Classical History

Francofurti [Frankfurt am Main]: Apud Claudium Marnium, & Haeredes Iohannis Aubrii, 1604. Second edition. Quarterbound later morocco over marbled paper-covered boards. A 17x11 cm. section of the title page, which includes the printer's device, has been excised, the leaf neatly repaired; top edge lightly trimmed, boards and spine rubbed with scuffing to the top edges, otherwise very clean with occasional cross-references penciled in the margins, binding tight; a very nice copy.. [68], lxxiiii, [6], 1464, [42] pp. Illus. with 3 engravings, head and tail pieces, and initials. Folio (38 cm). Greek and Latin in parallel columns. Numerous typographical errors in pagination: nos. 1177-1178 omitted, nos. 1453-1454 duplicated. Publisher's device has been excised from the title page but is present on last page. Engraving of Hieronymus Wolf on 8th leaf. Hieronymus Wolf (1516 - 1580) was the sixteenth century German historian and humanist who coined the term Byzantium. The first printing of this edition with… Read More

Salamanca: Antonia Ramirez, 1620. First Edition . Hardcover. Good. Rare 1st edition, in vellum binding which is not original but very old; the binder used a leaf which has a portion of a royal seal on the rear free endpaper with the date 1726; also on the obverse of that leaf is written, "Huno emi libry pothuidie Kalendar gbxu 1728 - JR Vn." which I believe is the binder's signature; I may very well not have all the letters right. The spine is inscribed "Teatro de Los Dioses". Vellum is in good condition; an old rip in the rear cover has been sewn shut. Otherwise it is rippled, a little soiled, and darkened on the spine. The endpapers likewise are rippled and creased, and written on by several different people. The text is likewise good; begins with the engraved title page, which has been reinforced on the foreedge and has an old owner's name at the bottom. The first introductory page also has owner's writing. There is no loss of text anywhere, but there are water… Read More

Paris: Mathurini Du Puis, 1634. First Edition. . Hardcover. See Description. 4to. pp. [14], 853, [19], 126. Title in red and black with small crown vignette. Text is in Greek with Latin translation on opposite page. Bound in full red morocco (perhaps later 17th century) with spine gilt in 6 compartments - rubbed, chipped. Hinges and spine caps restored; careful repair to corner tips of front cover. All edges gilt. Pages contain minor scattered foxing and age toning. Inscription written in an old hand on verso of front blank. First printed edition of the "Excerpta Peiresciana" manuscript or "De Virtutuibus et Vitiis," part of a large Byzantine anthology of excerpts which were gathered from earlier Greek historical works and compiled under the direction of the emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus (905-959 c.e.). The collection was arranged in 53 sections, 4 of which are extant - 1.) "De Legationibus" 2.) "De Virtutibus et Vitiis" 3.) "De Sententiis" 4.)… Read More

Paris: Rob. Stephani, 1544. Hardcover. See Description. First and only Estienne edition. 8vo. pp. 208, [32]. Title page with Estienne device [Renouard Typographiques #294]. Latin text printed in italic. The title page shows some mild spotting; a faint monogram is also written in an old hand on either side of the printer’s device. Interior pages are clean and crisp. Bound in early 19th century straight grained red morocco with spots of rubbing to the extremities. The outer joints are professionally strengthened. The upper corner tip to the front cover is neatly patched. All edges are gilt. The inside front cover contains the heraldic book plate and the monogrammed ticket of English book collector Sir John Hayford Thorold (1773-1831) [See De Ricci, "English Collectors…" plate VIII, also pp. 159-160]. An additional heraldic plate from another owner is located on the marbled fly-leaf. Contents include the extant historical works of the Roman statesman and author Caius Crispus… Read More

Oxford: E Theatro Sheldoniano. Impensis Jacobi Fletcher, Bibliopol. Oxon. Et J. Rivington & J. Fletcher, London, 1759. Hardcover. See Description. Third Oxford Edition. 8vo. pp. [16], 401, [31]. With frontispiece of Socrates. Title page is printed in red and black. Greek text with the Latin version of J. Leunclavis. Pages are clean and crisp with occasional faint spots of marginal foxing. Inscription written in a miniscule old hand on verso of front free end paper. Period fine binding in full deep red morocco - smooth spine gilt in five compartments with a fer à l' oiseau center stamp and arabesque corner pieces. Front and rear covers framed with a simple triple line gilt fillet border. The interior contains inner dentelles and blue paste-paper end sheets. Tiffany bookplate of Michigan business man and avid book collector Albert May Todd (known as "the Peppermint King") on the inside front cover. The binding is in an excellent state of preservation with some rubbing on the… Read More

