Dionysius, Halicarnassensis. Antiquitates Romanae, Treviso, Bernardinus Celerius, 1480.

Dionysius, Halicarnassensis. Antiquitates Romanae, translated by Lampugninus Biragus, collation: [110, 2-78, 8-98, 10-238, 24-378, 386], 300ff., 37 lines, Roman type, large initial spaces with guide-letters, final f. blank, 16th century marginalia in first two quires, some staining, mostly to outer margins of last quires, occasional spotting or finger-marking, 19th century vellum, flat spine richly gilt and with red and olive morocco labels, folio (289 x 196mm.), Treviso, Bernardinus Celerius, 1480.

⁂ A wide-margined copy of the editio princeps of this Roman history to the First Punic War. It is the first publication by Celerius at his press in Treviso, having earlier worked at Venice and Padua, returning to the former at the end of 1480. The translator based his work on manuscripts from the library of Pope Paul II, to whom the work is dedicated.

Provenance: Benedetto Varchi (1503-1565), Florentine humanist (ink ownership inscription on the recto of first f., and with his marginalia and underlining in the first two quires); Pandolfo Attavanti, Florentine diplomat (16th century ink ownership inscription on recto of first leaf); Alemanno Orsucci, Tuscan scholar (18th century ink ownership inscription on recto of first f.); Kenneth Rapoport (bookplate to front pastedown).

Literature: BMC VI, 895; Goff D-250; GW 8423; HC 6239; Bod-inc D-096; BSB-Ink D-174.