Epistolarum lbri X…

[Colophon on kk7r:] Venice: In Aedib. Aldi, Et Andreae Asulani Soceri, June 1518., 1518. 8vo. pp. 26 p.l., 525, [1 leaf]. Aldine anchor device on title & at end. 19th century red morocco, Aldine anchor device in gilt on covers, all edges gilt (rubbed, title lightly toned & with small paper repair in lower margin, ‘x’ in colophon date erased with tiny hole). probably from the Syston Park Library of Sir John Thorold. Second Aldine Edition. The letters of the consul and Governor of Biyhinia, friend of Tacitus and Suetonius, provide an interesting view of the varied interests of a cultivated Roman gentleman. "The etiquette of the imperial circle, scenes from the law-courts and the recitation-room, the reunions of dilettanti and philosophers, the busy life of the capital or of the municipal town, the recreations of the seaside and of the country – all these he brings vividly before our eyes". (Encyc. Britan., 11th Edn.) Topics range from his Tuscan villa, happy memories of Lake Como, love for his wife, Calpurnia, dreams, ghost-stories, the beauties of the Clitumnus and the floating islands of the Vadimonian lake, the eruption of Vesuvius in connection with the last days and death of Pliny the Elder, the deaths of Silius Italicus and Martial, the principles that should guide a Roman governor in Greece, the government of Bithynia, and the relations between the governor and the Emperor. "The Letters are models of graceful thought and refined expression each of them dealing with a single topic and generally ending with an epigrammatic point." (Ibid.) The whole of Book 8 was first published in its proper place by Aldus Manutius in 1508. Adams P1538. BM STC Italian p. 525. Renouard I 195.4. Dibdin (4th Edn.) II p. 330. Moss II pp. 493-94.. Hardcover. Very Good.