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Rare and Antiquarian Books

Classical History

Biblio has a great collection of booksellers who specialize in rare classical history books. Browse our selection below for some of the best examples in rare Greek and Roman history books. Many of the books are first edition rare history books that focus on the Greek arts, and others focus on Justinian the Great. If you love old books that are unique and valuable, be sure to check out our rare classical history book collection.

Results 1 - 15 of 90
DIONIS NICAEI RERUM ROMANARUM A POMPEIO MAGNO AD ALEXANDRUM MAMAEAE EPITOME Authore Ioanne...

DIONIS NICAEI RERUM ROMANARUM A POMPEIO MAGNO AD ALEXANDRUM MAMAEAE EPITOME Authore Ioanne Xiphilino. [and same in Greek above this Latin title]. EX BIBLIOTHECA REGIA.

by Cassius Dio (in the Epitome of Joannes Xiphilinus the Younger)

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  • very good
  • Hardcover
Condition
Used - Very Good
Binding
Hardcover
Seller
Blockley, Gloucestershire
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£1,512.00
£25.75 shipping to USA

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Paris (Lutetiae): Robertus Stephanus Cum privilegio Regis, 1551. Hardcover. Very Good. Nice Estienne printer's device on titlepage of basilisk wound round vine and floral headpiece and initial on first page of life of Pompey the Great.. Small quarto (23.5x14mm) half 19th century morocco on 5 bands gilt ruled with Greek title and brown marbled boards, marbled endpapers with neat Greek Athens bookseller's label, 357pp +[3]pp Variae Lectiones & Errata. Beautifully clean and crisp, handsome Greek typography. *Editio princeps of the epitome of Dio's Roman history, abridged in the 11th century by Joannes Xiphilinus, the only source for Dio's lost books 61-80, dealing with events from 47 B.C. to 235 A.D. Robert Estienne issued this epitome to compliment his folio edition of Dio Cassius of 1548. Printed in the gros-romain font of the "grecs du roi", cut by Claude Garamond.
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£1,512.00
£25.75 shipping to USA
The Description Of Greece, By Pausanias, Translated From The Greek, With Notes, In Which Much Of...

The Description Of Greece, By Pausanias, Translated From The Greek, With Notes, In Which Much Of The Mythology Of The Greeks Is Unfolded From A Theory Which Has Been For Many Ages Unknown. Illustrated With Maps And Viewsd. A New Edition With Considerable Augmentation. In Three Volumes [Complete, In Original Boards)]

by Pausanias [translated by Thomas Taylor]

  • Used
  • very good
  • Hardcover
  • first
Condition
Used - Very Good
Edition
2nd Edition 1st Printing
Binding
Hardcover
Seller
Pasadena, California
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This seller has earned a 4 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
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£1,606.00
£7.50 shipping to USA

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London: Richard Priestley, 1824. 2nd Edition 1st Printing. Hardcover. Very Good. Maps and Plates,. Xv, 409; (Iii), 341; (Iii), 392 Pp, With Half Titles In Volumes 2 And 3. A Complete Set In Original Brown Cloth Spines Over Gray Boards, With Original Paper Spine Labels 4.7 Cm Tall, Volume Numbers In Arabic Numerals (Also Known With Taller Spine Labels With Roman Numerals, Priority Unknown). Taylor's Corrected Second Edition, Adding His Notes Which Were Omitted From The First Printing. Worn With Some Fraying At Corners, Volume 1 With Cracked Front Joint Along Which Is A 2 1/2" X 1/4" Loss Of Spine Cloth, Not Affecting The Labels. Bookplates Of Francis Davies Of Pershere With Rampant Lion And Motto "Lucem Spero", No Other Names Or Marks. Enclosed In A New Quarter Morocco Clamshell Box With Marbled Paper Covers And Interior.
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£1,606.00
£7.50 shipping to USA
T. Livii Patavini historici clarissimi, quae manifesto extant, librorum decades, cum nuper in...
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[ Paris ]: Vaenundantur ipsi Ascensio, 1530. Hardcover. See Description. Folio. 35 cm. ff. [22], 16, 323. Lacking final blank leaf. This copy does not contain the additional section printed a year later in 1531 (listed separately in Adams as L-1327), which included both the 5 missing books from the tenth decade, recently discovered by Simon Grynaus, and a chronology by Glareanus. Text is in Roman type with decorative woodcut initials. The title page contains a woodcut architectural border which surrounds Ascensius’s printer’s device depicting workers at a printing press. Some scholarly Latin marginalia is present, written in a careful early hand; signatures a-c, and signature p hold the heaviest annotations – including side glosses, micro notations between lines of text, and careful underlining of words and passages. Most pages throughout the book are free of notations. Tiny spots of worming are located on the first few leaves. Signatures a-f show a small area of worming - mostly… Read More
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£1,686.30
£5.00 shipping to USA
Stephanou Byzantiou Ethnika kat epitomēn = Stephani Byzantini Gentilia per epitomen, antehac...

