Cicero, Orationum volumen primum, Paris, 1543, contemporary limp vellum

CICERO, MARCUS TULLIUS. Orationum volumen primum [volume one only, of three]. Paris: Robert Estienne, (16 February) 1543

One of the earliest entries into the Bibliotheca Brookeriana. Mr Brooker recalls: “The first truly electrifying acquisition of an early book, which exerted a pivotal influence on what I came to collect, occurred in Paris in 1959 during my junior year abroad from Yale. There, on a sunny Sunday afternoon stroll along the Quais of the Seine, from the stall of a bouquiniste, I found a sixteenth century imprint – Cicero’s Orationes printed by Robert Estienne in 1543 [lot 1400]. It was an octavo volume in a limp vellum binding with yapp edges; containing a handsome text, set in italic. ln the spacious margins of numerous pages, a contemporary scholar had added notations and variant readings in a legible humanistic hand. This was the first sixteenth century book I had held in my hands. It struck me as something of great magnificence and beauty. To my pleasant surprise, it was priced at a very affordable 37.50 New Francs (about eight dollars). Thinking that I had found a great bargain, I paid the price, quickly and without quibbling.

That evening, and for many subsequent evenings when I should have been studying, I examined this Cicero, reading a passage here and there, marveling at the quality of the paper, the typography, and the binding, and pondering about which illustrious sixteenth century humanist might have owned the volume and supplied the marginalia. From the title page and Estienne’s preface, l soon realized that this was only the first volume of a three-volume set. But, never mind, I thought, after all, what could one expect after 400 years? It still remained in my mind a precious article and surely one which was worth a great deal more than I had paid” (“Reflections on my life with rare books”, Bibliotheca Brookeriana sale catalogue, volume 1, p.9).