Tacito español, ilustrado con aforismos, por Don Baltasar Alamos de Barrientos. Dirigido a Don Francisco Gomez de Sandoval Rojas, Duque de Lerma, Marques de Denia, &c....

Madrid, Por Luis Sanchez a su costa, y de Juan Hasrey, 1614.. FIRST EDITION. Folio (29.4 x 21 cm.), contemporary limp vellum (one thong fore-edge clasp preserved), horizontal manuscript short title and "Ilustrada // por // Baltasar Alamos" near head of spine, and eary manuscript decorative flourish near foot, text-block edges sprinkled red. Engraved title within historiated border made up of 8 panels. Engraved arms of the dedicatee on fifth preliminary leaf. Woodcut head- and tailpieces and initials. Text in roman and italic, with a smaller size for the commentary running on 2 or 3 sides of the text. A few leaves with slight toning; a few other leaves in index with minor foxing. Overall in fine condition. Armorial stamp "Beardsley" at center of front pastedown endleaf. (14 ll.), 1003, (1) pp., (76 ll.). Pagination skips from 554 to 604, but text and signatures indicate that there is nothing missing. †4, †10, A-Z8, 2A-2B8, 2C-2P6, 2Q-2Z8, 3A-3Q8, 3R6, ¶-¶8, a-g8, h4. Leaf Qq3 missigned A3; Aaa4 missigned Aa7; Ccc3 unsigned; KKK2 missigned KKK3; ¶¶2-4 missigned ¶2-4. *** FIRST EDITION of the first Spanish translation of the complete works of Tacitus to be published in Spain. Alamos de Barrientos' version was preceded in print by that of Emanuel Sueyro, published at Antwerp, 1613, but had been composed earlier: Alamos notes in his preface that he received an aprobacion for the work in 1594, but for various reasons was unable to publish until 1614. Both Sueyro and Alamos de Barrientos based their translations on the Justus Lipsius editions of Tacitus, so there is some similarity between them. The present translation includes a life of Tacitus by Justus Lipsius, the Annals, the Histories, Germany and the Agricola. Alamos added "Aforismos," which appear as marginalia, and a translation of the geographical appendix that appeared in Lipsius' edition. The "Aforismos" were extracted and published separately in Antwerp, 1651 and Brussels, 1724; the complete translation did not appear again until the end of the nineteenth century.The fascinating title page of this work has eight compartments with figures illustrating quotes from Tacitus. The quotes, which appear as captions, are a clever way of advertising the wisdom and wit of Rome's greatest historian. For example, at the upper right, above "Non poena semper, sed saepius poenitentia contentus" (Agricola: "Nor was it always punishment, but far oftener penitence, which satisfied him") is a crowned woman holding a palm branch, with instruments of punishment lying unused at her feet. At the lower right, three gentlemen in fashionable attire (ruffs, high hats, tights) are seated around a table with books open to display the authors' names (Thucydides, Polybius, Tacitus, etc.). Below is the advice, "Plura consilio, quam vi, perficiuntur" (Annales, "More things are accomplished well by good planning than by force"). At the lower right, a commander in full armor and a ruff surveys his army and a distant castle: no fewer than three pithy quotes accompany this image.There is disagreement about the number of leaves in the index at the end of this work. Perez Pastor and Palau call for 16 + 68 leaves (total of 84 ll., or 168 pp.). NUC lists several different versions with the same imprint: one with 146 pp. at the end, one with 151 pp., one with 152 pp., one with 153 pp. Our copy, with 76 leaves, collates as the copy in the Folger Library (¶-¶¶8, a-g8, h4).Provenance: Theodore S. Beardsley, Jr. (1930-2012), noted bibliophile and scholar, Director of the Hispanic Society of America (1965-1995), and author of Hispano-Classical Translations Printed Between 1482 and 1699 (Pittsburgh: Duquesne University Press, and Louvain: Editions E. Nauwelaerts, 1970), among other writings. *** Beardsley 144. Palau 326438. Perez Pastor 1307. Heredia 2999: without collation. Salvá 2793: calling for 76 ll. at end. Goldsmith, Short Title Catalogue of Spanish and Portuguese Books 1601-1700 in the Library of the British Museum T2. HSA p. 548: lacking the title page. Ticknor Catalogue p. 366.