Stephanou Byzantiou Ethnika kat epitomēn = Stephani Byzantini Gentilia per epitomen, antehac Peri poleōu De urbibus

by Stephanos, ho Byzantios, 6th cent

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  • very good
  • Hardcover
Condition
Used - Very Good
Binding
Hardcover
Seller
Cranston, Rhode Island
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£2,007.50
£4.95 shipping to USA

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Lugduni Batovorum: Apud Danielem à Graesbeeck, M DC LXXXVIII. [1688]. Hard Cover. [18], 786, [18]; [8], 27, [1], 9, [1] p.; 31.5 cm. folio. Greek text with parallel Latin translation. "Variæ lectiones ex codice ms. perusino, & admixtœ ejusdem notœ. variæ lectiones ex codice ms. perusino, & admixtœ ejusdem notœ¦..." has special t.-p. printed in red & black and separate pagination. "It seems probable that Stephanus flourished in Byzantium in the earlier part of the sixth century AD, under Justinian I. Even as an epitome, the Ethnica is of enormous value for geographical, mythological, and religious information about ancient Greece. Nearly every article in the epitome contains a reference to some ancient writer, as an authority for the name of the place." This is the fourth edition with extensive contemporary ms. annotations. The book is found in European libraries, but is very rare in North America. Stock#OB1043. Vg, bound in early marbled boards with elaborately gold tooled leather spine.
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£2,007.50
£4.95 shipping to USA
[Tetrabiblos]. Hoc in libro nunquam ante typis aeneis in lucem edita haec insunt. [Greek:]...
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[Tetrabiblos]. Hoc in libro nunquam ante typis aeneis in lucem edita haec insunt. [Greek:] KLAUDIOU ptolemaiou plousieos tetrabiblos sotaxis, pros Syron adelfos. TOU AUTOU karpos, pros ton auton Syros. [Latin:] Claudii Ptolemaei Pelusiensis libri quat... - [EDITIO PRINCEPS OF "THE BIBLE OF ASTROLOGY"]

by PTOLEMAEUS, CLAUDIUS - PTOLEMY.

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  • Hardcover
  • first
Condition
Used
Binding
Hardcover
Seller
Copenhagen, Denmark
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£17,250.00
£200.00 shipping to USA

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1535. Norimbergae [Nürnberg], (Apud Ioannem Petreium), 1535. 4to. Bound in a beautiful contemporary full blindstamped vellum binding over wooden boards. Boards with blindstamped borders with portraits of Marcus, Johannes, Mattheus, Lucas, inside which large square blindstamped centre-piece with floriated decorations and small portriats. Three raised bands to back. Brass clasps to boards partially preserved. A bit of overall wear and general use. Overall a very nice and tight copy. Internally very nice and clean with only a bit of occasional minor brownspotting and soiling. Two leaves with a spot to outer margin (looks like remain of wax or lacquer), far from affecting text. Last four leaves of Greek text with dampstaining. First leaf of Latin text with coloured initial and a couple of red and green underlinings. Woodcut initials. First ab. 10 leaves of text with neat contemporary annotations in Latin and Greek. (6),59, (4) ff. + 84, (24) ff. (The four leaves in between the Greek and the Latin text… Read More
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£17,250.00
£200.00 shipping to USA
Evclide Megarense Philosopho: solo introdvtttore delle Scientie Mathematice; diligentemente...
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1543. (Colophon: Venice, Venturino Rossenelli, 1543). Folio. (30,5x22 cm.). Contemporary full Italian limp vellum. Remains of ties. Old handwritten title on spine. Upper part of frontcover slightly creased. A few small nicks to hinges at cords. Vellum with brownspots. 242 leaves (2-241 numb. II-CCXXXIX). Misnumbering of leaves in sign. A (10 lvs.), due to the insertion of corrections on f A5. (Collation corresponds to that given by Thomas-Stanford No. 34). Large margins profusely illustrated with diagrams. Upper right corner of title gone with loss of of 3 letters "NSE" in MEGARENSE, f A2-A6 with upper right corners and a wormtract-hole in lower margin repaired. A wormtract in lower margin on the next 11 lvs. A1-A6 mounted skillfully on thin opaque parchment-paper. A rather faint dampstain in upper right corner throughout. Last 5 leaves with a small nick in right margin, no loss. Otherwise remarkable clean and printed on good strong paper. On the title a large woodcut device with arms with G.T.… Read More
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£5,750.00
£200.00 shipping to USA
Pappi Alexandrini Mathematicae Collectione. A Federico Commandino Urbinatae In Latinum Conversae,...
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Pappi Alexandrini Mathematicae Collectione. A Federico Commandino Urbinatae In Latinum Conversae, & Commentarijs Illustratae. - [THE CULMINATION OF GREEK MATHEMATICS]

by PAPPUS (PAPPOS) of ALEXANDRIA.

