Beschreibung
305 x 205 mm. (12 x 8 1/8"). 106 leaves. Complete. Single column, 54 lines in roman typeface. Attractive 19th or early 20th century brown levant morocco by David (stamp-signed in gilt on front turn-in), raised bands ruled in blind, gilt lettering, gilt dentelles, all edges gilt, fore edge with old ink titling visible under gilt. Front pastedown with morocco ex-libris of W. A. Foyle; front free endpaper with old catalogue description tipped on; several pages with contemporary notations in ink. BMC V, 417; Goff S-342; ISTC is00342000. â A couple faint stains and scratches to upper board, upper left corner of first leaf expertly re-margined (with loss to a couple of letters on both sides), persistent small round wormhole of no consequence in text (neatly filled in in first quire without causing any legibility issues), occasional light foxing, a few other minor imperfections, but still an excellent copy with good margins, the leaves clean and bright, and the appealing binding virtually unworn. Offered in a plain but finely made binding and with distinguished provenance, this is a fourth century compilation, originally printed in Milan in 1475, of a collection of lives of Roman emperors, taken from accounts by Aelius Spartianus, Julius Capitolinus, Flavius Vopiscus, Paulus Diaconus and others. Suetonius' "Lives of the XII Caesars," which forms the first part of the work, is not present here, but ISTC notes that as a result of the division of the printing between two Venetian workshops (the other being that of Bernardinus Rizus), "the parts are often found separately." Part II was modeled on Suetonius, and covers the emperors, heirs, and usurpers from Hadrian to Carus and from Carinus to Numerianus, with a gap of about a decade in the third century A.D. Authorship attribution has been apportioned to Aelius Spartianus, Flavius Vopiscus, Eutropius, Paulus Diaconus, Julius Capitolinus, Vulcatius Gallicanus, Aelius Lampridius, and Trabellius Pollio. However, scholars have long debated who wrote what, as well as the authenticity of some documents cited. In whatever ways it is historically accurate, the compilation is still useful for its insights into Roman politics and society for a period little documented by historians. Johannes Rubeus Vercellensis (Giovanni Rosso of Vercelli) printed some eight or nine works at Treviso between 1480 through 1485, before moving his business to Venice. There, he is thought to have issued as many as 50 incunabula, and he continued printing in Venice, partly in collaboration with other family members, until 1519. His handsome roman type is well suited to the classical authors in which he specialized, as seen here. Our copy was in the renowned collection of W. A. Foyle (1885-1963), co-founder with his brother of the famous Foyle's Bookshop in Charing Cross Road. The three large Foyle sales at Christie's held in 2000 were a bibliophilic highlight of the new century, with the sum of $19 million for which William Foyle's personal library sold in July setting a record for private European collections.
Bestandsnummer des Verkäufers ST19494
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