1544 · Venice
by FESTUS
Venice: Agostino [Bindoni] Milanese, 1544. 8vo (149 x 98 mm). A8 B4 (B4, presumed blank, removed). [22] pages. Italic type. Fine woodcut title border with grotesques and St. George slaying the dragon at the foot, one metalcut initial. Fine. 20th-century havana goatskin, title gilt-lettered on front cover (Sesto Ruffo volgare). ***
First Edition in Italian of the Breviarium rerum gestarum populi romani, a short and flawed epitome of Roman history written for the emperor Valens (who may have been illiterate), by Festus, usually identified as the senator from Tridentum and probably imperial secretary, “who won notoriety for his execution of the Neoplatonist Maximus and persecution of intellectuals generally” (Oxford Classical Dictionary, 3rd ed.).
Evidently Valens wanted short: in 20 pages the work covers over a millennium, from the foundation of Rome to the death of emperor Jovian in 364. While it may have been the first to analyze the history of the Roman empire as a progressive incorporation of provincial territories into the Roman sphere of influence, its historical value is low. Festus probably relied on his own memory of past sources consulted, resulting in a number of errors. Over 100 manuscripts are known, progressively more corrupted.
This is the only edition of this translation, attributed in the colophon to the Minorite friar Andrea Lancianese (“bachelor of sacred literature”). In the same year Bindoni published another equally rare translation by the same friar, of the 12th-century De progenie Augusti Caesaris (misattributed to Corvinus), in the same format, and using the same delightful title border (EDIT16 CNCE 71742). Lancianese’s name appears in three Italian manuscripts, dated 1555, 1558 and 1561 (Iter italicum I: 7, 60, 390). The two Bindoni imprints seem to have been his only appearances in print.
USTC gives 5 Italian locations; OCLC adds the British Library, BnF, and University of Illinois. USTC 853815; EDIT16 CNCE 72124. (Inventory #: 4419)
First Edition in Italian of the Breviarium rerum gestarum populi romani, a short and flawed epitome of Roman history written for the emperor Valens (who may have been illiterate), by Festus, usually identified as the senator from Tridentum and probably imperial secretary, “who won notoriety for his execution of the Neoplatonist Maximus and persecution of intellectuals generally” (Oxford Classical Dictionary, 3rd ed.).
Evidently Valens wanted short: in 20 pages the work covers over a millennium, from the foundation of Rome to the death of emperor Jovian in 364. While it may have been the first to analyze the history of the Roman empire as a progressive incorporation of provincial territories into the Roman sphere of influence, its historical value is low. Festus probably relied on his own memory of past sources consulted, resulting in a number of errors. Over 100 manuscripts are known, progressively more corrupted.
This is the only edition of this translation, attributed in the colophon to the Minorite friar Andrea Lancianese (“bachelor of sacred literature”). In the same year Bindoni published another equally rare translation by the same friar, of the 12th-century De progenie Augusti Caesaris (misattributed to Corvinus), in the same format, and using the same delightful title border (EDIT16 CNCE 71742). Lancianese’s name appears in three Italian manuscripts, dated 1555, 1558 and 1561 (Iter italicum I: 7, 60, 390). The two Bindoni imprints seem to have been his only appearances in print.
USTC gives 5 Italian locations; OCLC adds the British Library, BnF, and University of Illinois. USTC 853815; EDIT16 CNCE 72124. (Inventory #: 4419)
(212) 579-2099
