671J Titus Livius (59BC-AD17) , Marcus Antonius Sabellicus.(1436-1506); Johannes Andreae, and others
[Titi Livii Historiae romanae decades I, III-IV, cum Johannis Andreae Epistola et L. Flori Epitome decadum XIV. Praemittuntur M.A. Sabellici epistola et annotationes.].
Venice : (no printer) [Johannes Rubeus Vercellensis], 5 Nov. 1491 Imprint: [Matteo Capcasa (di Codeca)], [Although the types are indistinguishable, the layout suggests Rubeus rather than Capcasa as the printer (Sheppard)]
Price: $12,000
There seems to controversies over who printed this volume. Goff, CIBN, IGI, and Polain assigns it to [Matteo Capcasa (di Codeca)]: Sheppard notes that, although the types are indistinguishable, the layout suggests Rubeus rather than Capcasa as the printer. BMC and Hain suggest another 1493 edition.
Super-chancery folio: 33.5 x 22 cm. Signatures π6, a10 b6 c10 d-n8aa-ii8 kk-ll6, A-G8H10
(π6, a1,n8 blank and present) Bound in sixteenth century vellum. Ownership note: “Al Mag.co…” strongly suggests a formula of address, possibly a dedication to a Magnifico patron or owner. Could be linked to a Florentine or Venetian context. This copy is profusely annotated, from beginning to end by a clear contemporary hand. The present example is remarkable for its continuous contemporary marginalia: a running index of names, places, and events throughout the prima decade to the quarta decade, liber decimus. The annotator systematically extracts auctores on every page, producing a personal epitome of Roman history. More than this, he interweaves cross-references to other authorities — Augustine, Varro, Aulus Gellius, Virgil, and Cicero among them — and transcribes entire ritual formulae (the devotio Decii of Book VIII) and antiquarian notes (on banquets, kinship terminology, etc., from Gellius). The effect is to transform a standard Venetian Livy into a working commentarius, a kind of personalised critical edition. From the very first leaf, an early Italian hand has turned the book into a working commentarius. Every page bristles with marginalia: lists of names, places, and episodes, effectively a running index of Roman history from the fall of Troy through the early Republic. But the annotator goes further. He checks Livy against Augustine, Varro, Aulus Gellius, Virgil, and Cicero, transcribes entire ritual formulae like the devotio Decii (Livy VIII), and even copies antiquarian notes on banquets and kinship. At the front, a vernacular maxim — “La religione è cosa sopra tutte l’altre si stima” — shows the book being read not just historically, but morally. Our annotator the reader turns Livy into a kind of personal index & commonplace book. At the beginning, the notes are dense, listing auctores in long chains (Virgil, Augustine, Cicero, etc.), then throughout Books I–X each page gets its marginal catchwords: names, places, episodes, authorities. The effect is cumulative: a running epitome and concordance of Livy.
Fifteenth century Humanists saw Livy’s work as a model of classical eloquence, and his emphasis on traditional Roman virtues and stoicism proved immensely influential on Renaissance humanism. Additionally, Livy’s emphasis on the power of human agency in historical events was praised as a rejection of fatalism and a sign of the Renaissance focus on individualism and human potential. The text of Livius’ History survives in ten books referred to as Decade, but only three of the original fourteen were known in the late Middle Ages, with the first, third, and fourth books eventually circulating together.
His work was highly influential in the Renaissance and was widely read during the 15th century, particularly in Italy. Several Italian humanists, such as Leonardo Bruni and Poggio Bracciolini, made extensive use of Livy’s works in their own writings, and it is thought that Livy’s work played a significant role in shaping the humanist movement. “The Renaissance was a time of intense revival; the population discovered that Livy’s work was being lost and large amounts of money changed hands in the rush to collect Livian manuscripts.
The poet Beccadelli sold a country home for funding to purchase one manuscript copied by Poggio. Petrarch and Pope Nicholas V launched a search for the now missing books. Laurentius Valla published an amended text initiating the field of Livy scholarship. Dante speaks highly of him in his poetry, and Francis I of France commissioned extensive artwork treating Livian themes; Niccolò Machiavelli’s work on republics, the Discourses on Livy, is presented as a commentary on the History of Rome.”
On the last leaf our annotator leaves us three interesting messages.
Hic mihi Cæsar numerat tesseram Iunio
Calavius Sic geminino dicto consilio petit
insidioser, si audis bello Catroni
Ita tibi geminos miles et socios erit
“Here Caesar gives me the watchword: Junius Calavius.
Thus, by such a twin-named plot, he seeks treachery.
If you listen, in the Catronian war,
so you will have twin soldiers and allies with you.”
Iane, Iupiter, Mars, P. Quirine, Bellona, Lares, diui nouensiles,
di indigetes, diui quorum est potestas nostra, hostiumque, di manes, vos precor, ueneror, veniam peto feroq[ue], uti populo Romano Quiritium uim uictoriam prosperetis,
hostesq[ue] populi Romani Quiritium terrore formidine morteq[ue] afficiatis. Sicut uerbis nuncupauimus, ita prore publica Quiritium legionibus auxiliis populi Romani Quiritium legiones auxiliaq[ue] hostium mecum dis manibus deuoueo.
Conuiuium munus, incipe oportere a graui numero, et progredi
ad minutas; id est proficisci a tribus, et conuenire in nouem: ut cui paucis. Conuiuae sunt, no pauciores sint tres, cum strennui no plures. Conuiua tamen multos esse no conuenit,
quia turba est turbulenta. Haec M. Varronis refert Gellius lib. xij. cap. xi. Ipsum deinde conuiuium constituit ex grauioribus rebus, et sic denique ubi suis muneris absoluti est, sa. Belli. Conuiualiis collecti sunt, si lection locus, si tempus lectum, et apparatus no negligi.
—
Soror appellatur, eo quod secorum nascitur, separata ab ea domo,
qua nata est et in aliam familiam transgreditur. Frater dictus est, quasi feriator.
(Gellius. lib. xij. cap. x.).
This is the devotio, the ritual self-sacrifice of a Roman commander (here, famously Decius Mus). In Livy, this occurs in Book VIII (8.9–10), where Decius Mus vows himself and the enemy army to the gods of the underworld in exchange for Roman victory.
The annotator has copied the verbatim ritual formula that Livy transmits — almost like a liturgical text. It’s written out carefully, with a heading, as though for reference or even recitation. This is a direct lift from Livy, not just a marginal note. The annotator is treating it like a ritual formula worth preserving on its own. This depicts the Humanistic interest in Roman religion, ritual, and antiquarian detail — not just narrative history. The presence of such a formula in the margins suggests the annotator thought this passage had special importance (maybe as a model of piety, patriotism, or Roman ritual exactitude).
It also aligns with Renaissance antiquarian interests: Roman law, priestly formulas, ritual language — things rediscovered and studied alongside Livy.
Yet another book I could spend not just hours but months reading through.
Goff L245; Walsh 2421; Bod-inc L-123; H 10137*; ; GW M18491; Polain(B) 4529; IGI 5778; IBE 3530; Sheppard 4119; BSB-Ink L-193.
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