Jan van der Loe edition of Suetonius's biographies of the first twelve Roman emperors (including Julius Caesar). The book opens with a dedication by Hieronymus Gemusaeus to Gulielmus Yzernaeus, councillor to King François I of France, followed by a preface by the Italian humanist Poliziano (1454-1494). The lives of the twelve Roman Emperors (Julius Caesar, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero, Galba, Otho, Vitellius, Vespasian, Titus and Domitian) are printed on 626 pages with the commentary and annotations by Marcus Antonius Coccius Sabellicus (1436-1506), a scholar and historian from Venice, in a smaller script in the margins. Sabellicus had studied under the Italian humanist Pomponius Laetus, became professor of eloquence at Udino and Venice, and was appointed curator of the San Marco Library in 1487. The main text is followed by the annotations on Suetonius by Joannes Baptista Egnatius (ca. 1478-1553), the commentary by Erasmus, a brief comment by Ausoni, a note on the name "Caesar", and a short biography of Suetonius by Philippus Beroaldus. As a fund of fascinating and often outrageous anecdotes, Suetonius's work is unrivalled.
With many contemporary and later annotations and underscoring in ink. With some restorations to the title-page and second leaf, title-page browned and soiled, browned throughout with occasional spots and marginal water stains. Binding worn. Adams S2045 (incomplete copies); Belg. Typ. 6808; Machiels S640; USTC 403287.