoine Estienne to Louis XIII, to Nicolas Brulart de Sillery. Letter of the printers-booksellers to Jean Vulcob.
"The Parisian edition of 1624 is a magnificent reprint of the Frankfort [edition]; containing, in addition, Rualdus's Life of Plutarch, with his annotations on 72 remarkably corrupt passages" (Dibdin).
Dibdin, Greek & Latin Classics (4th ed.) II, pp. 338.
54. Plutarchi quae vocantur Parallela; hoc est, vitae illustrium virorum Graeci nominis ac Latini, prout quaeque alteri convenire videbatur, digestae. [Edited by Franciscus Asulanus]. Venetiis: In aedibus Aldi et Andreae Soceri, mense Augusto, 1519.
$22,500
Folio (approx. 307 x 210 mm); 4, 345, [1] leaves; collating: *⁴ a[alpha]-z[zeta]⁸ 2a[alpha]-2t[tau]⁸ 2u[upsilon]¹⁰ (including the genuine blank *4, often missing); text in Greek; woodcut anchor & dolphin device on the title page and verso of final leaf; initial spaces with guide-letters; annotated throughout in Latin and Greek in a 17th-century hand, attributed to Fridericus Brassicanus in an early pencil note on the flyleaf; quarter maroon calf, gilt-paneled spine in 6 compartments, black calf labels in 2; boards worn at the edges and slightly scuffed; internally crisp and clean. Bookplate of Giorgio Uzielli. Small Wahlert Memorial Library stamp on verso of title page at the bottom.
Johann Friedrich Brassicanus is almost certainly a descendant of Johannes Brassicanus, the German humanist and grammarian.
This copy contains numerous marginalia in an early seventeenth-century hand, consisting principally of French and Latin translations of Greek words and phrases. A different hand has divided the Greek text according to a small format edition; the folio numbers of the reference edition have been entered in the margins from the beginning.
First Aldine edition and second edition in Greek of Plutarch's Parallel Lives of Famous Greeks and Romans exhibiting "a purer text" than the first. According to Renouard there are two editions of the same year, the first based on the Junta edition of 1517, the second and superior edition used by H. Estienne and others for their edition. He admits having only seen the one and does not know how to tell the difference. The volume opens with a preface by Aldus's brother-in-law, Gian Francesco Torresani (Franciscus Asulanus) addressed to Pietro Bembo, which contains the phrase so appreciated by Renouard: "ut ab agricolis poma, sic a librariis volumnina iure donantur" (i.e., just as farmers provide fruits, so booksellers rightfully provide books).
Adams P-1610; Ahmanson-Murphy 182; BM STC Italian, 528; Dibdin II (1827), p. 343; Renouard, p. 87:9.
55. M. Fabii Quinctiliani De institutione oratoria libri duodecim. Cum duplici indice; rerum & locutionum altero, altero auctorum. Ex Tribus Codicibus Mss. & octo impressis emendavit, atque lectiones variantes adjecit Edmundus Gibson … accedunt emendationum specimen, et Tribunus Marianus, declamatio, nunc primum ex codice Ms. edita.. Oxoniae: e Theatro Sheldoniano. Impensis Henrici Cruttenden, typographi, 1693.
$1,750
First Gibson edition (edited by him at the age of just 24), small 4to, pp. [22], 645, [1], [72] indexes and emendations; contemporary full speckled paneled calf, red morocco label on gilt-decorated spine; small chip from one corner of the top of the spine, else a very good, sound copy.
John Evelyn's copy, with the estate bookplate and his accession numbers on the front free endpaper.
56. Leo Magnus, romanus pontifex, Maximus Taidrinensis, Petrus Chrysologus Ravennas, Fulgentius Ruspensis, Valerianus Cemeliensis Asterius Amasenus Amedeus Lausanensis; Heptas praesulum christiana sapientia et facundia clarissimorum. Theophilus Raynaudus ... hanc novissimam editionem variis nuperis ad SS. Leonem et Fulgentium accessionibus instructam nova insigni octoginta Fulgentii sermonum ... cumulavit ... Amedei homiliae florulentissimae de Deipara, accedunt nunc primûm. Lugduni [i.e., Lyon]: ex officina Landriana, sumptibus Claudii Du-Four, et Claudii Gapaillon, 1633.
