First Complete Edition in Greek of Appian's Roman History.

Appiani Alexandrini ΑΠΠΙΑΝΟΥ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΕΟΣ ΡΟΜΑΙΚΑ. Appiani Alexandrini Rom. Historiarum, Punica, sive Carthaginensis, Syriaca, Parthica, Mithridatica, Iberica, Annibalica, Celtica et Illyricae fragmenta quaedam. Item De bellis civilibus libri V. Henr. Steph. Annotationes Geneva. Exudebat Henricus Stephanus 1592
Folio. pp [12] x. 767.72. [34].. Title and text in Greek and Latin, woodcut device on title, with the final blank 17th-century Dutch vellum, red leather gilt label on spine, large blind-stamped arabesque on sides.
Second, but first complete, edition in Greek of Appian's history of Rome's wars, external and civil, from the first Punic War until the death of Pompey. The Editio princeps published in 1551 did not include Iberico and Aniibalica as they were unknown at the time. Important also for Stephanus' Annotationes Piece of vellum missing from head of spine, upper joint cracking.
Light toning and some scattered spotting; light damp stain to lower edges of pp1-428 far from text; lower corner lost p433; dampstain to lower corner of second part; Annotationesand index. otherwise generally crisp and clean.
Adams A1340; Hoffmann I, 214; Mortimer French 29; Schreiber 126. 360 by 240mm (14¼ by 9½ inches).    €1850

"Édition Très Estimée " of Aristophanes' Comedies.

Aristophanes ΑΡΙΣΤΟΦΑΝΟΥΣ ΚΟΜΟΔΙΑΙ ΕΝΔΕ Aristophanis Comoediae vndecim cvm scholiis antiqvis quæ studio & opera nobilis viri Odoardi Biseti Carlæi sunt quamplurimis locis accuratè emendata, & perpetuis nouis scholiis illustrata. Ad quæ etiam accesserunt eiusdem in duas posteriores noui commentarij: operâ tamen & studio doctissimi viri d. Æylij Francisci Porti Cretensis filij ex Biseti autographo exscripti & in ordinem digesti Aureliae Allobrogum- Geneva Sumptibus Caldorianae Societatis. 1607
Folio; pp [36], 916, [28] Full contemporary vellum, title in ink to spine. Parallel Greek and Latin text in two columns, .with scholia of Biseti, Gerardus &c
"Très estimée" edition of Aristophanes' Eleven Comedies. Brunet and Graesse consider this the most correct text. The Latin translation is made form the versions of Frischlin, Flor. Chrestien and Andr. Divus.
Greek scholia beneath text, with the exception of Σφηκεσ(The Wasps) Πλουτοσ(Wealth) & Ειρηνη(Peace) where there is also Latin scholia. Spotting and toning throughout due to quality of paper. Worm track to last page of index and rear endpapers.
Under linings and annotations to margins in red crayon mainly to the Latin scholia of Σφηκεσ,(The Wasps)Πλουτοσ(Wealth) & Ειρηνη (Peace).
Brunet:1,452-3; Graesse:1, 206-7. 355 by 230mm (14 by 9 inches).    €1500

Tyrwhitt's Rrecension of Aristotle's Poetics.

Aristotle. Tyrwhitt, Thomas editor ΑΡΙΣΤΟΤΕΛΟΥΣ ΠΕΡΙ ΠΙΗΤΙΚΗΣ. Aristotelis De poetica liber : Græce et Latine. / Lectionem constituit, versionem refinxit, animadversionibus illustravit Thomas Tyrwhitt. Oxonii/Oxford E Typographeo Clarendoniano. 1794
Large paper Octavo; xvi, 257, [3] p. engraved tail pieces.
The beautiful clear Greek text printed with the Latin translation below followed by the commentary by Tyrwhitt.
First edition of the outstanding recension by Thomas Tyrwhitt (1730-1786). "His Poetics was the first modern edition of the text." (Barker)
Graesse: "édition estimée".Brunet " Belle édition.."
"This is a very elegant and accurate edition, containing the commentaries of Tyrwhitt, as well as his version ... The Greek text is formed on that of Winstanley, but so carefully corrected, as to leave not a single error unnoticed ... The large paper copies of this volume form one of the most attractive ornaments of a classical collection. They are few in number, and costly in price; being reserved by the Delegates of the University Press as presents for eminent characters. I understand that 34 copies have been already distributed ... This edition has been several times reprinted at Oxford, with only three alterations, and those not important ones." Dibdin I, 323 Rebacked, original boards diced calf with Greek key in gilt; marbled endpapers. Old ink annotation to front free end paper quoting Dibden; owners name clipped.
Large paper copy clean and bright.
Brunet 1:478; Graesse I,214 ;Barker, Oxford Univ. Press 167. - Dibdin I, 323. 300 by 240mm (11¾ by 9½ inches).    €900

Arrian's Description of the Circumnavigation of the Black Sea.