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  • Hardcover
  • first
Condition
Used
Binding
Hardcover
Seller
Copenhagen, Denmark
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£14,375.00
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1588. Colophon: Pisauri (Pesaro), Hieronymum Concordiam, 1588. (Having the reprinted title-page: Venetiis, Franciscum de Franciscis Senemsem, 1589). Folio. Cont. limp vellum. Repairs to upper part of back and small nicks to back repaired. Edges of covers with tiny loss of vellum. Covers slightly soiled. Calligraphed title on back. Title-page with and old, partly erased stamp. Woodcut printer's device on title. Ff (3), 334 (332) (= 664 pp). Numerous woodcut diagrams and illustrations in the text. Printed on good paper, Ff 2-3 with an old repair to inner margin (no loss). F 2 browned, but otherwise remarkably clean with only a few brownspots. A few small worm-tracts to some margins. First edition of a work which constitutes the culmination of Greek Mathematics. This copy has the fresh title, but is the 1588-printing. - "Pappos was the greatest mathematician of the final period of ancient science, and no one emulated him in Byzantine times. He was the last mathematical giant of antiquity." (George… Read More
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£14,375.00
£200.00 shipping to USA
De Amatoriis Affectionibus Liber. Iano Cornario Zuiccauiensi interprete. [Peri Erotikon...
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De Amatoriis Affectionibus Liber. Iano Cornario Zuiccauiensi interprete. [Peri Erotikon Pathematon]. - [EDITIO PRINCEPS OF PARTHENIUS' ONLY SURVIVING WORK]

by PARTHENIUS NICAENSIS.

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  • Hardcover
  • first
Condition
Used
Binding
Hardcover
Seller
Copenhagen, Denmark
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£6,670.00
£200.00 shipping to USA

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1531. Basel, in Officina Frobeniana (Per Hieronymum Frobenium, & Nicolaum Episcopium), 1531. Small 8vo. Bound in a lovely, charming early 19th century red half calf with gilt title and lines to spine and lovely gold and red ornamented "romantic" paper over boards. A bit of wear to spine. Internally a very fine and clean copy. Title-page slightly soiled, and a vague marginal dampstain throughout, on most leaves barely visible. Froben printer's device to title-page, and in a larger version to verso of last leaf. Four large woodcut initials. 76, (44) pp. The extremely scarce first printing, of both the original Greek text and the translation into Latin, of Parthenius's only surviving work, the historiographically, mythographically, and literarily hugely important "Erotica Pathemeta" (or "Sorrows of Love"), which constitutes the only prose work by a Hellenistic poet to survive in its entirety and one of the few extant works of its genre, i.e the mythological or paradoxographical handbook, preserved… Read More
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£6,670.00
£200.00 shipping to USA
Syphilis, sive morbus gallicus. - [THE RAREST AND MOST IMPORTANT EDITION OF THE SYPHILIS-POEM]
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Syphilis, sive morbus gallicus. - [THE RAREST AND MOST IMPORTANT EDITION OF THE SYPHILIS-POEM]

by FRACASTORIUS, HIERONYMUS [GIROLAMO FRACASTORO OF VERONA].

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  • Hardcover
  • first
Condition
Used
Binding
Hardcover
Seller
Copenhagen, Denmark
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£7,475.00
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1531. Roma, Apud Antonium Bladum Asulanum (on colophon), 1531, mense Septembri. 4to. Sown, uncut and unbound. Title-page and a few other leaves with a bit of minor brownspotting; overall a very nice and well-preserved copy of this beautifully printed, extremely scarce work. Two quires with loose leaves. Floriated large initial at beginning. [32] ff. (being title-page, 29 ff. text, 1 f. errata, 1 f. blank). The exceedingly scarce second edition (the "Rome text") of "[t]he most famous of all medical poems" (Garrison & Morton), the poem which gave to the disease syphilis its name, being the most important edition of the work, the first complete edition (with the two lines of the first book printed for the first time - not found in any other contemporary editions of the work), the only authoritative version of the text to appear contemporarily, and by far the rarest edition - with only four known copies at the time of the official bibliography (Baumgartner and Fulton, 1935) (whereas the first edition… Read More
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£7,475.00
£200.00 shipping to USA
Vitae Excellentium Imperatorum Cum Integris Notis Jani Gebhardi, Henr. Ernstii, & Jo. Andreae...
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Vitae Excellentium Imperatorum Cum Integris Notis Jani Gebhardi, Henr. Ernstii, & Jo. Andreae Bosii...Curante Augustino Van Staveren