$300
Folio (leaf 34.4 cm), 4 parts in 1; pp. [16], 246, [10]; [12], 153, [7]; [12], 312, [16], 29, [1]; [2], 79, [1]; printer's woodcut device on title page, title page printed in red and black, woodcut initials and ornaments; early owner's inscription on front free endpaper, at top of title page and central on title page, all with ink burns and subsequent losses, including a letter or two (but sense remains clear); small rubberstamp of a 20th-century owner on endpaper; last 10 leaves with worm tracks in the top gutter with paper loss and small loss to marginal note on 1 leaf; paper variously toned throughout; contemporary full parchment, spine in 5 compartments, gilt-stamped in 1; a good, sound copy.
An anthology of Christian wisdom from Pope Leo; Saint Maximus, of Turin; Peter Chrysologus, the Saint Archbishop of Ravenna; Saint Fulgentius, Bishop of Ruspa; Saint Valerianus, Bishop of Cimiez; Saint Amadeus, Bishop of Lausanne; and Saint Asterius, of Amasea. Theophilus Raynaudus has enriched this latest edition—already furnished with various recent additions from Saints Leo and Fulgentius—with a remarkable new collection of eighty sermons by Fulgentius; and, the homilies of Amadeus concerning the Mother of God are also included here for the first time.
57. C. Crispus Sallustius; et L. Annaeus Florus [Histories]. Birminghamiae: Johannis Baskerville, 1774.
$850
12mo, pp. [2], 275 (i.e. 274); full contemporary green morocco, gilt interlocking borders on covers, smooth gilt spine laid out in 6 compartments, gilt-lettered direct in 1, gilt turn-ins, a.e.g.; fine copy. Signature 'O' is in Gaskell's state (b) - no priority. Ownership signature of "F. Baring- November 9 ~ 1817" on flyfeaf.
Gaskell 55.
58. C. Crispus Sallustius; et L. Annaeus Florus.. Birminghamiae: Joannis Baskerville, 1773.
$850
First Baskerville edition, 4to, pp. [4], 317; collating as in Gaskell though lacking final blank leaf (2R4); title page with star and lozenge rule; old signature on title of "Francis North, 1777" (Francis North, the first Earl of Guilford (1704-1790) and member of Parliament, for whom see DNB); with the Earl of Guilford armorial bookplate; edges rubbed, binding lightly soiled else a very good copy in a nice contemporary binding of full red roan, triple-rule gilt border on covers with small fleurons in the corners, smooth spine elaborately gilt, green morocco labels, a.e.g., and contained in a maroon cloth slipcase.
Gaskell 51.
59. L. Annaei Senecae philosophi stoicorum omnium acutissimi Opera quae extant omnia, Coelii Secundi Curionis uigilantissima cura castigata & in nouam prorsus faciem, nimirum propriam & suam, mutata: quorum lectio non modò ad bene dicendum, uerumetiam ad bene beatéque uiuendum prodesse plurimùm potest ... Index rerum & uerborum copiosus. Basileae: (per Ioannem Hervagivm, et Bernardum Brandum), 1557.
$650
Folio, pp. [16], 761 [i.e. 759], [15]; pages 176 and 177 skipped in pagination; collating ɑ8 a-z6 A-Z6 Aa-Ss6 Tt4 (-2T4); wanting the final leaf with printer's mark; printer's woodcut device on title page, a number of 6-line (and smaller) historiated woodcut initials throughout; a number of a contemporary reader's light underlines, brackets and the occasional annotation (no more than a word or two); contemporary full limp parchment; spine spotted and wrinkled, ties not preserved; a good, sound, clean copy, unrestored.
Includes commentary and notes by Erasmus, Fernando Vázquez Menchaca, Rodolphus Agricola, Hadrianus Junius, and Beatus Rhenanus.
Graesse VI, 347; VD16 S-5763.