Arrian of Nicomedia; Io Guilielmo Stuckio. Peripilus Ponti Euxini & Maris Erthræi. Historici et Philosophi Ponti Euxini & Maris Erythræi Periplus, ad Adrianum Caesarem.. Genevæ- Geneva/ Lugduni- Lyon Euststhium Vignon / Bartholemæum Vincentium. 1577
[4] map[8] pp109 [12.]Blank; &: [8][10] pp109 [2][6].

First separate edition of works attributed to Arrian of Nicodemia which appeared simultaneously at Geneva and Lyons in 1577 with the translation and commentary of Johann Wilhem Stucki.
This example has the Geneva imprint of the Ponti Euxiniand the Lyons imprint of the Maris Erythræi. The texts of both works were first published by Froben in 1533 in the anthology Arriani & Hannonis periplus. Plutarchus de fluminibus & montibus. Strabonis epitome.
The woodcut map of the Black Sea is the first printed map of the sea, it is decorated with ships, monsters and mermen.

The Peripilus Ponti Euxini takes the form of a letter, from Arrian to the Emperor Hadrian in Rome, who was particularly attached to geographical research and had visited in person a large portion of his extensive dominions. It contains an accurate topographical survey of the coasts of the Euxine (Black Sea), from Trapezus to Byzantium, and was written probably while Arrian held his office of legate of Cappadocia, a short time before war broke out against the Alani; and it was doubtless at the same time that he drew up his instructions for the march of the Roman army against the barbarians, which are found in a short but imperfect fragment annexed to the Techne Taktika, written, as he states himself, in the twentieth year of the reign of the emperor, and containing, after a brief account of former writers on the same subject, a description of the order and arrangement of an army in general.
Its purpose was to inform the emperor of the "lay of the land" and provide him with necessary information such as the distances between cities and the locations that would provide safe harbor for ships in a storm in the eventuality that Hadrian should mount a military expedition to the region.

According to Gibbon's epigrammatic expression in his 42nd chapter, the Peripluscontains "whatever the governor of Cappadocia had seen from Trebizond to Dioscurias; whatever he had heard, from Dioscurias to the Danube; and whatever he knew, from the Danube to Trebizond." Thus, while Arrian gives much information upon the south and east side of the Euxine, in going round the north shore his intervals become greater, and his measurements less precise.

The second work the Periplus Maris Erythræi though for many years attributed to Arrian is now believed to be by an unknown author. The text has been ascribed to different dates between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD, but a mid-1st century date is now the most commonly accepted. A Greco-Roman periplus, written in Greek, describing navigation and trading opportunities from Roman Egyptian ports like Berenice along the coast of the Red Sea, and others along Northeast Africa and the Sindh and South western India, it is clearly a firsthand description by someone familiar with the area and is nearly unique in providing accurate insights into what the ancient European world knew about the lands around the Indian Ocean.
One historical analysis, published by Schoff in 1912, narrowed the date of the text to 60 AD Though redating the document from 1912 to a single year roughly 2000 years earlier might be considered remarkable by modern standards, a date of 60 AD nevertheless remains in perfect agreement with present-day estimates of the middle of the 1st century AD .Schoff additionally provides an historical analysis as to the text's original authorship,and arrives at the conclusion that the author must have been a "Greek in Egypt, a Roman subject." By Schoff's calculations, this would have been during the time of Tiberius Claudius Balbilus (who coincidentally also was an Egyptian Greek).

John Hill maintains that the "Periplus can now be confidently dated to between 40 and 70 AD and, probably, between AD 40 and 50."