Cologne: De L'imprimerie Jacob Stoer, 1625. Hardcover. Very Good/No Jacket. 8vo (super). Two volumes in one. Place of publication stamped out, with "Geneue" stamped below printer. On second title page, no placeof publication, but "Geneue" stamped in place. Bound in full vellum with red leather spine label, slightly raised bands. Text in French. Vol. I: [56] 533 p.p., plus table [219 p.p., unpaginated]; Vol. II: [22] 624 p.p. plus table [142 p.p. unpaginated]. Early doodles to front and rear boards. Vellum chipped to bottom corners with bruising to corners and spine ends. Doodles also to f.f.e. and fly leaves, with early ownership signature on title page of Vol. I. Light sporadic stains and smudges to pages. Some pages trimmed, with sporadic tears to edges and margins throughout. Noticeably on p. 103 (partially affecting text), and bottom corner of p. 441 in Vol. I, and in Vol. II small tear to p. 83 (partially affecting text), head of 167 and p. 361. Otherwise in very good condition. These two books… Read More

Halae Salicae [Halle, Germany]: Impensis Orphanotrophei, 1731. Hardcover. Very Good. 8vo (square). Half bound vellum over brown speckled boards. All edges red. Spine lettered. xii, 752 p.p., plus [36] p.p. index. [11] engravings [9 folding] incl. frontispiece. The life of Emperor Justinian I and Theodora and the history of Justinian Law. empress of the Eastern Roman Empire. Johann Peter Von Ludewig [1668-1743] was a German lawyer, historian and scholar. He Chip on top right corner of front board [approx 1 inch width] with smaller chips and wear to edges. Small tear to edge of p. 43, text unaffected and small hole to bottom of p. 353. Light foxing. Pages browned. Otherwise a very good copy.

London, New York, Bombay and Calcutta: Longman's Green and Col., 1907 ---------- Orders of $100.00 or more are shipped using tracked courier delivery services. Size: About 5½ " Wide - 7½ " Tall

Complete set of 110 engraved plates (of 108) with ink library stamps in the plate.Victorian re-issue of the Duke of Marlborough's Gemmarum antiquarum delectus, first published in 1783. The plates were drawn by Giovanni Battista Cipriani and stipple engraved by Francesco Bartolozzi.The images record a selection of the carved gemstones in the collection of George Spencer, 4th Duke of Marlborough. The cameos and intaglios show portraits of Roman emperors, Greek philosophers, gods and goddesses from Greek and Roman mythology. This volume corresponds exactly to the copy scanned at the Internet Archive.Francesco Bartolozzi (1727-1815), was an Italian engraver who specialized in the delicate toning effects of stipple engraving. After moving to London in 1784, he became Engraver to the King (George III).Ex-Denver Library with ink stamps on all plates inside the plate marks, a few in the image, and catalog numbers on rear. The blue cloth portfolio is in three pieces and in need of repair. Heavy book will… Read More

London: William Heinemann, 1912. 1st thus. hardback. Very good, 1st thus edition, original white cloth, spine and front board lettered and decorated in gilt, top edge gilt, others untrimmed, 13 tipped-in colour plates with tissue-guards, spine darkened, finger-soiling to covers, endpapers spotted, mounts offset onto adjacent text-leaves as often (qty: 1) First edition thus, number 743 of 1450 copies signed by the illustrator.. 4to (300 x 240 / 12"" x 9_). "The peculiar secret of Rackham's success in seizing upon the essence of the human and portraying it in animal form, which is after all the basic device of the morality, is unwittingly touched upon in Chesterton's delightful introduction to the 1912 edition of Aesop's Fables: 'There can be no good fable with human beings in it. There can be no good fairy tale without them.' Rackham's genius is such that it bridges the two, and carries the didactic fable into the realm of fairy story, and lends to the imaginative world of fairies a tangible and… Read More