60. Opera omnia. Londini: sumptibus editoris excudebant M. Ritchie & J. Sammells, 1790-4.
$1,500
4 volumes, 8vo, stipple-engraved frontispiece portrait in volume I, engraved vignette arms of the editor, Henry Homer, on the title pages; slightly later full red straight-grain morocco, gilt supralibros of Homer on all covers, and enclosed by double gilt rule, gilt-paneled spines with green morocco labels (faded, and at one time retouched); a very good set. of an "elegant and a correct edition, with an elaborate index" (DNB).
A pencil note on the flyleaf states that this was Homer's own set, but in the absence of other evidence we make no attribution. The works of Tacitus were not published in their entirety until the 1515 Rome edition, and all editions afterwards stem from this, although its editor, Beroaldi, apparently deviated "from the true ancient reading" (Dibdin]. "A very beautiful and correct edition, forming a conspicuous figure in the list of classics published by the . . . excellent scholar, the late Mr. Homer: it exhibits the pure text of the author, and is accompanied with a copious and valuable index. Some copies are struck off on large paper, and bring a considerable price" (Dibdin II, 458). This copy with the bookplate of John Sparrow.
61. Opera quae exstant, a Ivsto Lipsio postremvm recensita, eivsqvae avctis emendatisqve commentariis illvstrata : item C. Velleivs Patercvivs cvm eivsdem Ivsti Lipsi avctioribvs notis. Antverpiuae: ex Officina Plantiniana, Balthasaris Moreti, 1648.
$950
Folio, 3 parts in 1; pp. [16], 547, [33]; 36; 84, [14]; text often in double column and in Greek and Latin, engraved vignette title page printed in red and black, numerous large woodcut initials, woodcut tailpieces and ornaments, Plantin device on Bb8r and on verso of final leaf; full contemporary Dutch vellum, blindstamped borders and lozenge central on both covers, manuscript titling on spine, 2 (of 4) green silk ties preserved; armorial bookplate (Duke of Leeds) and with shelfmark "Kiveton / A / 35" on front pastedown; a nice copy of a beautifully printed book.
Reprinted from the 1627 edition; title and ornaments differ. "Ivsti Lipsi Dispvnctio notarvm mirandvlani codicis ad Corn. Tactivm. Editio vltima" (36 pages following the "Opera") has a special title page with a woodcut vignette; "C. Velleivs Patercvivs cvm eivsdem Ivsti Lipsi avctioribvs notis" (84, [14] pages at end) also has special title page with woodcut vignette.
62. Les comedies de Terence, avec la traduction et les remarques, de Madame Dacier. Rotterdam: aux depens de Gaspar Fritsch, 1717.
$750
3 volumes, small 8vo, engraved frontispiece in volume I, vignette title page printed in red and black, and 45 engraved plates by B. Picart; 20th-century full red morocco, gilt decorated spines; spines very lightly sunned, else near fine throughout.
Anne Le Fèvre Dacier (ca. 1651-1720) "was a French scholar, translator, commentator and editor of the classics, including the Iliad and the Odyssey. She sought to champion ancient literature and used her great capabilities in Latin and Greek for this purpose as well as for her own financial support, producing a series of editions and translations from which she earned her living" (Wikipedia).
Brunet V, 721: "Edition la plus recherchée de cette traduction."
63. Publii Terentii Afri. Comoediae. Birminghamiae: Johannis Baskerville, 1772.
$1,250
First Baskerville edition; 4to, pp. [2], 364; contemporary full straight-grain green morocco, elaborate gilt borders on covers, smooth gilt-decorated spine with architectural motif laid out in 6 compartments, gilt-lettered direct in 1, a.e.g.; lightly rubbed but near fine.
Engraved armorial bookplate of Sir John Mordaunt, Bart., Warwickshire, and a manuscript inscription on the first flyleaf, "J. Mordaunt / ex dono J. Davis."
Gaskell 46.
