Valerius Maximus

Opera cum Com(m)ento

      Milan:: Alexander Minutianus,, 1505.. 18th c. calf-backed paper boards, spine defective by 1" at top, hinges rubbed, old title-label, edges red; t.p. with scattered soiling, dampstains and old mold stains in inner margin at front, contemp. owner's inscription on blank verso of last leaf colored over; fully annotated by a contemp. hand using a French batard script (our 18th century binder has cut into many of the marginal notes).. Folio.. Valerius Maximus, a Roman historian and contemporary of the emperor Tiberius (42 B.C.-A.D.37), "was the compiler of an extant collection of anecdotes, "facta et Dicta Memorabilia', in nine books, for the use of orators. The anecdotes are arranged, according to the subjects that illustrate, roughly as follows: Book I, religion, omens, prodigies; Book II, social customs; Books III - VI, virtuous conduct (fortitude, moderation, humanity, etc.); Books VII and VIII, a miscellaneous group including good fortune, military stratagems, famous law-suits, eloquence, and many other items; Book IX, evil conduct. The examples on each topic are grouped separately according as they are drawn from the lives of Roman or foreign worthies... the work proved useful, and its popularity, which it retained in the Middle Ages, is shown by the fact that two epitomes of it were made." OCCL.#11;The text is surrounded with commentary by Arziganenis which first appeared in 1487. This edition is rare. EDIT 16 CNC 31006 (2 copies only).See the references in:Graesse VI, pt2, 243 note, and Schweiger II, 1105 .