1609 Tacitus, Opera Quae Extant. Edited by Curzio Picchena. Geneva edition

A rare 1609 Geneva edition of Curzio Picchena's edited works of Tacitus. Picchena used several previously unpublished ancient manuscripts to produce this well-regarded edition of Tacitus' works. This is the rare Geneva edition, second to the 1607 Frankfurt edition. Picchena also added a section of notes.

Tacitus -

Publius (or Gaius) Cornelius Tacitus (c. AD 56 – c. 120) was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. He lived in what has been called the Silver Age of Latin literature, and has a reputation for the brevity and compactness of his Latin prose, as well as for his penetrating insights into the psychology of power politics.

Curzio Picchena -

Curzio Picchena was an Italian politician, scholar and diplomat to the Medici. He maintained a friendship with Galileo, even travelling with him in 1615/1616. The dedication of this work is to Cosimo Medici II.

Scarcity -

There are two OCLC numbers recorded for this work, but only one has a physical copy associated with it. OCLC number 459179747 records just one copy in the BNF (Bibliotheque Nationale de France).

Provenance -

With the ex libris annotation "Stephanus Balarius Tutelensis", the known signature of Etienne Baluze (i.e. Stephanus Baluzius). Etienne Baluze (1630-1718) was a French scholar, librarian, and historiographer.

Physical Attributes -

Measures approx. 16 x 10 x 5 cm. Mottled calf leather binding. Spine with five raised bands; five compartments with a central gilt floret surrounded by leafy sprays, one compartment with the Cornelli Taciti in gilt. Sprinkled edges. Pages - xxiv, 824, 232, xxii - index.

Condition -

See pictures. French mottled calf binding well-worn, with corners exposed, a few worm tracks, joints starting, chips at top and bottom of spine, board rubs, etc.. Paper toned and foxed throughout. Occasionally the toning/foxing is significant (at front, a section mid-book, etc.). A moisture mark at gutter at front. Several moisture spots along fore-edge. First book with much annotation and underlining (through page 55); also, book 1 of the Histories, pages 450 to 463. With a last quire of 7, presumably a blank, or colophon lacking at the rear.