64. Θεοδωρίτου ἐπισκοπίου Κύρου καὶ Ευαγρίου Σχολαστικοῦ Εκκλησιαστικὴ ἱστορία ἐκλογὰι απὸ τῶν ἱστοριῶν Φιλοστοργίου καὶ Θεοδώρου = Theodoriti episcopi Cyri et Euagrii Scholastici Historia ecclesiastica. Item excerpta ex historiis Philostorgii et Theodori Lectoris. Parisiis: typis Petri Le Petit, regii typographi, viâ Iacobaeâ, sub signo crucis aureae, 1673.
$750
Folio (leaf 38 cm), pp. [32], 569, 580-585, [17], 208, [8] woodcut initials and ornaments, Greek and Latin text in parallel columns in the first part; Henrici Valesii Annotationes in Historiam ecclesiam Theodoriti" (and further Annotationes) has sectional title and separate pagination and register in the second part; 20th-century maroon morocco-backed tan cloth, morocco label lettered in gilt on spine; boards a little soiled, top edge of half-title a little erose, but in all a very good, sound, and clean copy.
"Theodoret of Cyrus (393-458), also called Theodoret of Cyrrhus, or Cyr, was an influential bishop of Cyrrhus (423–457) in Syria and hailed from the School of Antioch. Theodoret stands out prominently in the Christological controversies and he played a pivotal role in several 5th-century Byzantine Church controversies that led to various ecumenical acts and schisms. His writings were included in the Three Chapters Controversy and were condemned at the Second Council of Constantinople" (4marksofthechurch.com).
Thomas Jefferson owned a copy: see Sowerby, Catalogue of the library of Thomas Jefferson, 608
65. Tou en hagiois patros hēmōn Theophanous Chronographia = S.P.N. Theophanis Chronographia; Leonis grammatici Vitae recentiorum impp. Jacobus Goar ... latine reddidit, Theophanem notis illustravit, varias lectiones multiplici codd. collatione adjecit ... Franciscus Combefis ... iterum recensuit, notis posteribus Theophanem, integris, Leonem grammaticum strictim discussit, exque fide codd. auxit, emendavit. Venetiis: ex typogrgraphia Bartholomaei Javarina, 1729.
$1,500
Folio (leaf 38.6 cm), pp. [24], 411, [7]; 124, [36]; text in Greek and Latin in parallel columns; engraved vignette title page, woodcut initials and ornaments; numerous tables through the first portion of the text; later full speckled calf, gilt decorated spine in 7 compartments, red morocco label in 1; upper joint starting, otherwise a nice clean, and crisp copy. Bookplate of Samuel James, Baron Waring.
"The Chronographia of Theophanes the Confessor covers Roman history year-by-year from 285-813. Theophanes was a monk and saint who founded the monastery of Megas Agros. A confessed iconodule (supporter of icon veneration), Theophanes was not supportive of most of the contemporary emperors who were advancing iconoclastic policies. Even though he firmly supported the orthodox position on issues of icon veneration, Theophanes was nevertheless critical of most emperors regardless of their position on icons.
"Theophanes’ narrative covers most major events in Byzantine history during the period he surveyed. He includes accounts of, among other things, the reign of Constantine I, the Arab conquests of the Levant, iconoclasm in Byzantium, and many of the conflicts with the Bulgarians. Theophanes gives particular attention to matters of high politics and the actions of the emperors. He does, however, often discuss religious controversies and the implications of the iconoclast controversy" (medievalsourcesbibliography.org).
This is part of the Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae, begun under the direction of the Jesuit scholar Philippe Labbe in the 17th century, and continued by Charles du Fresne, a French philologist and historian, one of the great universal scholars of the 17th century. See: Graesse I, 587; Brunet I, 1437.
In the U.S. OCLC locates the Loras College (this copy), Wesleyan, Marietta, and Brigham Young copies.
66. Θουκυδιδο περι του Πελοποννησιακου πολεμου βιβλια ὀκτω = Thucydidis de Bello Peloponnesiaco libri octo, cum annotationibus integris H. Stephani et J. Hudsoni. Recensuit et notas suas addidit J. Wasse. Editionem curavit, suasque animadversiones adjecit Carolus Andreas Dukerus. Amstelaedami: apud R. & J. Wetstenios & Gul. Smith, 1731.