by Nepos, Cornelius

  • Used
  • very good
  • Hardcover
Condition
Used - Very Good
Binding
Hardcover
Seller
Whitby, Ontario
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£1,476.00
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Lugduni Batavorum: Samuelem Luchtmans, 1734. Hardcover. Very Good. 5.5 x 8.1 Inches. Full vellum binding. Gilt stamp of University of Groningen, Netherlands on front and rear board, with gilt border and acorn motifs. Title in gilt on red spine label. [28], 765 p.p., plus [195] chronology and index. 13 miniature engravings [10 heads of famous Roman and Greek generals, statesmen and politicians: Miltiades, Themistocles, Cimon, Lysander, Alcibiades, Epaminondas, Timoleon, Hamilcar, Hannibal, and Roman Historian Marcus Porcius Cato], [2 torsos of Cimon and Phocian], and [1 shield], plus frontispiece. This is copy was awarded and inscribed in colourful ink and calligraphy on blank leaf facing frontis, to Nicol Veldtman, a student in Groningen, Netherlands, the fifth winner of this book, publicly awarded and dated January, 1752. Second previous ownership inscription of S.W. Schippers on title page and frontis. Soiling to vellum boards and spine. Corners bumped. Sporadic stains and foxing to pages, some… Read More
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£1,476.00
£20.00 shipping to USA
A Voyage of Discovery Made Under the Orders of the Admiralty, in His Majesty's Ships Isabella and...
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A Voyage of Discovery Made Under the Orders of the Admiralty, in His Majesty's Ships Isabella and Alexander, for the Purpose of Exploring Baffin's Bay and Inquiring Into the Plausibility of a North-West Passage

by Ross, John

  • Used
  • Fine
  • first
Condition
Used - Fine
Edition
First Edition
Seller
Whitby, Ontario
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£4,398.48
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London: John Murray, 1819. First Edition. Full-Leather. Fine. 4to. 4to. Contemporary calf binding with rebacked spine and raised bands. xxxix [1] tipped in errata slip, 252 p.p., cxliv. 15 colour plates [4 folding], 9 engravings [2 folding], 4 tables [2 folding] and 3 folding charts including frontispiece. Light scratches to front and rear board with rubbing to extremities, but otherwise in fine condition. Sir John Ross (1777-1856) was a member of the Royal Navy, British naval officer and explorer who was selected to lead an arctic expedition through David Strait and Baffin Bay in search of a Northwest passage. He commanded the ship Isabella, while William Edward Parry was in command of their second ship, Alexander. Captain Edward Sabine was chosen by the Royal Society to make scientific observations. Also onboard was Ross' nephew, James Clark Ross. During the expedition he met with several Inuit tribes which he records. Unfortunately, Ross made several critical errors, among them his false claim of… Read More
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£4,398.48
£20.00 shipping to USA
Two Early Sixteenth Century Editions of Classical Histories, One Edited by Erasmus
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Two Early Sixteenth Century Editions of Classical Histories, One Edited by Erasmus

by Attractive Editions of Quintus Curtius and Orosius

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  • very good
  • Hardcover
  • first
Condition
Used - Very Good
Binding
Hardcover
Seller
Dover, New Hampshire
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£1,606.00
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Quintus Curtius Rufus, De rebus gestis Alexandri Magni. Cum annotationibus D. ErasmiFolio. [4], LXXXIX leaves; [10], 124 pages. Late sixteenth (?) century leather; light scuffing, hinges cracked but cords holding tightly; insect damage to text block with loss of text throughout; margins in Orosius trimmed close, affecting title image. First printing of Erasmus' critical edition of Quintus Curtius. This first century Roman biography of Alexander the Great was an early Renaissance bestseller, with editions from at least a dozen printers throughout Europe by 1517. Erasmus brought it as reading material on a voyage to England in 1517, and finding the text incomplete and corrupt, he prepared his own critical edition. This was first published by his friend Strasbourg printer Matthias Schürer in 1518. Erasmus' version proved so popular that five more printers had issued their own editions of his text by 1541; these in turn were reprinted a total of five more times by 1575. This first edition is… Read More
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£1,606.00
FREE shipping to USA
The Works of Cornelius Tacitus. a New Edition, with the Author's Last Corrections. In Eight...
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The Works of Cornelius Tacitus. a New Edition, with the Author's Last Corrections. In Eight Volumes

by Cornelius Tacitus; with an Essay on His Life and Genius, Notes, Supplements, &c. by Arthur Murphy , Esq.

