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. (see explanation to the bottom of the page)

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. Provenance: Contemporary and later scholarly marginalia in several hands. Later in the library of Robert de Billy(1869–1953), French ambassador and friend of Marcel Proust, with his engraved armorial bookplate. Sold at the Henri Godts sale, Brussels, 14 October 2014. 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.  

An exceptional example contemporary manuscript apparatus throughout, in a single early Italian hand. More than simple marginalia, the annotations constitute a systematic digest of Livy’s history, extracting the principal persons, institutions, battles, laws, and religious foundations of early Rome while incorporating extensive antiquarian material copied from Aulus Gellius, Varro, Augustine, and other authorities. The result is a personalized humanist edition of Livy, constructed in manuscript by one of its earliest readers.

This copy is profusely annotated, from beginning to end by a clear contemporary hand.  The present example is remarkable for its sustained 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.

https://data.cerl.org/istc/il00245000

United States of America

Cambridge MA, Harvard University, Houghton Library (WKR 1.3.7)
Chicago IL, The Newberry Library
Dallas TX, Southern Methodist University, Bridwell Library
J.B. Doukas, Kalamazoo MI
New Haven CT, Yale University, Beinecke Library (-)
New York NY, Columbia University, Butler Library
Philadelphia PA, Free Library of Philadelphia
Rochester NY, University of Rochester, Rush Rhees Library
Stanford CA, Stanford University, Green Library
Washington DC, Library of Congress, Rare Book Division

JAMESGRAY2@ME.COM

https://wp.me/p3kzOR-9Sb

PROVENANCE & COMPLIANCE CHRONOLOGY

1. Contemporary Renaissance Humanist: Profuse, systematic late 15th- and early 16th-century marginal commentary in a neat Italian hand. The reader transforms the text into a bespoke commentarius, interweaving cross-references to Augustine, Varro, Aulus Gellius, Virgil, and Cicero, and transcribing ritual formulae (such as the devotio Decii of Book VIII). Early ownership note “Al Mag.co…” to leaf [π1] strongly indicates a formal dedication to an elite contemporary Italian patron

.2. The Robert de Billy Library: Library of Robert de Billy (1869–1953), French Ambassador, distinguished bibliophile, and lifelong intimate of Marcel Proust and the Parisian avant-garde. Affixed with his engraved armorial bookplate to the upper pastedown.

3. Posthumous Dispersal (Paris, 1989): Paris, Hôtel Drouot, May 1989, Bibliothèque de Robert de Billy (1869-1953), Ambassadeur de France, sold under the direction of commissaires-priseurs Laurin, Guilloux, Buffetaud, Tailleur, with antiquarian expertise by Georges Heilbrun.

4. Commercial Trade Tracing (Brussels, 2014): Brussels, Henri Godts Auction, 14 October 2014, Lot 113. Described in the contemporary auction catalog as an copy “amplement annoté dans les marges. Plein parchemin de l’ép.”

5. Inter-European Art Market Circulation (2014–2019): Acquired at the Godts auction by the continental antiquarian firm Aix-en-Chapelle, remaining in their secure trade inventory for five years.

6. Present Ownership: Acquired directly from Aix-en-Chapelle by James Gray Bookseller in 2019.

And now a note about the printer:

THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE PRESS: DECODING SHEPPARD’S ATTRIBUTION.

While standard references—including Goff, CIBN, IGI, and Polain—defaulted
to attributing this anonymous 1491 Venetian setting to the press of Matteo
Capcasa, British Museum bibliographer L.A. Sheppard famously challenged this
consensus. In early printing, shops frequently shared or leased identical
font sets (here, Type 82R/83R variants), rendering standard font-measuring
inconclusive.

Sheppard’s breakthrough relied on diagnosing the “unconscious fingerprints”
of the workshop: page architecture, compositor habit, and the management of
white space. This copy perfectly exemplifies Sheppard’s attribution to
Johannes Rubeus Vercellensis through three distinct structural traits:

1. THE COMPOSITOR’S JUSTIFICATION: Rubeus’s workshop was celebrated for its
   elegant text blocks. Rather than utilizing harsh hyphen breaks or leaving
   ragged right margins, the compositor systematically employs sophisticated
   abbreviation ligatures (such as the nasal macron over “interturbatiõem”
   in line 1 and “eu[m]” near the marginal note) to force a beautifully
   justified, flush vertical right edge.
2. THE DROPPED SIGNATURE STYLE: The quire signature “cc iiii” is placed low
   and deep within the broad lower margin, tracking towards the right margin
   of the text block. Capcasa’s workshop consistently tucked signatures
   much higher, closer to the text, and justified to the left.

*BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE ON THE MATRIX VARIANT:

The overlapping attributions between Capcasa and Rubeus are explained by
the raw material realities of the 1490s Venetian type market. Standard
repertoires (Goff, CIBN) rely on identical face metrics because both presses
leased or purchased identical copper matrices derived from a single master
punch-cutter’s font design (classified as Type 82R/83R variants). However,
the physical typographical castings and physical cases of type remained entirely
separate. As Sheppard correctly deduced, because the identical matrices were
subjected to the distinct compositional frameworks, spacing rules, and quire-signing
conventions of separate workshops, the physical layout acts as the definitive
diagnostic control. The architectural spacing and dropped, right-aligned signatures
on these leaves isolate this casting firmly within the Rubeus workshop.

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