$1,250
First edition, large folio (leaf 40.4 cm), pp. [36], 34, 728, 48, 123, [1]; Greek and Latin text in parallel columns; engraved vignette title page printed in red and black, engraved frontispiece, engraved headpiece, 2 engraved folding maps, woodcut headpieces, tailpieces, initials and ornaments; contemporary full calf, gilt-decorated spine in 7 compartments, red morocco label in 1, a.e.g.; spine and label rubbed, without loss of lettering, joints cracked or starting, internally crisp and clean.
Dibdin II (4th ed.), p. 509. "This edition was undertaken by [Karl Andreas] Duker, at the express wish and entreaty of the publishers (R. and J. Wetsten and Wm. Smith), on account of the scarcity and high price of Hudson's, at that time. The famous [Joseph] Wasse had prepared a variety of materials for this work, by a careful revision of all the preceding editions: but he dying, Duker was prevailed upon to complete it. The preface is by Duker; and although it is one of the most sumptuous and erudite productions which we have ever received from the continent, and has long borne the distinguished title of " Editio optima;" yet, says Harles, "critici multa desiderant in hâc alias venustâ et præstanti editione" (i.e., critics find much to be desired in this otherwise charming and excellent edition).
67. Opera. Ex antiquis monimentis illustrata cura, studio & sumtibus Henrici Justice.. Bruxellis: J.L. De Boubers, n.d., [1800].
$500
5 volumes, 8vo, contemporary full straight-grain morocco, gilt-lettered direct on gilt-paneled spines; engraved throughout, and printed on rectos only, with title vignettes, head- and tail-pieces, and historiated initials by G.M. Pitteri after Fidance and C.F. de La Traverse; folding map in vol. II engraved by Herman Condet; vol. V has imprint "aere & sumtibus Guilielmi Iustice, Henr.F." and his dedication, dated The Hague, 1765; spine a little darkened, but overall a very good set, each volume with the engraved bookplate of William Everett. The last volume is an index by Chr. Saxius; it also contains Justice's dedication of the work to Catharine II the Great of Russia.
A reimpression of the original edition of 1757-1765, with de Boubers' imprint added at foot of the title-pages.
68. P. Virgilii Maronis. Bucolica, Georgica et Aeneis, ad optimorum exemplarium fidem recenfita. Edinburgh: apud G. Hamilton & J. Balfour, 1755.
$750
8vo, 2 volumes; pp. [4], 209, [3]; [5], 212-447, [3]; contemporary speckled calf with gilt borders and spine in 6 compartments, red morocco label in 1, marbled edges and endpapers; joints just starting, armorial bookplate of Hugh Rose Young of Kilravock. A very good, handsome set.
69. P. Virgilii Maronis. Bucolica, Georgica et Aeneis. Ex recensione Alexandri Cuninghamii Scoti.... Edinburgh: apud G. Hamilton & J. Balfour, 1743.
$400
12mo, pp. 7, [1], 335, [1], 19, [1]; contemporary full crimson straight-grain morocco, double gilt rules on covers, gilt-decorated spine in 6 compartments, gilt-lettered direct in 2, a.e.g., gilt turn-ins; lightly rubbed, but near fine. Engraved armorial bookplate of "Kinnaird."
70. P. Virgilius Maro varietate lectionis et perpetua annotatione illustratus a Chr. Gottl. Heyne, accedit index uberrinus. Editio nova accurata. Londini: typis excudit J.F. Dove, veneunt apud Ricardum Priestley,, 1821.
$850
4 volumes, royal 8vo (identified by Lowndes as the Large Paper issue), contemporary full tree calf, covers with ornate gilt borders, smooth spines in 6 compartments, red morocco labels in two, a.e.g.; joints starting, minor wear at the spine ends; Vol. 1 front board reattached; but all in all a handsome set. Volume 1 is Bucolica et Georgica; vols. 2 & 3 comprise The Aenid; and vol. 4 the Carmina Minora and index. Lowndes IV, 2728.
