Caesar, Caius Julius

Commentarii Ab Aldo Manutio...

      Venice; Aldus, 1576. 8vo. pp. [cxxiii] [i blank] 676 [lxvi] [iii blank] [lx]. Italic letter; medallion portrait of Aldus Manutius on t-p recto, imperial arms incorporating printer's device on verso, historiated woodcut initials, ornaments, head and tail-pieces, 6 full-page framed woodcuts illustrating the text, 12 half-page of animals and machines of war, 2 diagrams, double-page folding maps of Gaul and Spain. Light age-yellowing, t-p with exlibris anciently excised and repaired, dampstain affecting a few leaves of the Scholia and index, a couple of leaves foxed. Else a good copy in contemporary calf, a few small wormholes, rebacked, original spine remounted, corners repaired, calf lettering piece. 16th C autograph of Nicolo Chiocco de Calui at foot of t-p, his Latin motto from the Psalms partially excised at head "I hoped, let me never be confounded, " occasional mss in his hand. Addition to register in contemp. hand, perhaps by the publisher. Modern bookplates to front pastedown and rear fly, a.e.r. Reissue of the 1575 edition of Caesar's 'Gallic Wars', unaltered save for the date and edited by Aldus the Younger, combining related fragments with scholarly commentaries. It is one of the very few extensively illustrated productions of the Aldine press, featuring annotated diagrams of scenes from Caesar's most famous military operations, including the construction of the siege terrace at Avaricum, the dam at Uxellodunum, and the brick tower at Massilia, newly cut for this edition. The text also comprises passages on Caesar's bridge across the Rhine excerpted from various authors, including Cardanus, Guillaume Budé and Leon Battista Alberti; lists of the Latin and vernacular names of Belgian, German, Celtic and Spanish key cities and individuals; a commentary on the divisions of Gaul, including a catalogue of places visited by Caesar; fragments of speeches and 'De Analogia' collected by Italian scholar Fulvius Ursinus; fragments about Caesar from i.a. Pliny, Cicero and Tacitus;...