Descrizione

Four volumes, 12° (126 x 70 mm). Volume 1: [24], 675, [17] pp. *¹² A-2E¹² 2F¹⁰; Volume 2: 751, [15] pp. a-2i¹²; Volume 3: 774, [14] pp. A-2I¹² 2K¹⁰; Volume 4: [28], 808, [4] pp. *¹² 2*² A-2L¹². Uniformly bound in contemporary (Swedish?) calf binding, panels with gilt decorations within a double frame, spines covered by a gilt geometrical pattern decoration and with double lettering piece for the title and the volume's number, colored edges (slightly worn and rubbed). Armorial bookplate of Reverend William H. King on the pastedowns and ownership entry "Evans CCCL" on the title pages.  Engraved general title page on volume one (depicting a Muse and the Roman shewolf brestfeeding Romulus and Remus) signed by Corn. Cl. Duysendt. Woodcut printer's device on the title page of second and third volume (T. Livii Patavini historiarum ab urbe condita, tomus secundus and tertius), head- and tail-pieces. The fourth volume, printed one year later, containes Joannes Fredericus Gronovius' commentary on T. Livius' work and his dedication to Claude de Mesmes (1595-1650, seventeenth-century French diplomat and statesman who played a significant role in the foreign policy of the French monarchy during the Thirty Years' War. Serving under Cardinal Richelieu and later Cardinal Mazarin, he participated in several important diplomatic negotiations aimed at strengthening France's political influence in Europe. De Mesmes is particularly remembered for his involvement in the negotiations that contributed to the Peace of Westphalia (1648), a landmark settlement that reshaped the European balance of power and laid important foundations for modern international diplomacy). Slightly browned, some marginal staining, overall a good copy.
Second corrected Elzevier edition after that of 1634. Johannes Fredericus Gronovius (1611–1671) was a distinguished Dutch humanist, classical scholar, and philologist of the seventeenth century. Educated within the intellectual milieu of the Dutch Republic, he became renowned for his critical editions and commentaries on Latin authors, particularly Livy, Tacitus, and Seneca. Gronovius contributed significantly to the development of textual criticism through his rigorous comparison of manuscripts and his philological methodology, which influenced subsequent generations of classical scholars. His academic career, notably at the University of Leiden, positioned him among the leading intellectual figures of early modern European humanism.
Titus Livius historiographical work, Ab urbe condita libri, narrates the history of Rome from its mythical origins to the death of Drusus (9 BC) and the defeat of Teutoburg (9 AD). The work has an annalistic structure, as in the best Roman historiographical traditions, and therefore rejects the monographic model of Sallust. In this work, he mixes history and legend, especially regarding Rome's early phases, and often does not remain immune to Augustan propaganda. His historiography is not tragic, but it nonetheless makes the tragedy of its characters a central element, even from an artistic perspective. In a measured style, however, without the incursions made by Sallust, Livy clearly presents the events of history, often contained in the direct speeches of individual characters, which embody the moods of the crowd or of entire populations. 
Willems, 590; OCLC, 9997181.