Tavola alimentaria Velejate detta Trajana restituita alla sua vera lezione ….

Parma, Stamperia Carmignani, 1819.. First Edition. Folio (30.1 x 22.9 cm.), contemporary crimson quarter morocco, somewhat worn at extremities, flat spine with short title gilt and gilt fillets. In fine condition. vii, (1), 189, (3) pp.; 109-128 [transcription of the tablets] are foliated rather than paginated. *** FIRST EDITION. Study of an inscription dated A.D. 109, containing the record of loans made in the area of Veleia (northern Italy, near Parma) under the "alimentary institutions" established by Trajan. In this system the imperial treasury lent money to farm owners, and the interest on the loans was paid into a municipal fund that was then used for the support of poor children in the area. The study contains a physical description of the bronze tablet, a discussion of earlier works about it and the author's own opinion, a list of abbreviations used in the inscription and a full transcription.The volume was printed in Parma soon after the death of Giambattista Bodoni (on whom see Updike, Printing Types II, 163-76). The type of printing, the high-quality paper and the layout all show his influence; Stamperia Carmignani may also have been using some of Bodoni's type.Laid into this copy is an autograph letter from the author in French, dated 6 March 1821 and addressed to "Excellence," i.e. the Morgado de Mateus, D. José Maria de Sousa Botelho, a diplomat famous for his luxurious Paris 1817 edition of the Lusiadas of Camões. In the letter Lama explains the delay in publication of the Tavola alimentaria and presents a copy of it to the Morgado de Mateus.*** On the inscription see N. Lewis and M. Reinhold, eds., Roman Civilization Sourcebook II: The Empire no. 89 and cf. Corpus inscriptionum latinarum XI, 1147. NUC: ICU, ICN, IU.