LIVY'S HISTORY OF ROME [AB URBE CONDITA] 1520 - 1521 FIRST FOLIO ALDINE EDITION

[LIVY (Titus Livius Patavinus)]. Ex XIIII. T. Livii Decadibus. Prima, Tertia, Quarta, Cuius Tertio libro prima pars, quæ desyderabat, & Decimo quicquid ferè in calce non habebamus, additum est. verum præter hæc veluti fragmenta quartæ Decadi adiuncta. Sciant omnes qui hæc lecturi sunt, aliarum quoque Decadum libros castigatiores nunc emitti, quàm unquam aliâs. nam & multa adulterina expunximus, & multa vera recepimus, beneficio veterum exemplarium adivti. Duplex Epitome ... à T. Livio compositam esse, alteram ab L. Floro, qui omnem historiam ex T. Livio excerpsit ... Polybii libri V de rebus Romanis in latinam traducti à Nicolao Perotto … Venetiis [Venice] : [Heirs of] Aldus Manutius, and Andrea Torresanus, October 1520 - February 1521.

Hardcover. First folio Aldine edition. Five volumes in one, complete. Leather-bound. Thick folio [2°] (300 x 210 x 75mm), 442 leaves numbered on rectos. Latin text in Roman letter in lines of 54. Later full vellum. Title from general title page, partly in capitals, on leaf A1 recto of Part 1. Printed in five parts (and complete with the often lacking part 5 "Polybii Libri VI de rebus Romanis"), with titles and colophons in capitals: Part 1: title "Titi Livii Patavini Decas prima", colophon "Venetiis in aedibus Aldi, et Andreae soceri, mense Ianuario. M · D · XXI·" (leaves a1 recto and n10 recto respectively); Part 2: title "Titi Livii Patavini Decas tertia", colophon "Venetiis in aedibus Aldi, et Andreae soceri, M · D · XX· mense Octobri" (leaves aa1 recto and nn6 recto respectively); Part 3: title "Titi Livii Patavini Decas quarta", colophon "Venetiis in aedibus Aldi, et Andreae soceri, mense Novembri· M· D·XX·" (leaves aaa1 recto and lll8 verso respectively); Part 4: title "Titi Livii Patavini Decadum XIIII epi-/tomae. / Lucius Florus", colophon "Venetiis in aedibus Aldi, et Andreae soceri, mense Decembri· M· D· XX·" (leaves mmm1 recto and qqq7 verso respectively); Part 5: title "Polybii Historiarum libri quinque in Latiam [sic] conversi linguam, Ni-/colao Perotto interprete", colophon "Venetiis in aedibus Aldi, et Andreae soceri, mense Februario· M· D· XXI·" (leaves A1 recto and I7 verso respectively). Edited by Franciscus Torresanus Asulanus (preface). Index compiled by Johannes Malatesta. Polybius's Historiae in Part 5 translated by Nicolaus Perottus. Woodcut printer's anchor devices as follows (seven in total): Part 1: A8 (leaves A1 recto and a1 recto); Part 2: A3c (leaf [star]1 recto); Part 3: A8 (leaf [star star]1 recto); Part 4: A8 (leaf qqq8 verso); Part 5: A8 (leaves ²A recto and I8 verso). A variant issue with last leaf qqq7 of Part 4 correctly numbered 127 recorded in Cambridge: see Adams L-1324. Text in long lines, but in five columns for indexes. Printed foliation as follows: Part 1: [14], 106; Part 2: [10], 102; Part 3: [10], 88; Part 4: [89]-127, [1]; Part 5: 71, [1]. Spaces left blank for initials, with printed guide letters. Parts 3 and 4 sharing collation. Signatures: Part 1: A⁸ B⁶ a-m⁸ n¹⁰; Part 2: [star]¹⁰ aa-mm⁸ nn⁶; Parts 3 and 4: [star star]¹⁰ aaa-qqq⁸; Part 5: ²A-²B⁸ C-I⁸. Provenance: small bookplate to front pastedown with 'Di D. Giovanni Maria Arquati ex - Cappuccino', also a small institutional stamp verso A3 which is difficult to transcribe. [USTC 838282; Adams L1323; 'Elle est fort rare' Renouard 89.6.].

Condition: GOOD to VERY GOOD. Collated complete. Binding secure. Slight marking and wear to covers. Careful repairs to the margins of a few leaves. Sporadic moderate browning and toning, notably to A1-A4, but with majority of the textblock remaining fresh. Some ink scribbling to A1 and A2. Occasional marginalia, underscoring and ink spots - importantly nothing obscuring text. Good margins. Very Rare. See Renouard's Annales de l'Imprimerie des Aldes and Goldsmid's Biographical Sketch of the Aldine Press & Catalogue.

Note: Few works on the history of Rome are as important and impactful as Livy's 'Ab Urbe Condita.' Livy began working on this work at the end of the 1st-century BC and covers the earliest times and the foundation of Rome through the reign of Caesar Augustus and was famously written in a series of 'decades'. Sixteenth century printings of Livy are exceptionally rare, but this volume, published by Aldine, is even more desirable. Complete sets, with all five volumes, of this important work from the Aldine press are extremely difficult to obtain. A true treasure of Aldine and Roman history.