Lucius Seneca. 1587 L Annaei Senecae Philosophi Stoici, Opera Quae Extant Omnia

Folio, 1587 Parisian printing of the works of Seneca, the Stoic Philosopher. Edited by, and with an introduction (and portrait) of Marc-Antoine Muret. With an obituary of the editor printed at the rear (with it's own title, but the signing on the gatherings reveals it is the same printing).

About Seneca -

Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger (4 BC – AD 65), usually known mononymously as Seneca, was a Stoic philosopher of Ancient Rome, a statesman, dramatist, and in one work, satirist, from the post-Augustan age of Latin literature.

As a writer, Seneca is known for his philosophical works, and for his plays, which are all tragedies. His prose works include 12 essays and 124 letters dealing with moral issues. These writings constitute one of the most important bodies of primary material for ancient Stoicism. As a tragedian, he is best known for plays such as his Medea, Thyestes, and Phaedra. Seneca had an immense influence on later generations—during the Renaissance he was "a sage admired and venerated as an oracle of moral, even of Christian edification; a master of literary style and a model dramatic art.

About the Editor -

Mureti is the Latinized name of Marc Antoine Muret (1526 - 1585), a French humanist who was among the revivers of a Ciceronian Latin style and is among the usual candidates for the best Latin prose stylist of the Renaissance.


Bibliographic Details -

Universal Short Title Catalogue number 170883; ten copies in the world's libraries, none recorded in the U.S.

Pettegree, Walsby and Wilkinson, French Vernacular Books published in the French language before 1601 - reference number 86139

Physical Attributes -

Measures approx. 33 x 21 x 4 cm, folio. Molted calf binding. Spine with gilt decoration and the author/title in gilt on red morocco. Printer's mark on title page. Full-page portrait of editor.

Pages - xviii, leaf of portrait, 1-625, i, 30, title page leaf (Muret obit), 94, blank leaf, [40-index]

Collation - a6, e4, A-Z6, Aa-Zz6, AA-FF6, A-B6, C4, a-h6, * to **6, *** to ****4

Condition -

See pictures. Older restoration; the respining was expertly done, the edges of leather blended almost perfectly. Still, boards, edges, and spine with some wear, rubbing, etc.. The marbled flyleaves have lifted a little from the pastedown and first endpaper. Front blank endpaper (not part of the textblock) with some damage at the gutter. Front endpapers with ex libris inscriptions, tickets, plates, bookseller notes, etc.. Title page with some toning, several ex libris inscriptions (one at gutter, other at top right) and old shelf mark (upper corner). Some toning throughout. Occasional fox spot, thumb, dog-eared page, candle ember spot, errant ink mark, etc.. There are some marginal notes, including manicules (page 86 and 87)..