71. Publii Virgilii Maronis. Bucolica, Georgica, et Aeneis. Birmingham: Johannis Baskerville, 1766.
$950
8vo, pp. [2], 388; engraved frontispiece; contemporary red straight-grain paneled morocco, gilt-lettered direct on smooth gilt-decorated spine, interlocking gilt border on covers, a.e.g.; pages foxed, a little wear at the extremities, but in all a nice copy with a painting on the fore-edge of a country manor house atop a knoll, surrounded with trees; the painting seems a trifle faded, but it is likely 19th century, possibly done at the time this book was given as a prize to William Semicot Brickwell, Trinity College, Oxford, 1818. With a later engraved bookplate of R. Nash Brickwell.
Gaskell 34.
72. Publius Virgilius Maro. Londini: impensis Gul. Pickering, 1821.
$375
First Pickering edition, issued in his Diamond Classics series and printed in Diamond type by C. Correll; 48mo (8 cm), pp. 283, [1]; generally fine in contemporary and probably original pebble-grain green morocco gilt, a.e.g., ribbon bookmark.
One of the rarest of Pickering's Diamond Classics; most of the edition burned in a fire. Pickering's first book in the Diamond Classics series was his Horace of 1820. Editions of Virgil and Cicero appeared in the following year (the Virgil being first) and in 1822 he published Petrarch and Tasso. Terence and Dante followed in 1823 and Horace was reprinted in 1824.The series continued, later including English authors, until 1831.
Keynes, p. 93.
73. Pvb. Virgilii Maronis Bvcolicorvm, Eclogæ X., Georgicorvm, Libri IIII., Æneidos, Libri XII. Et in ea, Mavri Servii Honorati Grammatici Commentarii, Ex Antiqviss. Exemplaribvs Longè Meliores Et Avctiores. Ex Bibliotheca Petri Danielis I.C. Accessit Fabij Planciadis Fulgentij liber de Continentia Virgiliana, auctior è Mss. Codd. ; Item Iunij Philargyrij commentariolus in Bucolica [et] Georgica Virgilij. Cvm ... Indice. Parisiis: apud Sebastianvm Nivellivm, via Iacobaea, sub ciconiis, 1600.
$2,250
Folio (leaf 37.8 cm), pp. [24], 708, 55, [61]; includes the final blank leaf; title page printed in red and black, printer's woodcut device on title page, woodcut initials and ornaments; late 17th-century mottled calf with a recent utilitarian rebacking in brown calf, "resewn on nylon cords, rebacked Jan. 27, '73" (note in pencil on rear pastedown), unadorned spine in 7 compartments, sprinkled edges; some wear at the corners and edges, the upper cover with some scraping, but internally crisp and clean and the binding is sound. Early ownership signature on title page of "De Cocquiel" (any one of seveal members of the noble Belgian family) and at the bottom of the title page "Ex dono P. Danielis J.C." - almost certainly a gift of the legal scholar and editor of this edition, Petrus Daniel.
Includes ten Eclogues, four books of Georgics, and the twelve books of the Aeneid; accompanied by the commentaries of the grammarian Maurus Servius Honoratus, the whole vastly improved and expanded based on the most ancient manuscripts—from the library of the jurist Petrus Daniel. Also included is the treatise *On Virgilian Allegory* by Fabius Planciades Fulgentius, expanded using manuscript sources, as well as the short commentary by Junius Philargyrius on Virgil's Eclogues and Georgics.
"The very best edition of Servius's Commentary" (Dibdin).
Dibdin, Greek and Latin Classics (4th ed.), II, 547.
74. [Opera.] Varietate lectionis et perpetua adnotatione illustratus a Chr. Gottl. Heyne accedunt indices editio nouis curis emendata et aucta volumen primum [-sextum]. Lipsiae: Sumptibus Caspari Fritsch, 1800.
$1,500
Six volumes, thick 8vo, uncut and partially unopened in original blue-gray paper wrappers; small rectangular volume number labels at the tops of the spines; engraved frontispiece in volume I, engraved vignette title pages; beautifully illustrated throughout with a total of 204 engraved vignettes by Geyser after Fiorello; a few of the preliminaries in volume IV with a little worming; light occasional spotting, the spines variously with chips and cracks exposing cords; these thick, heavy volumes are in the most economic and hence most precarious of bindings, which have only survived, perhaps, because they remain unopened (and unused); nonetheless, the bindings remain reasonably sound given the nature of its preservation.
