History, Law & Philosophy / Archaeology & Classical Antiquity

VIRGILIUS MARO, Publius. Codex antiquissimus a Rufio Turcio Aproniano V.C. distinctus et emendatus qui nunc Florentiae in Bibliotheca Mediceo-Laurentiana adservatur bono publico typis descriptus anno MDCCXLI.
Florence, Typis Mannianis (the printer Joseph and his son Domenico Maria Manni), [1741]. 4to (25.5 x 18 cm). With an engraved dedication by the editor Pietro Francesco Fogginio to the members of the prestigious Académie Royale des inscriptions et beaux-arts as a frontispiece, an engraved vignette on the title page (a portrait of Virgil holding a mask) engraved by "Sarder ex Mus. Medic.". An engraved illustration of Virgil as a headpiece at the start of the text, engraved after the portrait in one of the two other late antique Virgil manuscripts: the Virgilius Romanus in the Vatican library (Cod. Vat. 3867). Further with a beautiful engraved historiated initial on the same page; engraved specimen of three lines of the manuscript (13 x 3 cm) on p. XV; and two tailpieces (on pp. XVI and 459). The text is printed in red and black (the title page, the first lines and corrections in the text). Contemporary gold-tooled red morocco. [4], XXXVI, 459 pp. Full description

VIRGILIUS MARO, Publius. Opera. Vol. I.
London, John Pine, 1755 [= actually some years later]. 8vo. With 2 different vignettes on the otherwise identical engraved title pages, an engraved frontispiece with a figure of the muse Euterpe, 2 engraved dedication leaves with vignettes, 1 folding and 49 full-page engraved plates on 39 leaves (11 of the leaves with a plate on each side), 31 engraved half-page plates and historiated head- and tailpieces, engraved historiated and decorated initials. Some of the images are derived from the illustrations in the Codex Vaticanus, a 5th-century codex containing the works of Virgil. Late-19th-century gold-tooled crushed red morocco, bound by the famous partnership of René Chambolle (1834-1898) and Hippolyte Duru (1803-1898) (with their names gold-stamped in the bottom front turn-in). The boards show a double fillet frame with detailed, ornate flowers and vines along the inside of the frame, with the author, title, and imprint lettered in gold on the gold-tooled spine, gold-tooled board edges and turn-ins, gilt top edge, marbled endpapers. The binding can be dated between 1861 and ca. 1870, the heyday of the Chambolle-Duru partnership representing the high level of the Golden Age of French bibliophile binding. [8], XV, [2], 144, [6] pp. Full description

WAD, Gregers. Fossilia Aegyptiaca Musei Borgiani Velitris.
Velletri, 1794. 4to. Contemporary boards. VIII, 32 pp. Full description