  • Used
  • Hardcover
Condition
Used - Very Good Plus
Edition
New Edition
Binding
Hardcover
Seller
Bloomington, Indiana
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£1,606.00
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London: Printed for John Stockdale; F.C. & J. Rivington; J. Walker; et al., 1811. SCARCE, this 8 volume edition with maps, and especially so in such lovely condition. Eight volumes in contemporary full polished calf, gilt backs with calf labels, the covers with double gilt rules bordering blind tooled arabesque decorations, marbled end papers and edges. Complete with four fold-out maps and Plan of Jerusalem, all Fine- Italy. Vol. 1; Asia, Vol. 2; Ancient World, Vol. 5; Plan of Jerusalem, Vol. 6; Germany, Vol. 7. Very Good Plus, light soiling and rubbing to covers, gilt at spines dulled, end pages uniformly toned but interiors quite clean and bright. Additional shipping charges will be requested for international and priority mail due to weight and volume of this set. Please inquire. . New Edition. Polished Calf. Very Good Plus/No Jacket, As Issued. Tall 8vo.
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£1,606.00
FREE shipping to USA
Poetarum Omnium. Ilias & Odyssea. 2 vols.   I. Ilias, Andrea Divo justinopolitano interprete, ad...
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Poetarum Omnium. Ilias & Odyssea. 2 vols. I. Ilias, Andrea Divo justinopolitano interprete, ad verbum translata. Herodoti Halicarnassei libellus, Homeri vitam fidelissime continens, Conrado Heresbachio interprete. cum Indice copiosissimo. Cum Gratia... - [THE EXTREMELY INFLUENTIAL "VERSIO LATINA"]

by HOMER. - DIVUS transl. & ALDUS MANUTIUS & GEORGIUS DARTONA.

  • Used
  • Hardcover
  • first
Condition
Used
Binding
Hardcover
Seller
Copenhagen, Denmark
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£9,200.00
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1537. Venice, Jacobus à Burgifrancho, 1537. 8vo. Bound in two nice later (18th century) half vellum bindings with gilt leather title-labels to spine. Lovely 18th century patterned paper over boards. a bit of overall wear, but generally very nice. Internally very nice and clean, with only very light occasional dampstaining. Small wormholes to blank margins, some neatly restored. Overall a very nice, clean, and fresh set indeed. Fully complete (possibly with the exception of blanks in the Odyssey). Iliad: (22), 277, (1, colophon) ff. + two blank leaves. Title within woodcut ornamental border, woodcut initials, large woodcut printer's device to verso of colophon-leaf. Odyssey: 251, (8, -index), (1, -colophon) ff. Title within woodcut ornamental border, woodcut initials, large woodcut printer's device to verso of colophon-leaf. The 8-leaf index has been misbound and is placed between ff. 184 and 185. Scarce first printing of the first Divo-editions of The Iliad and The Odyssey, the first printed… Read More
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£9,200.00
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Opera omnia nunc primum cum codd. Vaticanis collata praefatione, variantibus lectionibus, notis...

Opera omnia nunc primum cum codd. Vaticanis collata praefatione, variantibus lectionibus, notis rerum verborumque indice locupletissimo aucta et illustrata.: 2 parts bound in two volumes

by Prudentius, Aurelius

  • Used
Condition
Used
Edition
First edition.
Seller
Tuebingen, Germany
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£1,954.12
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Engraved title-vignette, 5 unnumb. leaves, 71, (3), 361, (3) pages ; engraved title vignette, 2 unnumb. leaves, 284 (2) pages. Cont. green half morocco, flat spine richly gilt with gilt stamped title. Covers lined with shell marbled paper, endpapers lined with an unusual pattern of multiple coloured shell marbled paper. All edges yellow. 4to (290 x 210 mm). Extremeties rubbed. Brooks, 361 ; Weiss 101. "Edizione sorvegliata da Bodoni e ben lo scorge chi ne esamina i pregi tipografici" (De Lama II, p. 53). A fine copy broadmargined and fresh inside.
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£1,954.12
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