Cicerone - De Officiis - 1642

THE MANUAL OF CIVIL VIRTUE: THE DE OFFICIIS IN THE FAMOUS ELZEVIER EDITION OF 1642
Splendid binding in full red Morocco with gilded decorations on the boards and spine.
Cicero’s De officiis is one of the most influential texts in Western moral philosophy, a treatise that unites Stoic ethics, political reflection, and the ideal of civic virtue. Composed in 44 B.C. and dedicated to his son Marcus, the work over the centuries became a true manual of conduct for rulers, magistrates, and educated citizens. The Leiden edition published in 1642 by the Elzevir workshop represents one of the elegant pocket-sized editions that made Dutch typography famous in the seventeenth century. Part of the renowned Elzevir series of Latin classics, this volume could be purchased separately as Volume IX of the series and testifies to the extraordinary European diffusion of Cicero’s moral texts in the modern era.
MARKET VALUE
Elzevir editions of Latin classics are among the most sought-after works of seventeenth-century Dutch typography. The 1642 De officiis edition appears on the market with some regularity, but especially well-preserved copies in fine bindings are particularly valued. Standard copies in parchment or cloth bound generally range between 750 and 900 euros; specimens in decorative bindings in red Morocco with gilding and gilt edges, as in the present case, can reach 1,200–1,800 euros or more depending on condition.
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Splendid binding in full red Morocco with gilded decorations on the boards and spine; all edges gilded. Frontispiece with a wood-engraved vignette typical of Elzevir editions. Pages with some browning, foxing, and stains. Ornate initials. In old books, with a multi-century history, a few imperfections may be present, not always noted in the description. Pp. (2); 302; (2).
FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
De officiis libri tres.
Lugduni Batavorum, ex officina Elseviriana, 1642.
M. Tullii Ciceronis.
CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
De officiis was composed in the final months of Cicero’s life, at a moment of deep political crisis in the Roman Republic. The work addresses the problem of moral and civic duty, seeking to reconcile moral honesty with political utility. Structured in three books, the treatise first examines the nature of moral good, then the relation between utility and justice, and finally the conflicts that may arise between interest and virtue.
In the Renaissance and early modern period De officiis became one of the foundational texts of humanist education, used in schools and universities as a manual of ethics and moral rhetoric. The Elzevir editions of the 17th century contributed decisively to the diffusion of Latin classics in a portable and relatively affordable format, making these works accessible to students, scholars, and collectors across Europe.
BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 B.C.–43 B.C.) was one of the greatest orators, philosophers, and statesmen of the Roman Republic. Born at Arpinum, he studied rhetoric and philosophy in Rome and Greece, quickly becoming a central figure in Roman political life. As consul in 63 B.C., he thwarted Catiline’s conspiracy. After the rise of Caesar and the civil wars, he devoted himself more and more to philosophical and literary production. His works—including De officiis, De re publica, De legibus, and the Tusculan Disputations—had a tremendous influence on European culture, contributing to the transmission of Greek moral philosophy into the Latin world and thereafter into the humanist tradition.
PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
The moral works of Cicero were among the most printed texts in Renaissance and modern Europe. The 1642 Elzevir edition belongs to the famous series of Latin classics published in Leiden in the seventeenth century. According to Willems’s catalog, this volume constitutes Volume IX of the series and was also sold separately. Elzevir editions were renowned for their high typographic quality, compact format, and clarity of text, factors that contributed to their enormous diffusion among scholars and collectors.
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
Willems, Les Elzevier. Histoire et annales typographiques, no. 535.
WorldCat, M. Tullii Ciceronis De officiis libri tres, Leiden, Elsevier, 1642.
ICCU / OPAC SBN, bibliographic records of Elzevir editions of Cicero.
Adrian Johns, The Nature of the Book, Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1998 (for the context of European printing).
P. G. Walsh, Cicero: On Duties, Oxford University Press.