Schoff continues by noting that the author could not have been "a highly educated man" as "is evident from his frequent confusion of Greek and Latin words and his clumsy and sometimes ungrammatical constructions." Because of "the absence of any account of the journey up the Nile and across the desert from Coptos," Schoff prefers to pinpoint the author's residence to "Berenice rather than Alexandria." Though Schoff is unclear about which of several Berenices he is referring to, it is actually Berenice Troglodytica which is documented, discussed at length and vividly described within the periplus text itself.
One peculiarity noted by Schoff while translating from the original Greek version is that "the text is so vague and uncertain that [the author] seems rather to be quoting from someone else, unless indeed much of this part of the work has been lost in copying." First printed woodcut map of the Black sea; folded. Contemporary vellum; blindstamped gilt to spine; title in ink. Ex Libris of R.H. Robbins to pastedown.
Decorative printer's mark to titles. Folding double page woodcut map.
Light toning to Part 1; waterstain to lower gutter p187 to p47 of second work, lightening and reappearing p69 to end. Pages 25-41 of second work with spotting, index toned. rear internal hinge starting.
Graesse1 p228; Brunet 1 p497;Adams A 2016. 320 by 205mm (12½ by 8 inches).    €3500

Henri Estienne's Herodian with the Editio Princeps of Zosimus.

Herodian & Zosimus. Editor Henri Estienne. ΗΡΩΔΙΑΝΟΥ ΙΣΤΩΡΙΑΝΟΥ ΒΙΒΛΙΑ . Η. Herodiani Histor. Lib. VIII. Cum Angeli Politiani Interpretatione, & huius partim Suplemento, partim Examine Henrici Stephani: utroque Margini adscripto. Eiusdem Henrici Stephani Emendationes quorundam Græci contextus Locorum, & quorundam Expositiones. Historiarum Herodianicas subsequentium Libri duo, nunc primùm Græcè editi. [Geneva]. excudebat Henricus Stephanus. 1581
Small 4to. pp. [viii], 182, [ii], 79, [i]. (editio princeps of Zosimus.) With woodcut Estienne device to title page. Parallel text in Greek and Latin.
Calf re-backed; 6 raised bands; gilt tooling matched to that of original boards red title label. Exlibris "Charlton Byam Wollaston "to front paste down; marbled end papers.
Described by Dibdin as 'an elegant, rare and critical edition', with notes and textual revisions by Henri Estienne. The Latin translation is Politian's, and that accompanying Zosimus is by Leunclavius.
This is the first edition of any part of Zosimus, although Estienne only printed the first two books. The volume was dedicated to Sir Philip Sidney.

"For this edition of Herodian … Estienne has thoroughly revised, and made additions to, the popular Latin translation of Angelo Poliziano; he prints his corrections, additions, and textual comments in the margins.
The second part consists of the editio princeps of the Roman history, written in Greek, by Zosimus, who wrote in the early sixth century, and whose work is our most important source for the period 395-410; Estienne has added his own Latin version" [Schreiber].
Zosimus is the main printed source for the British revolt of 409 AD and the 'Rescript of Honorius' Calf re-backed. Lightly toned.
Brunet 3:120; Graesse 3:253; Dibdin II:15; Adams H-388; Renouard 149/7; Schreiber 209; 250 by 165mm (9¾ by 6½ inches).    €1500

ΗΣΙΟΔΟΥ ΤΟΥ ΑΣΚΡΑΙΟΥ ΤΑ ΕΥΡΙΣΚΟΜΕΝΑ

Hesiod. ΗΣΙΟΔΟΥ ΤΟΥ ΑΣΚΡΑΙΟΥ ΤΑ ΕΥΡΙΣΚΟΜΕΝΑ HESIODI ASCRAEI QUAE SUPERSUNT cum Notis Variorum. Edidit Thomas Robinson, S.T.P. Oxonii E. Theatro Sheldoniano 1737
4to,Frontis [6] xliii, 496. Greek and Latin text .
Beautifully printed Greek text on alternate pages with the Latin translation facing. [1-219]. Homeri & Hesiod Certamen cum Præloquio & Annotationibus Josuæ Barnesii. [221-248]
Commentaries of Johannes Georgii Graevius Johannis Georgii Grævii Lectiones Hesiodeæ[pp249-469] and the notes of Fabricus Joh. Albertus Fabricius De scriptis Hesiodi[471-483], plus index .
Brunet "Édition très-belle, mais peu correcte," Graesse notes that the beautiful edition is based on those of Graevius and Le Clerc and still has mistakes. Copper engraved portrait of Hesiod; copper engraved illustration of agricultural tools. Speckled calf, rebacked, retaining the original spine and labels; spine gilt, 5 raised bands.
Brunet:3,141;Graesse:3,263; 260 by 210mm (10¼ by 8¼ inches).    €750

Second Gesner Edition of Joannes Stobaeus bound with Polyantheain contemporary blindstamped vellum.

