Plinius Caecilius Secundus, Epistolarum libri decem, Venice, Aldo Manuzio, November 1508, Florentine brown morocco, 1520s

Plinius Caecilius Secundus, Gaius. Epistolarum libri decem in quibus multae habentur epistolae non ante impressae. Tum graeca correcta, et suis locis restituta, atque reiectis adulterinis, uera reposita. Item fragmentatae epistolae, integrae factae. In medio etiam epistolae libri octaui de Clitumno fonte non solum uertici calx additus, et calci uertex, sed decem quoque epistolae interpositae … Eiusdem Panegyricus Traiano … Eiusdem De viris illustribus in re militari, et in administranda rep. Suetonii Tranquilli De claris grammaticis et rhetorib. Iulii Obsequentis Prodigiorum liber. Epistolae decimi libri ad Traianum probantur esse Plinii in sequenti epistola. Inibi etiam liber de viris illustribus, non Tranquilli, sed Plinii esse… Venice: Aldo Manuzio, November 1508

A second copy.

8vo (163 x 97 mm). Italic type, 30 lines plus headline. collation: *⁸ **⁴ a-z⁸ aa-kk⁸ (**4 a blank): 275 leaves. Woodcut Aldine device on final verso, occasional marginalia. (Minor dampstaining to lower margin of first few leaves, foxing, scattered stains and fold.)

binding: Florentine brown morocco (170 x 103 mm), 1520s, tooled in blind, border of repeated flower and vine, central panel divided into two squares, each with a large arabesque and four rosettes, traces of two pairs of ties, spine with raised bands in four compartments, blind tooled saltire in compartments, edges gilt and gauffered, original vellum free endleaves, manuscript fragments as binding support. (Worming, rubbing with loss to corners and foot of spine.)

provenance: Giorgio Pittaluga — Christie's Rome, 10 June 1997, lot 127. acquisition: Purchased at Christie's via Michel Wittock. references: UCLA 100; Renouard 53/3; Edit16 37420; USTC 849906