Maius's De priscorum proprietate verborum

Maius's De priscorum proprietate verborum
Bernardus de Colonia, 1477
MAIUS, Junianus (c.1435-1493). De priscorum proprietate verborum. Treviso: Bernardus de Colonia, 1477.

Second edition of one of the earliest printed Latin dictionaries. Maius was an ardent promoter of the elegant use of Latin, a major concern of the Humanists; this work was used in the classes of Angelo Poliziano and became a chief source for Calepinus's dictionary. The first of only three books printed by Bernardus of Cologne, who had previously worked under the Mathias Moravus, who published the first edition in Naples and whose encomium in the dedication is preserved here. H 10540*; BMC VI 892; BSB-Ink M-66; Bod-inc M-031; IGI 6037; Goff M-96; ISTC im00096000

Super-chancery folio (325 x 215mm). 330 leaves. (A few small spots and repairs, occasional wormholes especially at end.) 18th-century blindstamped pigskin over boards, blue edges. Provenance: a bit of marginalia – erased stamp on f.2 – acquired from Lathrop C. Harper, Inc, New York, 21 June 1955.