Plautus, Titus Maccius

Chancery folio (297 x 205mm.), 422 leaves, AA⁶ a⁶ b-z & [con] [rum] A-Z aa-bb⁸ cc¹⁰, 43 lines of text plus headline, roman type with some words printed in Greek, 3- to 5-line initial spaces with printed guides, three lines at head of AA2 printed in red, early annotations in different hands (including pagination which has been added to the index entries), manuscript verses on verso of final leaf entitled "De partibus anni", modern vellum retaining endleaves from previous (early nineteenth-century half calf) binding, old blue edges, some light spotting or staining, small hole in margin of h3, I3-4 pasted together over a small area, small paper repair beneath colophon, final leaf (containing register) torn, soiled and repaired

Alexander Chimelius of Horazdovice (Bohemia), inscription inside printer's device; Ignaz Aurelius Fessler (1756-1839), Hungarian historian and freemason, inscription on title-page "IAFessler"; crowned monogram on title-page; Hartung & Karl, auction, November 1977, lot 160, for 1,320 CHF

Goff P785; HC 13084; BMC vi 775; BSB-Ink P577; Bod-inc P-357

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This is the first edition of Plautus to contain the extensive commentary of Giovanni Battista Pio (1460-1540). This copy shows close reading and interpretation of the text by several early readers, including translations of some of the Greek quotations in the commentary. The note against the translation of the Greek text on x8v states "Hoc sic vertit Philip Melanχ", and that on y6r "Alciatus vertit...", in a plausibly English hand of c. 1600.

The play with the most annotations, Aulularia or The Pot of Gold, is incomplete in the extant manuscripts and a conclusion was written by Antonius Urceus Codrus (1446-1500), though his name does not appear in this edition. Although Plautus had appeared in print about seven times by the end of the fifteenth century, this is the first edition in which the play contains the additional final 27 lines rather than finishing mid-line with the phrase "imperfecta fabula".

On the title-page is a two-line poem by Publio Fausto Andrelini, written in a humanist hand, which was used as an epigram at the start of the play Aulularia in editions of Plautus printed in Strassburg in 1510 and 1511 (VD16 P3411 and P3401). The poem about the seasons on the final verso is partly recorded in a volume of old poetry printed in Prague in the mid-eighteenth century.