Lugduni (Lyon): Jacobus de Strada & Thomas Guerinus 1st edition, 1553. Hardcover. Very Good. Title vignette + woodcuts (over 480) of coins with portraits of Roman emperors on black ground). . Quarto modern half vellum, spine gilt ruled with red gilt leather title (a few marks), armorial bookplate of Dr. Farag� P�l on pastedown. Titlepage with woodcut vignette printer's mark, on verso elaborate coat of arms of Fugger banking family +[87]pp +339pp +[3]pp (privilege & colophon of Ioannes Tornaesius). Neat early MS name at head of TP (repeated on last page), a few small waterstains, wormhole at top of pages in 1st third of book, else a neat tight copy. Referenced by Adams S1916. *First Latin edition, same year as 1st French edition from same publisher. Arms of Fugger family on back of titlepage suggests they may have financed Strada's publication of this fine book. It contains short biographies of significant figures in Roman History, charting the lives of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty, through the crisis… Read More

1570 Valerius Maximus Dictorum Factorum ROME Tiberius Scipio Latin Vellum
A rare printing of Valerius's "Dictorum et Factorum" or Historical Anecdotes. This work is a collection of short stories, sayings, and phrases, memorial to Tiberius Caesar, who was reigning during Valerius' lifetime. These anecdotes depict ancient Greek life and philosophy as well as famous kings and Caesars. Many modern historians claim that Valerius's work was taken from Cicero, Livy, and Sallust, as well as other ancient historians and philosophers, rather than creating original works.
However, many of the topics he writes about were controversial and unusual for the time – he wrote on homosexuality within the Roman army and the aristocracy of ancient Greece. While homosexually itself was written on, it was only considered tolerable in a 'master-slave' relationship; not within a public and high status sense. Other topics include omens, revenge, superstitious cults, women lawyers, modesty, crimes, and conflicting political… Read More

1590 Juvenal & Persius Satires Stoic Philosophy Latin Pithou Geneva Sulpicia

"Many commit the same crime with a very different result. One bears a cross for his crime; another a crown."
― Juvenal, The Satires
A rare 1590 Latin printing of 'The Satires' of Juvenal and Persius. This collection of satirical poetry was written in the late 1st and 2nd centuries and discuss society, social norms, irony, each of these providing insight to the morals and values of Roman life at the time. Juvenal outlines many of the concerns he has with Roman citizens including unfaithfulness and greed; issues he recognized as downfalls to society. Many of the satires include references to Greek and Roman mythology.
This exceedingly rare 1590 edition was printed in Geneva and edited by Pierre Pithou. In addition to the expected satires of Juvenal and Persius, this edition features the works of the lesser-known Sulpicia. According to the USTC, no examples of this edition are found in any North American institution! Very… Read More

London: Printed for J. and F. Rivington, et al., 1774. Sixth edition. Eight volumes. 12mo. Handsomely bound in contemporary full brown calf; the boards ruled in gilt; the spines with five raised bands, compartments with gilt foliate decoration, contrasting red and blue gilt morocco title and volume labels and additional green gilt morocco ownership label for Louisa Pereira to each volume. Marbled endpapers. Illustrated with a copper-engraved frontispiece to each volume and 14 engraved plates, plans and maps (some folding, 22 illustrations in total). Further subsequent ownership inscription in ink manuscript to the front free endpaper of the first volume ("Henrietta Skene / given to her by her Father / 8 Volumes Complete / November 16 1825"), and with her name in ink to the front endpaper of each volume. A very good set, the bindings square and firm with a touch of minor cracking to volumes one and eight, a little occasional chipping to the spine ends, light rubbing to the spines and joints, some… Read More

8° (mm 174x118), pp. IV, 44. Frontespizio entro bordura silografica. Legatura coeva in cartoncino ricoperto da carta decorata del '700. Ottimo esemplare.
First Italian translation of Lucianus' Perì Orchéseos, a text whose Latin version had so much success during the Renaissance theoretical debate about literary genres.
Prima edizione in italiano, molto rara, del Perì Orchéseos del filosofo di Samosata, che tanta fortuna ebbe nel corso del Rinascimento (cfr. A.M. Andrisano, La fortuna del De saltatione di Luciano nel Rinascimento: il caso di Rinaldo Corso, "Italianistica: rivista di letteratura italiana", XLVII, 3, 2018, pp. 45-58). Strutturato come dialogo fra Licino (alter ego dell'autore) e il suo contraddittore Cratone, il testo rappresenta un vero e proprio manifesto in difesa dell'arte della danza e della sua figlia legittima, la pantomima. La traduzione commentata è dedicata - da uno pseudonimo, "Crittodunamio", non identificato - al celebre ballerino e coreografo Antonio Muzzarelli… Read More