[Pliny the Elder:] Plinius Secundus, Gaius: (De Laet, J., ed.:) Historiae Naturalis Libri XXXVII. Lugduni Batavorum [Leiden]: ex officina Elzeviriana, 1635. First edition thus. 3 vols., 12mo, pp. [xxiv], 654, [xviii]; 631, [xvii]; 582, [xviii]. Engraved titlepage, small woodcut portrait of Pliny. With 'variae lectiones' and indexes at end of each vol. Slight toning, occasional minor spots, titles dusty, 1: one lower outer blank corner minimally torn, 2: small loss to lower blank margin of one leaf. Full blue morocco c.1800, signed by C. Hering (binder's ticket), blind-tooled, straight-grained calf doublures with gilt edges, raised bands, spines gilt-lettered, a.e.g. (boards and joints rubbed, free endpapers soiled). Later annotation to original rear endpaper. The first Elzevier edition of Pliny's 'Natural History', which became extremely popular with later collectors. De Laet was a Leiden historian and editor who wrote or produced a number of texts for the Elzevir press. In the dedication, to the lawyer and French royal counsellor Jerome Bignon (1589-1656), he states that he drew on the edition of Claude Saumaise. Willems 428; Dibdin (3rd edn.) II, 323. Ref: 53181show full image..
Pollux, Julius: (Lederlin, J.H.; Hemsterhuys, T.): Onomasticon Graece & Latine. Amstelaedami [Amsterdam]: Ex Officina Wetsteniana, 1706. 2 vols. in 1. Folio, pp. [viii], 48, 683, [I]; [ii], 687-1388, [xvi], 178, [x] + additional engraved title-page, signed: I. Mulder, delin; W. Broen, sculp., and folding numismatic plate opposite p.1027. Engraved frontispiece (included in register): arms of Amsterdam and view of Amsterdam, 10 shields, signed: Mulder, fec.. Half-title to each vol., title-page vol. I in red and black, woodcut initals. Text in Latin and Greek in parallel columns. Occasional very light spotting, final 7 leaves dampstained at fore-edge margin, very good. Contemporary gilt panelled vellum, central gilt coat of arms of Haarlem to both boards. Some light smudgy marks, ties lost, very good. An interesting and important edition of the 2nd-century AD Greek thesaurus of Iulius Pollux, which had been begun and abandoned by Jean-Henri Lederlin (1672-1737). His replacement as editor, Tiberius Hemsterhuys (1685-1766), professor at Amsterdam, has "the honour of reviving the study of Greek in the Netherlands" (Sandys). For this edition he wrote for advice to Richard Bentley, the expert on Greek metre, but received his suggestions after the book went to press. Bentley later sent a long letter giving corrections to the texts of the fragments of comedy as found here in book 10. "So deep was [Hemsterhuys's] distress that he determined to abandon Greek for ever, and for two months did not dare to open a Greek book" (ibid.) Pollux is a source of information on many subjects, including theatre, the Athenian constitution, and the thirty-three terms of abuse for a tax-collector. The text survived only in interpolated copies of an early interpolated epitome. Schweiger I 270 "Gute Ausg."; Sandys II 449; Spoelder 1. Ref: 54329show full image..
Pomey, F.: (Pitiscus, S.:) Pantheum mythicum, seu fabulosa deorum historia [...] Amstelodami [Amsterdam] & Trajecti ad Rhenum [Utrecht]: Schouten & J.J.A. Poolsum, 1777. 10th ed. thus. Small 8vo., pp. [xvi],298, [xiv] + 27 plates, and engraved frontispiece. Title in red and black, woodcut initials and headpieces. Inkstamp and ms code to title-page, but internally very clean. Contemporary speckled calf, spine gilt with red Morocco label, gilt borders, gilt coat of arms of Arnhem to each board, edges red. Spine and corners lightly rubbed, very good. With presentation certificate with signatures, made out to to G. A. La Borde and dated 1795. Tenth edition of a Jesuit handbook to pagan gods, first published 1658, re-edited by Samuel Pitiscus. Graesse IV 793 (earlier editions). Spoelder 7. Ref: 54308show full image..
Pomponius Mela: (Gronovius, Abraham, ed.:) De Situ Orbis Libri III. Lugduni Batavorum [Leiden]: Ex Officina Samuelis Luchtmans, 1722. First edition thus. 8vo., pp. [lxxx], 811, [xxxvii] + additional engraved title and 1 folding map, further engraved illustrations in text. Title page in red and black, woodcut initials. Inkstamp to title, rear blank has large piece torn away at fore-edge. Internally very clean. Contemporary vellum, spine gilt with inked title, gilt borders, central gilt coat of arms of Gouda to each board, edges sprinkled red. Spine a bit darkened, a few smudgy marks, ties lost. Very good. Round ink stamp reading 'academia rueno traectina' (Utrecht) to title-page. The first of Abraham Gronovius's (1695-1775) editions of Pomponius Mela, "the earliest Roman geographer" (Ency. Brit. 11th edn.), incorporating the work of his father, Jakob Gronovius, who had himself published two editions of the work. "Pomponius is unique among ancient geographers in that [...] he asserts the existence of antichthones, inhabiting the southern temperate zone inaccessible to the folk of the northern temperate regions from the unbearable heat of the intervening torrid belt" (Ency. Brit. 11th edn.). Brunet IV 801 (note). Dibdin II 356. Graesse V 402-3. Schweiger 611; Spoelder 2. Ref: 54309show full image..