Joannes Stobaeus & Dominicus Nanus Mirabellius. ΚΕΡΑΣ ΑΜΑΛΘΑΙΑΣ ΙΩΑΝΝΟΥ ΤΟΥ ΣΤΟΒΑΙΟΥ ΕΚΛΟΓΑΙ ΑΠΟΦΘΓΜΑΤΟΝ ΚΑΙ ΥΠΟΘΗΚΩΝ [ bound with POLYANTHEA Opus sauissimis Floribus exorinium Dominico Nano Mirabelio,] Ioannis Stobaei Sententie ex thesauris Graecorum delectae, quarum autores circiter ducentos & quinquaginta citat; et in Sermones siue Locos communes digeste, à Conrado Gesnero Doctore Medico Tigurino in Latinum sermonem traductae, sic ut Latina Græcis e regione respondeant.
&
POLYANTHEA Opus sauissimis Floribus exorinium Dominico Nano Mirabelio, Basilea; Coloniae. Ex officina Joannis Oporini, sumptibus Christophori Froschoveri, 1549. & Iasparis Gennepæ. 1552. 1549 &1552
2 works bound in one. Folio. Blindstamped vellum over wooden boards dated 1558. with religious scenes; clasps [one broken].

Stobeaus: pp[20], 630, [31]. Text in double columns in Greek and Latin, historiated woodcut initials.
The second Gesner edition of Stobaeus' anthology of extracts from Greek authors.
The anthology is a very valuable collection of extracts from earlier Greek writers, which Stobaeus collected and arranged, in the order of subjects, as a repertory of valuable and instructive sayings. In most of the manuscripts there is a division into three books, forming two distinct works; the first and second books forming one work under the title Physical and Moral Extracts or Eclogues; the third book forming another work, called Florilegium or Sermones The extracts were intended by Stobaeus for his son Septimius, and were preceded by a letter briefly explaining the purpose of the work and giving a summary of the contents. It is evident from this summary, preserved in Photius's Bibliotheca (9th century), that the work was originally divided into four books and two volumes,and that surviving manuscripts of the third book consist of two books which have been merged.

Polyanthea pp[8]CCCVI. Latin text.
The Polyanthea first published in 1503, by Domenicus Nanus Mirabellius, who describes himself as a citizen of Alba and doctor of arts. This encyclopaedia in the form of an anthology has between 750 and 1,500 entries arranged in alphabetical order on moral and theological questions as well as on subjects of general interest: friendship, ages of life, grammar, war, memory, rhetoric, blood, health, the zodiac ... This work has been described as "the famous encyclopedia in whose mold have formed all the European intellectuals of the classical age and whose history remains to be written." f Engraved Title to Polyanthea;Christ in Heaven to upper vignette; God creating Eve from Adams rib, in the garden of Eden to lower; 8 small vignettes to sides of scholars. Binding: lower corner re-laid to front; one clasp broken; occasional wormholes; a few chips
Generally clean; dampstain,with slight loss to lower edge of first work preface and index; tiny wormhole in first 68 pages occasional touching marginalia; occasional ink underlining.
Wormtrack and holes from rear board lessening until page cclxxiiii ; wormtrack touching letters from rear to pageCCCI. Light staining to Title of second work.
Graesse 6:500 & 4:535 (1546 edition). 345 by 230mm (13½ by 9 inches).    €2800

Longinus: On the Sublime.

