Herodianus

Herodiani Imperatorum Romanorum pr!clare gestis Lib VIII. Greci & Latini [title page in Greek and Latin]

      Basile!: Excudebat Henricus Petrus, March, 1543. Second Petrus edition. 8vo. Text in Greek & Latin (translation by Angelo Poliziano) in parallel columns. Printer's device on verso of final leaf; numerous large historiated initial woodcut captitals. [24], 647, [1] pp. Contemporary speckled calf, joints and edges rubbed, small chip from head of spine, front free endpaper missing, title soiled and some minor, (mostly) marginal dampstaining to text. Adams H-383; not in OCLC; RLIN lists only copies in microform . Rare edition of the 3rd century historian's account the chaotic period immediately following Marcus Aurelius' death through the brief reign of Gordianus III. The scholarly printer of Basle, Henricus Petrus, had first printed Herodian's text in 1535, with the Latin translation by Poliziano; but here, clearly with an eye on the student market, the text is set in parallel columns: Greek on the left, with the Latin "trot" on the right. The only copy we have located is at Cambridge University (cf. Adams), but neither the British Library nor any American institution appears to have one