LIVIUS, Titus and Lucius FLORUS.

Von Ankunfft unnd Ursprung des Römischen Reichs, ...(colophon: Strasbourg, Theodosius Rihel, 1574). Small folio. With title printed in red and black in an elaborate woodcut frame by Tobias Stimmer; Rihel's printer's mark (13 x 10 cm); 131 examples of 66 woodcuts by Stimmer and others (10.5 x 14.5 cm); dozens of large (48 mm) and small gothic initial letters. Contemporary elaborately blind-tooled sheepskin parchment, painted in red, green, white and yellow, and gilt; blind-tooled board edges and turn-ins; gilt and gauffered edges with red and uncoloured decorations; headbands in green, yello...

      (28), 887, (23), (2 blank) pp. Chrisman, Bibl. Strasbourg Imprints A.2.13A; Karlsruhe Virt. Kat.(5 copies); Ritter, Cat. Bib. Mun. Strasbourg 1384; Ritter, Cat. Bib. Nat. & U. Strasbourg III, 1375; not in Adams, OCLC WorldCat. FIRST STRASBOURG EDITION of the best German translation of Livius's classic history of Rome, beautifully illustrated with a new series of woodcuts by Tobias Stimmer and others and in a splendid contemporary binding probably by Caspar Horneffers in Augsburg. The numerous woodcuts illustrate a wide variety of events and scenes from Roman history, each in a frame, with scrollwork, figures, animals and mythical beasts, fruits and vegetables, armour and weapons, etc. Most are initialed, many by Bernard Jobin after Tobias Stimmer and others by Christoph Maurer and Christoffel van Sichem.Titus Livius (59 B.C.-A.D. 17) is known primarily for his great history of Rome, already printed as early as 1469 and published in German in 1505. The present translation by Zacharias Müntzer, first published at Frankfurt in 1568, quickly established itself as the standard and was reprinted many times. Rihel not only adorned it with beautiful woodcuts, but also printed it exquisitely with a wide variety of fine fraktur types and with roman and Greek types by the great French master Robert Granjon.The binding has large arabesque scrollwork stamps in the centres of the boards, that on the back possibly a stylized Augsburg pinecone. The cornerpieces are also scrollwork arabesques, and that used for the lower left and upper right corners on both boards appears to be initialled HG (its mirror image used for the other corners is unsigned). The space around the central stamps is filled with *-shaped stamps and the whole surrounded by a frame of rolls. Additional rolls occupy the compartments on the spine. The watermarks in the endleaves are very close to Briquet 2122 (1568-1581), and Briquet's note after number 2123 suggests that papers with its merchant's mark (inside the shield at the foot) come from Augsburg. In fact, the present mark has the form of the Augsburg coat of arms, but with a bunch of grapes occupying the position of the pinecone. In general style, the present binding resembles one made ca. 1579 by Caspar Horneffers at Augsburg (active 1564-1595), illustrated in Schunke, Die Einbände der Palatina, plate CL.In very good condition and with very large margins, with two tears repaired, slightly affecting one woodcut and the text of one leaf; a few transparent brown stains slightly affecting two woodcuts and the text on a few leaves; a tiny hole affecting two words of the text; and very minor marginal wormholes in a few leaves, not approaching the woodcuts or text. Binding very good, with the hinges and board edges worn and a few minor stains and wormholes. A classic history of Rome, beautifully illustrated and in a splendid contemporary initialled binding.