Giuseppe Flavio - Guerra de’ Giudei - 1582

THE TRAGIC FATE OF JERUSALEM: TOLD BY THE WITNESS TO THE END OF A WORLD
Flavius Josephus’ The Wars of the Jews is one of the most important historical texts of antiquity, a direct testimony of the Jewish revolt against Rome and of the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 C.E. The 1582 Venetian edition printed by Gabriele Giolito de’ Ferrari belongs to the great Italian editorial tradition that, in the height of the Renaissance, made the classics of ancient historiography accessible in the vernacular. Josephus’ work is not merely a military chronicle, but a dramatic reflection on the fall of a civilization and on the confrontation between the Roman world and the Jewish world. In this late sixteenth-century edition, produced by one of the most prestigious Venetian printing houses, the text takes the form of a historical and moral reading intended for the educated Italian public, confirming Venice’s role as the European center for the diffusion of the ancient classics.
MARKET VALUE
Italian sixteenth-century editions of Flavius Josephus’ The Wars of the Jews, especially those printed in the prestigious Giolito workshop, appear with regularity on the antiquarian market but remain highly sought after by collectors of classical historiography and Venetian typography. Complete and well-preserved copies of the 1582 print typically fetch between 700 and 1,200 euros on the international antiquarian market.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Contemporary leather binding in parchment. Typographic title page with the phoenix rising from the flames, the Giolito workshop’s emblem. Manuscript notes on the title page partially covered; additional annotations in the text. Royal initials. Some wormholes and darkening. In ancient books, with a long multiyear history, a few imperfections may be present, not always noted in the description. Pp. (4); 16nn; 526; 2nn; (4).

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
Della guerra de’ Giudei libri sette.
Vinegia, appresso Gio et Gio: Paolo Gioliti de’ Ferrari, 1582.
Flavio Giuseppe.

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
The Wars of the Jews is one of the most important historical sources on the Jewish revolt against the Roman Empire (66–73 C.E.) and on the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple by Titus’ legions. The work, originally composed in Greek by Flavius Josephus, combines the author’s direct experience — who participated in the events as a Jewish commander before entering Roman service — with a narrative of great dramatic power. The seven books that make up the text describe the political and religious tensions of Judea under Roman rule, the outbreak of the revolt, the Roman military campaigns, and the final siege of Jerusalem, culminating in the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E. In the Renaissance the work enjoyed extraordinary editorial fortune, as it was read both as ancient history and as a moral testament on the fall of empires and the fragility of civilizations. The Venetian editions decisively contributed to the European diffusion of this text, which became one of the main historical sources on ancient Palestine and on the history of the Jewish people.

BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Flavius Josephus (Yosef ben Matityahu, Jerusalem, 37 C.E. – Rome, ca. 100 C.E.) was a Jewish historian writing in Greek and one of the principal sources on the history of Judea in the first century. Born into a priestly family in Jerusalem, he took part in the Jewish revolt against Rome as a military commander in Galilee. After being captured by Vespasian’s troops, he entered Roman service and adopted the name Flavius Josephus. Settling in Rome under the protection of the Flavian dynasty, he authored several foundational historical works, including The Wars of the Jews, The Antiquities of the Jews, and the Autobiography, texts that remain essential sources for the history of Judaism and the ancient Mediterranean.

PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
Italian translations of The Wars of the Jews circulated widely already in the sixteenth century, when the Venetian printers incorporated the text into the grand program of disseminating historical classics in the vernacular. Gabriele Giolito de’ Ferrari’s workshop, one of the most prestigious of Renaissance Italy, published numerous works of ancient history, philosophy, and literature, contributing decisively to shaping the educated Italian public. The 1582 edition represents a mature phase of the Giolito publishing tradition, at a time when the workshop had already consolidated an elegant and easily recognizable typographic model, characterized by the famous phoenix emblem. These editions enjoyed wide diffusion not only in Italy but also in European cultural centers, where Josephus’ text was considered an indispensable source for knowledge of the Biblical world and Roman history.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
EDIT16, CNCE (various records for Giolito editions of The Wars of the Jews).
ICCU / OPAC SBN, catalogues of the Venetian editions of Flavius Josephus printed by Gabriele Giolito de’ Ferrari.
USTC (Universal Short Title Catalogue), sixteenth-century Italian editions of The Jewish War.
WorldCat, bibliographic records of the Venetian editions of the 16th century.
Louis H. Feldman – Gohei Hata (eds.), Josephus, Judaism and Christianity, Detroit, Wayne State University Press, 1987.
Tessa Rajak, Josephus: The Historian and His Society, London, Duckworth, 1983.
William V. Harris, Ancient Literacy, Harvard University Press, 1989 (on the reception of ancient historical works).
Dennis E. Rhodes, La stampa a Venezia nel Cinquecento, Firenze, Olschki, 1988.