SCHOTT, PROVERBIA GRAECORUM, ANTWERP, 1612, BEN JONSON'S COPY WITH HIS OWNERSHIP INSCRIPTION

4to, BEN JONSON'S COPY with his autograph ownership inscription ("Sum Ben: Jonsonij"), motto ("tanquam explorator"), and note on price paid ("12s") on title page, contemporary calf, rebacked, damp stained with spotting and browning, fraying to title page affecting one letter of Jonson's ownership inscription

Ben Jonson (1572-1637); Jeremiah Milles, D.D., Dean of Exeter and antiquary (1714-84), armorial bookplate; sale of his library, Sotheby's, 10 April 1843, lot 6, £1 9s., to Pickering; Edward Craven Hawtrey, Provost of Eton College (1789-1862), his sale, Part 2, Sotheby's, 12 December 1853, lot 6, £4, to R. Monckton Milnes; Robert, Marquess of Crewe, armorial bookplate

Condition is described in the main body of the catalogue, 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."

BEN JONSON'S COPY OF A COLLECTION OF CLASSICAL GREEK MOTTOS. Ben Jonson's library was described as being "well-furnish'd" by John Selden in 1614 (MacPherson, p.5) but was decimated by fire in 1623. More than 200 books from his library are nevertheless known to survive. Some of the surviving books were acquired after the fire, but financial necessity had always made Jonson a regular seller as well as buyer. Unusually, Jonson has printed his name in this book so several of the letter forms (such as the e) are different from those of his more common cursive script. Jonson printed his name in other books in a similar way, such as in his copy of J. Pellison's Rudimenta prima latinae grammatices (1531) (Durham University Library SB 0057/1-2). The book contains a small number of annotations (e.g. sigs I2v, Pp1v, AA2v), not in Jonson's hand, and extensive underlining to the metrical proverbs. This book is not listed in David MacPherson, 'Ben Jonson's Library and Marginalia: An Annotated Catalogue', Studies in Philology 71 (1974), pp.1-106. Sotheby's is grateful to Prof. Henry Woudhuysen for his assistance in cataloguing this lot.