VALERIUS MAXIMUS, Gaius.
Factorum dictorumque memorabilium libri novem. Praeterea Caii Titii Probi, in decimum lib. huius operis, epitome.
Mainz, Ivo Schoeffer, 1544.
8vo, pp. [xxiv], 574, [2]; title printed in red and black, woodcut device, a further, larger woodcut device on verso of the final leaf; small early marginal repair to last leaf, but a very good copy, in contemporary blind-stamped pigskin over wooden boards, panels including both historiated and floral bands, panelled spine with three raised bands, ink titling to spine (faded), brass clasps and catches; panelling rather flattened, some light soiling, corners a little worn; contemporary ownership inscription in red ink on title ‘Sum Joannis Ottonis Franci Gravionario suo sibi aere me comparavit anno salutis n[ost]rae 1579’; inscription on front pastedown, in a German hand, ‘?Schellwig’, dated 1592; occasional contemporary underlining to text.
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Factorum dictorumque memorabilium libri novem. Praeterea Caii Titii Probi, in decimum lib. huius operis, epitome.
An attractive copy, with an interesting provenance, of a scarce Mainz edition of Valerius Maximus accompanied by Probus’ Epitome.
The centrality of Valerius Maximus’ collection of memorable deeds and sayings to European culture through the Middle Ages and Early Modern era was captured by B.G. Niebuhr in terms which today may surprise: he described it as ‘the most important book next to the Bible’. Indeed, Valerius Maximus’ exempla were commented upon, used as school textbooks, condensed, illustrated, abridged, translated, and transposed in countless ways, in manuscript and print, and in visual arts, for many centuries.
Our copy bears the ownership inscription and purchase note of Johann Otto Francus Gravionarius. The name is listed in the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek catalogues as the provenance of several incunables, active in 1570 and 1577; our book’s explicit purchase note extends evidence of his activity to 1579. The BSB tentatively locates him in Bamberg, Upper Franconia. This name, however, does not appear on the MEI database, or on ISTC.
Scarce outside Europe: two copies in the UK (BL, Bodleian) and one in the US (Cornell).
USTC 700279; VD16 V 147.
