[PS. PLINY or SEXTUS AURELIUS VICTOR (c.320-390), here attributed to SUETONIUS (c.69-c.122)] - photo 1
[PS. PLINY or SEXTUS AURELIUS VICTOR (c.320-390), here attributed to SUETONIUS (c.69-c.122)] - photo 2
[PS. PLINY or SEXTUS AURELIUS VICTOR (c.320-390), here attributed to SUETONIUS (c.69-c.122)] - photo 3

[PS. PLINY or SEXTUS AURELIUS VICTOR (c.320-390), here attributed to SUETONIUS (c.69-c.122)]

Lot 25
13.07.2022 10:30UTC +00:00
Classic
Sold
£ 6 930
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
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ID 794548
Lot 25 | [PS. PLINY or SEXTUS AURELIUS VICTOR (c.320-390), here attributed to SUETONIUS (c.69-c.122)]
Estimate value
£ 6 000 – 9 000
[PS. PLINY or SEXTUS AURELIUS VICTOR (c.320-390), here attributed to SUETONIUS (c.69-c.122)]

De Praeclare gestis Romanorum, in Latin, decorated manuscript on paper [northern Italy], 10 December 1432.

An early, dated humanist copy of a rare text of short biographies of important men in the history of Rome, from Procas to Pompey, signed by the scribe Michele da Bergamo.



188 x 142mm. 32 leaves, complete, modern foliation 1-32 followed here, 24 lines, ruled space: 145 x 91mm., one large initial in blue with red penwork flourishing, initials in red throughout (a few marginal stains, some thumbing). 19th-century quarter green morocco gilt over marbled paper boards (text block almost detached from upper board, edges and spine scuffed).



Provenance:

(1) The colophon, dated 10 December 1432, identifies the scribe as Michele da Bergamo (‘Finitu[m] fuit hoc opus per me Michaelem de P[er]gamo de Anno currente Millesimo quatercentessimo trigessimo secondo die x decembris’), son of Balzarino (‘filius qu[o]nda[m] balzarini’).

(2) 19th-century page tipped in to front flyleaf with description of the text in Spanish. Book sticker with no 5099 on inside lower cover.



Content: Suetonius Tranquillus De Praeclare gestis Romanorum, beginning ‘Proca rex Albanoru[m] Amulium et Numitorem filios habuit […] ff.1-26v; a paragraph on the 10 Kings of Egypt f.27; modes of addressing friends and officials, in Italian and Latin f.27v; PSEUDO-PILATUS, Pontius, Epistola ad Tiberium, beginning ‘Nuper accidit’ f.28; blanks ff.29-32.

More commonly known as the De viris illustribus, this is a chronological compilation of short, concise biographies of important men from the history of the Roman republic, falling within the popular genre of Roman exemplary literature, the most famous of which is Suetonius’ early second-century work De Vita Caesarum. Where modern editions of the text usually contain 86 chapters, beginning with the reign of the mythological King Procas of Alba Longa and ending with Cleopatra, these are based on only two extant manuscripts. Almost all other surviving manuscript copies (including this one) have 77 chapters, beginning with Procas and ending with Pompey the Great.



From the 16th century onwards editions of the text of the present manuscript have generally been attributed to Sextus Aurelius Victor (c.320-90 CE), a Roman historian and politician. The 15th-century manuscript and incunable tradition is much more complicated, with texts variously attributed to Sextus Aurelius Victor, Pliny (the Younger, if indicated), Cornelius Nepos, and, much less frequently, Suetonius (for example in an incunable apparently printed in Milan by Philippus de Lavagnia in 1475, Goff A1385; H 2133; GW M50382; and a 1510 edition printed in Strasbourg which also includes the same final added verses as in the present manuscript: ‘Romanas acies regumque illustria facta / Si cupis hoc sumas fac breve lector opus / Quod breve sit quamvis i[n]gentia po[n]dera rer[um] / Continet et veterum fortia facta virum’). Despite considerable attention to the issue of its authorship (see M.M. Sage, ‘The De Viris Illustribus: authorship and date’, Hermes 108, (1980), pp.83-100), its true author remains unknown.



There are over 150 surviving manuscript copies of the text (see M.D. Reeve and R. J. Tarrant, ‘De viris illustribus,’ Texts and Transmission: A Survey of Latin Classics, 1983, p.151), but it is exceptionally rare on the market.





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Place of origin:Italy, Europe
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