TROGUS, Gnaeus Pompeius. Iustini historiarum ex Trogo Pompeio Lib. XLIV. cum notis Isaaci Vossii
Lugd. Batavorum, ex officina Elzeviriana, Anno 1640
£ 750
12mo (12.3 x 7.5 cm). 294 pp [8]., plus 39 of notes and 54 of index. Engraved title page by Cornelis Claesz Duysend. Dedicatory letter of Isaac Vossius to Thur. Bielke. Ex-libris of previous owner (T. Thornhill) on top pastedown. Latin and Greek type. Slight foxing. Blind stamped and gilt black and red morocco binding, marbled pastedowns; spine with five raised bands, gilt title and flower ornamentation; corners slightly worn. A fine copy.
Two editions were published in 1640. This one, the first edition and the more beautiful exemplar, which also contains the dedicatory letter by the Dutch scholar and manuscript collector Isaac Vossius (1618-1689). The second edition does not include the dedicatory letter, but it does include little summaries at the beginning of each chapter which do not appear here.
The Philippic Histories, in 44 volumes, focussed on the Macedonian Empire founded by Philip II and on its expansion under Alexander the Great and his successors. The original text of Trogus’s Philippic Histories survived solely through the famous summary produced by Justin and through excerpts by other authors, including Jerome and Augustine.
The engraved title page signed by Cornelis Claesz Duysend (fl. 1630-1640) depicts the naked Fortuna or Occasio on a shell in the sea while holding her typical attribute of the sail.
Willems 502.