Plinius Caecilius Secundus, Epistolarum libri decem, Venice, Aldo Manuzio, November 1508, contemporary Venetian brown morocco

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 fourth copy.

8vo (158 x 95 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, early manuscript numeration and marginalia. (Title reattached, worming to first few and final two leaves, scattered staining and foxing, a few creases.)

binding: Contemporary Venetian brown morocco (164 x 103 mm), floral border, two small knotwork tools above and below a large knotwork at center, all tooled in blind, initials A.P. crudely etched on upper cover, traces of two pairs of ties, spine with raised bands in four compartments, manuscript title to edges. (Worming, spine and corners restored.)

provenance: Initials "A.P." etched on cover — inscription "J. Rosst., Rome 1888" to upper pastedown; ink stamp of Rosstrevor House Library to title (probably Lt. Col. Sir John Foster George Ross who accompanied the 15^th Duke of Norfolk on a mission to the Holy See, 1887-1888) — Ernest Henry Alton (1873-1952), inscription "E.H. Alton, T.C.D. 1930" to upper pastedown; his sale, B.H. Blackwell, Oxford, Catalogue 591 (Oxford 1953), item 28 (£5 5s). acquisition: Purchased from Harry A. Levinson, Los Angeles, 1985. references: UCLA 100; Renouard 53/3; Edit16 37420; USTC 849906