Longinus Dionysius ΔΙΟΝΥΣΙΟΥ ΛΟΓΓΙΝΟΥ ΠΕΡΙ ΥΨΟΥΣ ΥΠΟΜΝΗΜΑ. Dionysii Longini De Sublimitate commentarius, quem nova versione donavit, notis illustravit, & partim manuscriptorum ope, partim conjectura emendavit (additis etiam omnibus ejusdem auctoris fragmentis) Zacharias Pearce, A.M., Regiae Majestati a Sacris Domesticis etc. Editio secunda, notis & emendationibus auctior. Londinii Ex Officiani Jacobi Tonson & Johannis Watts. 1724
Quarto:[9], xv, 187, 28, [15] p.Engraved frontispiece, decorative head and tail pieces. Text in Greek and Latin on opposite pages; prefatory matter and notes primarily in Latin.
Dedication to Thomas Parker, Earl of Macclesfield, Viscount of Ewelme, and Baron of Macclesfield.
Beautifully clear printing, a new recension and a new translation, by Zachary Pearce.
The literary treatise 'On the sublime' ), ΠΕΡΙ ΥΨΟΥΣ ΥΠΟΜΝΗΜΑ.of which 2/3 survives, and is ascribed by the medieval tradition to Dionysius Longinus, was written some time in the 1st century A.D.
'As a stimulus to critical thought and to the understanding of ancient literature he (the author) has permanent value'. (OCD, 2nd ed. p. 619). 'Longinus was ably edited by Zachary Pearce, (1690-1774), Fellow of Trinity, and ultimately bishop of Rochester'. (Sandys II,412). Engraved frontispiece: an orator and his audience in a library. Woodcut initials and headpieces. An engraved headpiece with the coat of arms Thomas Parker, Earl of Macclesfield, Viscount of Ewelme, and Baron of Macclesfield, at the beginning of the dedicatio. Full calf, rubbed; spine gilt; joints starting. Corner repaired to back board. end papers toned.
Title page with old repair [signature excised?]; worm track repaired to front free end paper; worm track from rear free end paper reducing to worm hole in blank margin, ending at page 85.
Brunet 3:1152; Sandys II,412; OCD, 2nd ed. p. 619. 300 by 240mm (11¾ by 9½ inches).    €1000

Maximus of Tyre.

Maximus of Tyre. ΜΑΞΙΜΟΥ ΤΥΡΙΟΥ ΛΟΓΟΙ. Maximi Tyrii Dissertationes, ex recensione Ioannis Davisii. Editio altera, ad duos Codices. Mss. locis quamplurimis emendata, Notisqve locupletoiris aucta. Cui accesserunt Viri erudiissimi, Ier. Marklandi, Coll. D.Petri Cantabrig. Socii Annotationes.

Londini- London. Excudit Gulielmus Bowyer, Sumptibus Societatis ad Literas Promovendas institutæ 1740
4to. pp. 17, [v], 727, [ix]. Greek and Latin text.
Speckled calf, 5 raised bands; gilt.
The second edition of John Davies' critical edition of the works of Maximus of Tyre, second century Platonist, (originally published 1703), with revisions by Jeremiah Markland.
Maximus of Tyre, reputed to have been the tutor of Marcus Aurelius, writes dissertations on theological, ethical and philosophical subjects include quotations from Plato and Homer.
The philosophical content derives from Platonism and Cynicism. Head cap and tail of spine chipped; joints starting; internally crisp and bright.
Brunet:3,1552; Graesse:4,453. 265 by 215mm (10½ by 8½ inches).    €850

Editio Princeps of Onosander's Strategicus .

Onosander. Strategicus Strategicus. Sive de Imperatoris Institutione ... Nicolaus Rigaltius P. nunc primum e vetustis codd. Graecis publicavit, Latina inerpretatione & notis illustravit [Part II:] Nicolae Rigaltii ad Onosanderi Strategicum Notae. Lutetia Parisoiorum Abrahamum Saugranium & Gulielmum des Rues, viâ Bellouacensi 1599
pp19,pp169;[4f] pp96. Quarto. Titles in red and black; headpieces and initials parallel text in Greek and Latin; 2 parts in one volume.
Rebound, mid 20th century quarter Rexine over marbled boards.
The illustrations show military formations , a battering ram, siege towers and weapons.

The Strategikos (Στρατηγικός) is a short but comprehensive work on the duties of a general. It is dedicated to Quintus Veranius Nepos, consul in AD 49, and legate of Britain. It was the chief authority for the military writings of the emperors Maurice and Leo VI, and Maurice of Saxony, who consulted it in a French translation and expressed a high opinion of it. It explains the broad principles of command, the duties of a general, the formation of an army, the preparation for battle, and other aspects of warfare from an ethical standpoint. "The earliest military treatise wherein so much stress is laid upon the commander's duties, the morale of the troops, the ethical side of warfare" (Sarton).
Onasander's Strategikos is one of the most important treatises on ancient military matters and provides information not commonly available in other ancient works on Greek military tactics, especially concerning the use of the light infantry in battle.
The text first appeared in a Latin translation by Nicolaus Saguntinus, Rome, 1494. 7 woodcut illustrations, 5 of which full-page First 2 leaves of dedication cut short just above page number. Titles toned. Booksellers stamp to front free endpaper.
Graesse:5 p24; Brunet:5,188 242 by 183mm (9½ by 7¼ inches).    €1600