Opera Quae Exstant [= The Works Which Remain]

Batavorum: Jacobum a Poolsum et Johannem Visch, 1721. Later edition. Hardcover. Very Good. 2 vol. 4to. [35], 2-756, [2]; [3], 4-578, [158] pp. Mid-eighteenth century paneled calf, neatly rebacked in the style of the period, with the spine in seven compartments, gold decorations on the spine, recent red morocco labels on the spine; textblock decoratively speckled. Illustrated with an engraved frontispiece (which is actually the engraved title page), engraved initials and tailpieces, and a few in-text diagrams. Title pages printed in red and black with the publisher's device engraved on each title page. With various commentaries, notes, and an index. With the errata slip. The Gronovius edition with the Gronovius brothers' notes and commentary. Dibdin 454. Not in Graesse. Moss 644. Oxford Classical Dictionary, 1469-1470. Moss refers to this set as "a very excellent and valuable edition, and infinitely superior to the preceding, in the accuracy of the text and in the quantity and utility of the notes." Moss goes on to call this a rare and dear edition, and a "useful edition of Tacitus". Dibdin labels it "an ample and excellent edition; containing the notes and observations of almost all the old and best editors". Tacitus inarguably remains one of the most significant Roman historians and authors. His copious works touch on famous moments in antiquity such as the Great Fire, Nero's murder of his mother, the reign of Claudius, and the civil wars between Galba and Vespasian. Tacitus also wrote an ethnography of several German tribes, present in this set. A rather sympathetic portrayal, Tacitus is not shy about comparing the German people to the Romans. Although parts of the Annales and the Histories were lost to time, they still remain an engaging, helpful tool in understanding Roman history, politics, and culture, particularly during the latter first century A.C.E. A beautiful set of Roman history, difficult to find with such copious commentary. Minor wear to the boards' edges; contemporary owner's name on the front flyleaf of volume one with a few leaves showing a tiny chip to the margin, not affecting the text.