Libri Quatuor de Antiquitatibus Lusitaniae. Diogo Mendes de Vasconcellos, ed.

Évora, excudebat Martinus Burgensis [i.e., Martim de Burgos], 1593.. FIRST EDITION. Small folio (28 x 20 cm.), late nineteenth-century mottled sheep (some minor wear), smooth spine richly gilt, blank leather lettering piece with short author-title lettered in gilt. Elaborate large woodcut head- and tailpieces. Smaller woodcut head- and tailpiece on title page. Numerous large, elegant woodcut initials. Numerous facsimiles of inscriptions from antiquity. Overall in very good condition, with ample margins. Bookplate of António Cupertino de Miranda. Smaller version of the same bookplate on verso of title page. (17 ll.), 259; 46 (i.e., 45 [p. 45 wrongly numbered 46]), (1) pp., 1 blank leaf, (9 ll.). Lacks a final blank leaf which sometimes appears. 4, A-R8, 8, A-C8, a9. *** FIRST EDITION. This is among the earliest works to study in detail the Roman heritage in the Iberian Peninsula. De Antiquitatibus is particularly notable for reproducing hundreds of inscriptions, many in type facsimile with woodcut embellishments, accompanied by transcriptions and verbal descriptions. Most of the inscriptions are Roman, but some are as late as the 14th century. The four libri by Resende cover the etymology of "Lusitania" and the names of its peoples, rivers, cities, and towns, as well as the names of those who have ruled (held imperium) over Portugal, with a summary of military roads. The study of these names is supported by quotations from Roman literature as well as inscriptions. The fifth book of De Antiquitatibus, by Mendes de Vasconcellos, describes the Roman remains in the city of Évora. Lusitania was an important Roman colony whose antiquities remained generally well-preserved into the sixteenth century because of the sparseness of the population and benign neglect. Given his fellow humanists' strong interest in Roman civilization, it is no surprise that Resende's De Antiquitatibus soon circulated outside the Peninsula, with editions of Rome, 1597, and Cologne, 1600.André de Resende (ca. 1500-1573) was described by Herculano (quoted in King Manuel I, 511) as "the greatest and most judicious Portuguese antiquarian in the sixteenth century." Educated at Salamanca, Paris and Louvain, he became one of Portugal's most celebrated humanists, a friend of Erasmus, Clenardo, and Goes. In his time he was highly esteemed for his abundant knowledge of philology and classical archeology and for his abilities as a poet. Resende was favored by D. João III and the Emperor Charles V and was, no doubt, the "antiquary Resende" at whose instance the tower and aqueduct of Évora were constructed. During his lifetime, Resende published Historia da antiguidade da cidade de Evora, 1553. His magnum opus, De antiquitatibus Lusitaniae, was edited posthumously by Diogo Mendes de Vasconcellos. Resende's Vida do Infante D. Duarte was not published until 1789.Mendes de Vasconcellos (Alter do Chão, Alemtejo, 1523-Évora, 1599) was a canon at the Cathedral of Évora. Among his many works is Vita L. Andreae Resendii, Évora, 1593.*** Anselmo 431. Barbosa Machado I, 165; on Mendes de Vasconcellos, I, 675-7. Brunet IV, 1247. King Manuel 232. Gil do Monte, Subsídios par a história da tipografia em Évora 79. Palau 262167. Sousa Viterbo, O movimento tipográfico em Portugal no século XVI, pp. 276-7. Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Livros Quinhentistas portugueses 127. Biblioteca Nacional, Catálogo dos impressos de tipografia portuguesa do século XVI, 791. Biblioteca Pública e Arquivo Distrital de Ponta Delgada, Tipografia portuguesa 145. British Museum, Pre-1601 Portuguese STC, p. 144. Coimbra, Reservados 2074. Livros do séc. XVI impressos em Évora: núcleo da Biblioteca Pública e Arquivo Distrital de Évora 21. Gusmão, Livros impressos no século XVI existentes na Biblioteca Pública e Arquivo Distrital de Évora, I: Tipografia portuguesa 1022. HSA, p. 210. Palha 2742. National Library of Scotland, Pre-1601 STC, p. 304. Salvá 3593. Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa, Catálogo das obras impressas nos séculos XV e XVI, item 15, pp. 40-1. Monteverde 4489. Not in Adams (who cites two later editions, but no works by this printer). See Raul Miguel Rosado Fernandes, "Methodologie et Histoire dans De Antiquitatibus Lusitaniae" in Jean-Claude Margolin and José V. de Pina Martins, eds., L'Humanisme Portuguais et l'Europe. Actes du XXIe Colloque International d'Etudes Humanistes, Paris 1984, pp. 487-505. Porbase locates eight copies at the Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal (three incomplete), four copies at the Biblioteca Geral da Universidade de Coimbra (all either incomplete or with leaves mutilated, or otherwise in poor condition), and one copy at the Biblioteca João Paulo II-Universidade Católica Portuguesa. Jisc locates copies at British Library, National Library of Scotland, Oxford University, and University of Durham.