Postgate, [John Percival] (ed.:) Corpus Poetarum Latinorum A Se Aliisque Denvo Recognitorum et Brevi Lectionum Varietate Instructorum. Londini (London): sumptibus G. Bell et Filiorum, 1893-1920. 5 vols. bound as 2. 4to., pp. x, [ii], 285, [iii], 287-595, [iii]; vi, [iii], 195, xii, [iii], 198-429, [i], x, [iii], 432-572. Fasc. II lacks title-page (a type-written index of its contents has been added in its stead), and its half-title is misbound a few pages in. Apparently rebound from separate volumes, as the final page of each fasicule is a little dusty. Red library buckram, gilt titles to spines, edges sprinkled red. Very good indeed. To the front pastedown of each volume, small ink stamp of Camb. Book Binding Comp.. Ownership inscription of Roland Mayer to ffep vol.I. To title-page fasc. IV, library withdrawn stamp of St Olave's School. The major work of John Percival Postgate (1853-1926), described as a triumph of editorial organisation. Percival was a fellow of Trinity College Cambridge, and Professor of Latin at the University of Liverpool 1909-1920. Ref: 54909show full image..
Potter, Philip J.: The Mighty Warrior Kings: From the Ashes of the Roman Empire to the New Ruling Order. Barnsley: Pen & Sword, 2020. First edition. 8vo., pp. viii, 315 + plates. Hardback: burgundy cloth, gilt-lettered to spine. Dust-jacket. Unused, a hint only of shelf-dust: a fine copy. Ref: 54455
Powell, Lindsay: Augustus at War: The Struggle for the Pax Augusta. Barnsley: Pen & Sword, 2018. First edition. 8vo., pp. xl, 452 + plates. Maps and illustrations. Hardback: purple cloth, silver-lettered to spine. Dust-jacket. Unused: as new. Foreward by Karl Galinsky. Ref: 54642
Price, Munro: Napoleon: The End of Glory. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014. First edition. 8vo., pp. xx, 324 + plates. Maps and illustrations to text. Hardback: red cloth, gilt-lettered to spine. Dust-jacket. Trivial shelf-wear, a very good copy. Ref: 53565
Propertius: (Lemaire, Pierre August, ed.:) Opera. Parisiis [Paris]: Colligebat Nicolaus Eligius Lemaire. 1832. 8vo., pp. viii, 708. Text and apparatus in Latin. Sporadic light foxing, small closed tear to final page neatly repaired. Contemporary half vellum, spine gilt with red label, marbled boards, edges and endpapers. Binding not quite identical to Silius Italicus [54770] but very much in the same spirit. Some smudgy marks, very good indeed. Volumes in the "Bibliotheca Classica Latina sive Collectio Auctorum Classicorum Latinorum cum Notis et Indicibus". 'In directing our notice to the voluminous but judiciously selected compilation of Lemaire, we cannot forbear bestowing upon it a hearty tribute of eulogy.... We may safely pronounce it a performance in every respect creditable to both the spirit, learning, and perseverance of the individuals in immediate connexion with it, and also to the genius and reputation of the nation at large. The editions of the different Roman authors selected, are those of the most approved classical scholars in France, Germany, and Holland. The type is in the very best mould of the widely celebrated Didot Press' (North American Review, July 1834). The project was almost entirely finished at the time of that review, with just the Lucretius (published 1838) still to come. Ref: 54771show full image..
Prosper (of Aquitaine, Saint): Opera Accurata exemplarium vetustorum collatione a mendis pen? innumeris repurgata. Quid ver? in hac editione pr?ter ditissimum indicem, tam scripturarum qu?m rerum accesserit, pagina septima demonstrat. Coloni? Agrippin? [Cologne]: Excudebat Arnoldus Kempensis, sumptibus Ioannis Crithii, 1609 8vo., pp. [xvi], 903, [xlvii]. Printer's woodcut device to title-page with motto 'Reru[m] vigilantia custos', woodcut initials. Occasional underlining in an old hand. A little light foxing and some small ink spots, a few leaves of index trimmed close just touching headline. Contemporary vellum, title inked to spine and fore-edge, remains of ties, fore-edges slightly overlapped. Spine a little concave, smudgy marks, both pastedowns lifted and tattered with some loss, still very good. In an old hand, ownership inscription of Thos. Baddeley to ffep and title-page, with some tiny neatly-written notes. Dedication signed by I. Oliverius (Johannes Oliverius of Ghent). St Prosper of Aquitaine (c.390-c.463) was, writes Abb? L. Valentin 'much more famous for what he wrote than for what he did' (St. Prosper d'Aquitaine. Paris, 1900). His writings primarily comprised the defence and distribution of the teachings of St Augustine of Hippo, especially those concerning grace and free will. He was also the first writer to continue St Jerome's Chronicon. Though his Epitoma Chronicon was criticised it is especially useful for the period 425-455 (about which he wrote from personal experience) due to the scarcity of other sources. BM STC German 1601-1700, P1188. Ref: 54765show full image..