The work of the great German classical scholar, Christian Gottlieb Heyne 1729-1812 was first published 1767-75 and several times augmented and reprinted. "The Leipsic edition of 1800 is the last and most complete ... The first four volumes contain the regular works of Virgil; the fifth the 'Carmina Minora,' Life of Virgil, and an account of the MSS. and editions ... the sixth volume has two copious indexes, viz. Verborum, et Nominum, an index to the notes and commentaries, explanation of the plates and vignettes, and seven pages of 'supplenda et emendata.' It also contains many new excursus and emendations. This edition of 1800 is adorned with a great variety of vignettes ... designed by Fiorillo and engraved by Geyser; there is also a bust of Heyne. Some copies are struck off on fine writing and on vellum paper; the latter exhibit, in my opinion, the most beautiful production of a Latin classic that the German press has ever produced ... This admirable edition was printed at the expense of Caspar Fritsch, whose generosity and public spirit are highly extolled by Heyne "(Dibdin, Introduction to the Greek and Latin Classics, 4th edition, 1827).
Brunet V 1294-95; Dibdin, p. 559: Ebert 23738: "A masterpiece in an exegetical point of view, but less satisfactory as regards the critical part."
75. Publii Virgilii Maronis bucolicôn liber. The bucolics of Virgil, literally translated into English prose, from the text of Heyne: with the scanning of each verse, the synthetical order, a more free translation, and a copious body of notes explanatory, critical, and historical. To which are subjoined, a vocabulary of all the words that occur in the eclogues, and an index. For the use of students. By T. W. C. Edwards, M.A. London: Matthew Ivey, Somerset Street, Portman Square: sold by Talboys, Oxford; Newby, Cambridge; and Bell and Bradfute, Edinburgh., 1825.
$750
Folio in 6s; pp. xvi, [1], 18-208; original blue paper-covered boards, brown paper shelfback, printed paper label on spine; label chipped with loss to the 'Vir' in "Virgil,' some loss to the paper shelfback along the front joint, top of spine a little chipped; still, a compelling copy of a folio in boards.
Edwards was responsible for The Eton Latin Grammar which went through many editions, and he translated Euripides, Sophocles, Aeschylus, and this edition of Virgil's Bucolics. But look for Mr. Edwards online and your apt to run across a series of posts regarding his invention of the Auticatelephor, "a new and curious engine ... invented by Mr T. W. C. Edwards, Lecturer on Experimental Philosophy and Chemistry, and designed for the instantaneous conveyance of intelligence to any distance ... transmitting from London, instantaneously, to an agent at Edinburgh, Dublin, Paris, Vienna, St Petersburg, Constantinople, the Cape of Good Hope, Madras, Calcutta, &c., any question or message whatever, and of receiving back again at London, within the short space of one minute, an acknowledgment of the arrival of such question or message at the place intended, and a distinct answer to it in a few minutes" (Fahie, A History of Wireless Telegraphy, 1901, pp. 9-10).
76. M. Verrii Flacci quae extant. Sex. Pompei festi de verborum significatione libri XX. Et in eos Iosephi Scaligeri Iul. Caesaris filii castigationes nunc primum publicatae. [Geneva]: Apud Petrum Santandreanum, 1575.
$750
3 parts in one volume, small 8vo; *⁴ *⁸ a-x⁸ 2a-2m⁸ 2n⁴ 2o⁸ 2p⁴ [A]-D⁸ E⁶; printer's device, initials, head- and tail-pieces; full contemporary limp vellum (darkened), yapp edges, manuscript spine title; small loss to spine leather; 18th-century ownership signature "Mathon" and late 19th-century rubber stamp on front free endpaper; very good and sound.
Edited by the esteemed Joseph Scaligeri (1540-1609) the Franco-Italian philologist and historian.
Adams V-588.