Cicero's De finibus bonorum et malorum

Cicero's De finibus bonorum et malorum
Filippo di Pietro, 1480
CICERO, Marcus Tullius (106-43). De finibus bonorum et malorum. Venice: Filippo di Pietro, 6 November 1480.

Cicero’s treatise on the ancient philosophical schools. The publisher, Filippo di Pietro, is considered the first native printer in Venice; the present work is one of six editions of Cicero's philosophical works issued by his press in 1480 alone. Variant colophons are extant; this is the issue with a partially printed date. No copies are recorded at auction; not in Bavarian State Library. HR 5329; GW 6887; BMC V 222; Bod-inc C-290; IGI 2864; Goff C-566; ISTC ic00566000.

Chancery folio (282 x 197mm). 77 leaves (of 78, without initial blank). (Final leaf remargined at inner and outer edges, a few patched wormholes, light spotting, some marginalia trimmed.) 18th-century red morocco, title gilt-stamped on spine. Provenance: early marginalia throughout – Charles Butler of Warren Wood, Hatfield (1821-1910; bookplate; his sale, Sotheby’s 5 April 1911, lot 302) – acquired from Lathrop C. Harper, Inc, New York, 20 April 1956.