Ioannou tou Kantakouzenou apobasileos Istorion biblia d. = Joannis Cantacuzeni eximperatoris Historiarum libri IV. Jacobus Pontanus vertit, & notas suas cum Jacobi Gretseri adnotationibus addidit. Graece nunc primum prodeunt ex codice ms. Bibliotheca viri illustrissimi Petri Seguierii
Venetiis: ex typogrgraphia B. Javarina, 1729. Folio (leaf 39.0 cm), pp. [24], 724, 76, [36]; engraved vignette title page, text in Greek and Latin in parallel columns; woodcut ornaments and decoration; later full speckled calf, gilt decorated spine in 7 compartments, red morocco label in 1; joints cracked, cords holding; all else clean and crisp. Bookplate Samuel James, Baron Waring. A famous four-volume history of the Byzantine Empire written by John VI Kantakouzenos (1292-1383/4) "a Byzantine emperor and nobleman, statesman, and general who reigned as Byzantine emperor in from 1347 to 1354. Deposed by his former ward, he was forced to retire to a monastery under the name Joasaph Christodoulos, and spent the remainder of his life as a monk and historian. At age 91 at his death, he was the longest-lived of the Roman emperors" (Wikipedia). Translated by Jacobus Pontanus, (a.k.a. Jakob Spanmüller), "a Bohemian Jesuit poet, educator, and humanist whose works exemplify the Jesuit integration of classical humanism with Catholic theology" (Brill); with the annotations of Jacobus Gretser. They are now published in Greek for the first time, from a manuscript codex in the library of Pierre Séguier. This is part of the Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae, begun under the direction of the Jesuit scholar Philippe Labbe in the 17th century, and continued by Charles du Fresne, a French philologist and historian, one of the great universal scholars of the 17th century. See: Graesse I, 587; Brunet I, 1437. Item #73501
Price: $1,250.00
