‎SALLUSTIUS. ‎
‎Caii Crispi Sallustii Quae exstant, item epistolae de republica ordinanda, declamatio in Ciceronem et Pseudo-Ciceronis in Sallustium, necnon Jul. Exsuperantius de bellis civilibus, ac Porcius Latro in Catilinam. Recensuit diligentissime et adnotationibus illustravit Gottlieb Cortius. Accedunt fragmenta veterum historicorum, Constantius Felicius Durantinus de Conjuratione Catilinae, et index necessarius. ‎

‎Venice (Venetiis), Excudit Jo. Baptista Paschalius, 1737. ‎

Reference : 140040

‎4to. XVI,948,150 p. Vellum 27 cm. An admirable edition (Ref: Leeman 235; Schweiger 2,881: 'schöner Nachdr. von Corte's Ausgabe'; Brunet 5,86; Dibdin 385/86; Moss 2,560; Fabricius/Ernesti 1,244/45: 'textus sine dubio optimus'; Graesse 6/1,241; Ebert 20030) (Details: Back with 6 raised bands. Short title in the second compartment. Blind tooled boards. Title in red and black, on it a baroque printer's mark engraved by 'Ant. Visentini j.', it depicts Apollo standing in glory as he leans on his shield, and holding an open book in his right hand; the scene is placed in cartouche; above Apollo Pasquali's motto 'Litterarum Felicitas'. 2 engraved headpieces) (Condition: A not very objectionable tear of 3 cm on the joint at the head of the spine. Bound somewhat too tightly) (Note: This Venetian edition of Sallust of 1737 is a reissue of the Leipzig edition of the German classical scholar Gottlieb Cortius, or Corte or Kort(t)e, which was published in Leipzig in 1724. Cortius, born in 1698, made his name producing editions of Latin authors, so-called 'Variorum editions'. These productions provided very extensive commentaries, in the manner of the Dutch scholar Petrus Burmannus. From 1726 till his death in 1731, Cortius was professor of law at the University of Leipzig. His most important contribution to classical scholarship is his edition of Sallust of 1724. It is an elaborate and critical edition, meant for those who wish to enter minutely into all the niceties of grammatical construction and historical illustration. For the text Cortius consulted 30 manuscripts and a lot of important earlier editions 'with an accuracy and precision that reflects distinguished credit on the editor'. (Dibdin) Cortius was furthermore the first editor to bring the fragments in a more or less chronological order. After the works of Sallust Cortius added 'De bellis Civilibus' of the late antique historian Julius Exsuperantius, a treatise that was found at the end of Sallust in an old manuscript 'ex bibliotheca Pithoeana'. (p. 913) It is in fact a rhetorical 'breviarium' of Sallust's 'Historiae'. This 'breviarium' is followed by a 'Declamatio contra Lucium Sergium Catilinam', which we now ascribe to the Roman rhetorician Marcus Porcius Latro (died 4 B.C.). Some assume that Porcius Latro is also the author of the Orations of Sallust against Cicero, and of Cicero against Sallust. 'One of the most widely read and influential of Roman historians, along with Caesar, Livy, and Tacitus, Sallust (86-34 BC) has been studied, quoted, and imitated not only as a historian but also as a moral philosopher, political thinker, and stylist'. Sallust was used in the 16th and 17th century to support absolute theories of government. But, on the other hand, Sallust was also portrayed as a republican and ennemy of tyrants. Yet, Sallustius preached party politics under a cloak of grave and philosophic impartiality. This edition of 1737 contains an influential monograph of the Italian humanist Constanzo Felice of Castel Durante, first published in Rome in 1518, which questioned this impartiality. In his 'Historia conjurationis Catilinariae non pauca a Sallustio praetermissa continens' (part 2, p. 73/106 in this edition) he stands up against Catilina and Caesar, in defence of Cicero. Despite his appeals to principles of historical objectivity however, Constantius Felicius, who was a product of the Renaissance Ciceronian movement, was chiefly concerned with enhancing Cicero's role in the events during the 'Coniuratio Catilinae', promoting his superior rhetoric. This monograph influenced in the 19th century German historians like Theodor Mommsen and Eduard Schwartz, who launched an attack on Sallust's credibility as an historian. Felicius' monograph on the 'Coniuratio Catilinae' was long time seen as an apology for Caesar, and the work of a political pamphleteer, written in support of a conservative ideology. (See for this monograph: Patricia J. Osmond and Robert W. Ulery Jr., 'Constantius Felicius Durantinus and the Renaissance Origins of Anti-Sallustian Criticism', in International Journal of the Classical Tradition, Vol. 1, No. 3 (Winter, 1995), p. 29-56)) (Collation: pi2; +-2+4, *-2*4; A-5G4, chi1, 5H-6C4, 2chi2, a-t4 (leaf t4 blank)) (Photographs on request) (Heavy book, may require extra shipping costs) ‎