Cicero, Epistolae ad familiares; 5 fragments, Italian C15th

Cicero, Epistolae ad familiares (letters to friends), 5 fragments, probably Italian and last decades of the C15th. Note there are words in Greek here as well as the main body in Latin.

Sizes vary. 190mm x 270mm; (to) 190mm x 45mm

The numerous marginal and interlinear glosses here are interesting, and show that the original or early owner of the book was trying to compile readings from different sources – in order to get to the ‘best’ reading. We might even call it a ‘scholar’s copy’ on basis of use of paper, unrefined hand and academic interest in the best version of the text.

The work was extremely popular in the Renaissance, and was printed in 1467 by Sweynheym and Pannartz in 1467, with further multiple reprints in 1469 – so these might be partly descendent on a print copy.