Plutarch's Vitae illustrium virorum

Plutarch's Vitae illustrium virorum
Nicolaus Jenson, 1478
PLUTARCHUS (c.45-c.120). Vitae illustrium virorum. -SEXTUS Rufus. De historia Romana. Venice: Nicolaus Jenson, 2 January 1478.

One of Jenson's finest productions, the third edition of Plutarch's Lives. Lauding this edition, Dibdin wrote: "of equal magnitude of dimensions and of superior typographical skill." Plutarch’s work of biography and historiography pairs the lives of famous Romans and Greeks, drawing lessons from the contrast. It circulated widely, and the Latin translations printed here are largely the work of 15th-century Humanists. Collations differ, depending on how bibliographers treat the blank leaves, all of which are present here. HC 13127*; BMC V 178; BSB-Ink P-626; Bod-inc P-392; IGI 7922; Goff P-832; ISTC ip00832000; Dibdin Spenceriana 377.

Two volumes, royal folio (393 x 261mm). 462 leaves. Manuscript pagination (some trimmed). (Occasional spots, worming at ends.) Modern sienna morocco. Provenance: manuscript index at beginning of each volume, and some early marginalia in vol 1 – acquired from William H. Schab, New York, 2 June 1960.