Curtius Rufus, Quntus

Historiae Alexandri Magni

      Venice:: Johannes Tacuinus de Tridino,, 1496.. Early paper covered limp boards, some loss to spine,old description on front paste-down; single wormhole in lower margin, minor corner stains, small tear in LI. Provenance: Julio Berunza Collection of Alexander the Great (bookplate removed).. Folio 12 1/2 x 8 1/2O. Printer's device on register leaf. Decorated initials Curtius Rufus wrote this history of Alexander the Great ,his march through Phrygia and the cutting of the Gordian Knot,under Claudius or Vespasian. "The author is an excellent story-teller and makes the most of many thrilling or picturesque incidents in the Asiatic expedition..."[OCCL]#11;Merula, Italian humanist and poet, was born in Mantua. He taught grammar in Split from 1487-9. When the powerful Venicean Zori of the Corner family sought a tutor for his sons, Merula won the position. OAmong the most powerful families in Venice at this period were the Corner, whose members included the titular Queen of Cyprus and her brother Zorzi, one of the most widely employed and respected statesmen in the Republic. Zorzi had a history of connections with scholars of an earlier generation such as George of Trebizond and Merula, so when it became known in 1484 that he was seeking a tutor for his sons, the post was eagerly sought. Ermolao Barbaro and Gerolamo Donato were asked to intercede. Bartolomeo Merula, the successful candidate, gained a certain status in Venetian intellectual society, editing a number of Latin texts for the press of Tacuinus during the 1490s and 1500s. When his main charge, Marco Corner, was given a cardinalcy in 1500, Bartolomeo simply became his secretary instead of his tutor and was in due course rewarded for his services by the appointment of apostolic protonotary.O [Martin Lowry, World of Aldus Manitius.] Ann Moss in her OOvid In Renissance FranceO calls him an OindefatigableO editor and in the case of Ovid, OHis main concern is to make the sense of the text clear by paraphrasing difficult passages and enlarging on historical, geographical and mythological allusions, with the help of recognized authorities. His is a grammatical, rather than a rhetorical commentary.O Goff C1003 ; HCR 5886 ; Pell 4068 ; CIBN C-687 ; Neveu 208 ; Polain(B) 4310 ; IDL 1447 ; IBE 1966 ; IGI 3291 ; IBP 1820 ; Saj!-Solt!sz 1125 ; Sallander 2176 ; Madsen 1311 ; Ernst(Hildesheim) I,I 163 ; G!nt(L) 3748 ; Voull(B) 4432 ; Sack(Freiburg) 1200 ; Finger 326 ; Walsh 2567 ; Rhodes(Oxford Colleges) 645 ; Bod-inc C-498 ; Sheppard 4535, 4536 ; Pr 5443 ; BMC V 531 ; GW 7876. ISTC ic01003000.