The Romane Historie

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Auction dateClassic
06.10.2022 12:00UTC -04:00
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CHRISTIE'S
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ID 813626
Lot 19 | The Romane Historie
The Romane Historie

Livy, 1600

LIVIUS, Titus (c.59 BCE-c.17 CE). The Romane Historie Written by T. Livius of Padua. Translated by Philemon Holland. London: Adam Islip, 1600.



First edition in English of Livy’s paradigmatic history of Rome. "This was the first of that stately array of folio translations of the classics which issued from the pens of the 'translator generall in his age,"—Philemon Holland (Pforzheimer). Livy's text, surviving only in fragments yet still vitally important and famed for the lactea ubertas ("milky richness") of its style, was written in the reign of Emperor Augustus and continued to be a whetstone for political philosophy and inspiration for historical dramas for centuries. Holland's translation, dedicated to Queen Elizabeth I, was a likely influence on Shakespeare. ESTC S114001; Pforzheimer 495.



Folio (314 x 203mm). Woodcut device on title, portraits of Elizabeth I and Livy, ornaments and initials (dampstaining and a little dustsoiling, portion of lower corner of F4 torn away affecting about 6 lines of type, occasional stains and a wormtrack at end, burn hole affecting one word). Modern half calf over marbled boards (worn at extremities). Provenance: trimmed signature on title – inscription: "Thomas Fent: not his booke, de Leekemoore syde / but John Bodley his book."

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