Two Plautus. 1583 Plautinarum Quaestionum (Gulielmus), and 1595 Aulularia

A sammelband of two Plautus themed printings.

The first work is the 1583 Plautinarum Quaestionum Commentraies; in his emendations, Gulielmus expanded and corrected on previous publications of Plautus, Cicero, and others. Gulielmus work was very-well received and incorporated into future publications. This is the first edition (at time of listing, Quaritch is offering a copy at over $1,300 USD).

The second work is Plautus' Aulularia, printed in 1595. The printer, Commelinus, notes (in the prefatory passages) that he consulted manuscripts and edited the work to reflect what he found; I have found works that have referred to this edition as a "1st edition thus", but BNF says that it's largely based on Pierre Daniel's 1565 edition. Also included is an elegiac poem by Vital de Blois, "Vitalus Gallicus Blesensis de Querulo".

About Plautus -

Titus Maccius Plautus (c. 254 – 184 BC) was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest Latin literary works to have survived in their entirety. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the genre devised by Livius Andronicus, the innovator of Latin literature. The word Plautine refers to both Plautus' own works and works similar to or influenced by his.

About Aulularia ("The Pot of Gold") (missing ending) - A miserly old man, Euclio, has found a pot (aula) of gold in his house, and keeps checking that no one has stolen it. His wealthy neighbour Megadorus comes to ask for the hand of Euclio's daughter Phaedrium, unaware that she was earlier raped and is heavily pregnant. Soon Megadorus's slave Strobilus arrives with two hired cooks to prepare a wedding feast; he instructs one of the cooks, Congrio, to go to Euclio's house and start work. When Euclio returns he is alarmed, thinking his gold is being stolen, and he chases Congrio out into the street. Euclio decides to hide the pot first in a neighbouring temple, and later in a grove outside the city, but he is spied on each time by a slave of Megadorus's nephew Lyconides. Euclio is horrified to find that his gold has been stolen despite his precautions. At this point Lyconides confesses to Euclio that he raped Phaedrium and wishes to marry her. Later Lyconides discovers that it was his slave who stole the gold, and he insists that it must be returned.

Provenance -

The ex-libris bookplate of the Venetian book collector Prince Alberti Giovanelli is found on the pastedown.

Bibliographic Details -

1583 Plautinarum...

Universal Short Title Catalogue (USTC) number 170689; not rare, found in many of the world's best libraries including the Plantin Museum, Trinity College, most of the Oxford/Cambridge campuses, the Morgan, Beinecke, etc.

Pettegree Walsby Wilkinson - reference 91230

1595 Aulularia

Universal Short Title Catalogue (USTC) number 684209; not rare, found in many of the world's best libraries including the BNF, the Vatican, Bodleian, etc. In the U.S., only copies recorded at Univ of Penn Library and Yale Beinecke.

Adams - P1523

Physical Attributes -

Measures approx. 10.5 x 16.5 x 2.5 cm. Decorative paper covers a case binding. Title in gilt, on (red Morocco?) on spine. Two works in one book; both with a printer’s mark on title page. Some head and tailpieces, initials, etc.

1583 Plautinarum

Pages – xxxii, 324, [12 – typographus]

Collation – a8, e8, A-V8, X-Y4

1595 Plauti Quarolus

Pages – xii, 114

Collation - q6, A-G8, H1 (missing blank H2)

Condition -

See pictures. Case binding with some edge/corner wear and rubbing. Spine sunned with the dark remnants of a ticket near the top. Top-edge of text block with some darkening. Ex-libris plate on pastedown; some bookseller notes on pastedown and flyleaf. Text block toned throughout, with some fox spots. Occasional dog-eared page, thumb, page edge chip, etc. Title page with tiny worm hole at gutter near bottom. K and L gatherings with a hint of moisture mark at top of gutter. 1 cm worm track on 221. Page 236 to end with a 1” worm track in bottom margin. Second work – Green spot (less than 1 cm) on page 19. Page 81/82 (signed F1) with some chipping to bottom edge. Pages 93-96 uncut at fore-edge, chipping again at bottom of F8 (since F1 and 8 are chipped, it may actually be deckling). More toning and foxing towards rear. Second work is missing its rear blank leaf, H2.