Nieupoort - Rituum ... Romanos - 1731

[Please note that the background setting in some images was created using AI to present the books in a pleasant environment. These background elements do not alter or affect the true representation and condition of the books]

FIRST EDITION - ANCIENT ROME EXPLAINED THROUGH RITES, CUSTOMS AND COINS
Important seven-teenth-century compendium of Roman antiquities, long regarded as a classic for the study of Roman customs, rites and institutions. Willem Hendrik Nieupoort organizes with a clear and concise method a vast subject aimed mainly at facilitating the understanding of classical authors: religion, magistracies, public life, ceremonies, civil institutions, the army, theater and daily practices. This Venetian edition of 1731 is particularly interesting because it is stated on the title page as “prima veneta editio numismatibus illustrata,” i.e. the first Venetian edition enriched with numismatic illustrations. The volume features an engravings frontispiece, a title in red and black, engraved borders and initials, and six folding plates. A representative work of European antiquarian culture between the 16th and 18th centuries, in which the use of coins and ancient images becomes an essential tool to reconstruct Roman civilization.

WHY TO BUY
PRIMA VENEZIANA – First Venetian edition, expressly stated “numismatibus illustrata.”
ROMA ANTIICA – Classic reference on rites, customs, institutions and daily life of the Romans.
NUMISMATICA – Illustrative apparatus with coins and six plates, some folding.
EXEMPLAR GENUINO – Old card binding with cords, engravings frontispiece and title in red and black.

MARKET VALUE
A work of good antiquarian interest for the combination of classical antiquity, numismatics and the history of Roman institutions. The first illustrated Venetian edition of 1731 is more attractive than the ordinary purely textual reprintings. Considering the presence of plates, the old binding and the described conditions, with waterstains and some foxing but overall good preservation, suggested price: €400–500.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Binding in old cardboard with cord ties and manuscript title on the spine. Engraved frontispiece; title page printed in red and black with an engraved illustration; initials and borders engraved. Watermarks and some physiological foxing, more evident in some fascicles; normal signs of time. Some termite holes. In old books with a multi-centuries-long history, a few imperfections may be present, not always noted in the description. Pp. (2); 14nn; 478; 2nn; (2).

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
Rituum qui olim apud Romanos.
Venetiis, apud Josephum Bettinelli, 1731.
Willem Hendrik Nieupoort.

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
The succinct explanation of Rituum qui olim apud Romanos obtinuerunt belongs to the great European antiquarian tradition which, between the 17th and 18th centuries, sought to reconstruct Roman civilization systematically through literary, epigraphic and numismatic sources. Nieupoort’s stated educational aim is eminently didactic: to provide a concise and orderly explanation of Roman rites and customs “ad intelligentiam veterum auctorum,” i.e., to facilitate reading of the ancient writers.
The volume thus addresses not only religion and ceremonies, but also political structures, magistracies, civil institutions, the army, private life and forms of Roman sociability. This type of manual was particularly useful to students of Latin, jurists, historians and antiquarians because it allowed understanding terms and practices that classical authors took for granted.
The choice to illustrate the edition with coins is particularly significant. In the eighteenth century numismatics was already regarded as a foremost historical source: portraits, inscriptions, symbols, titles and monetary images could confirm or clarify data transmitted by literary sources. The “prima Veneta editio numismatibus illustrata” thus testifies to an editorial and methodological updating relative to earlier Utrecht editions.
The work sits in the same cultural universe as the great repertoires of Roman antiquities that laid the groundwork for more systematic archaeology and the history of institutions of the modern era.

BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Willem Hendrik Nieupoort, or Guilielmus Henricus Nieupoort, was born in the Netherlands around 1670 and died around 1730. He was a jurist, historian and scholar of classical antiquities, with particular attention to Roman civilization. He taught ancient history at the University of Utrecht and gained prominence mainly thanks to his manuals aimed at understanding classical authors.
His method favors clarity, systematization and synthesis. Rather than proposing a continuous narrative of Roman history, Nieupoort organizes knowledge by categories: rites, offices, ceremonies, customs and institutions. This approach made his work particularly suitable for teaching and contributed to its long editorial success in Europe.
His work remained for decades a reference repertoire for students and scholars of Roman antiquities, contributing to a more concrete understanding of the institutional and daily life of ancient Rome.

PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
The Treatise enjoyed notable editorial success and went through several editions, especially in the Netherlands. The frontispiece of the 1731 Venetian edition explicitly recalls three preceding Utrecht editions: “Post tres Trajectenses prima Veneta editio.” This element helps place the Italian print within an already established tradition.
The Venetian edition published by Giuseppe Bettinelli, however, stands out for the addition of numismatic illustrations, an element highlighted directly in the title with the expression “numismatibus illustrata.” The visual apparatus made the work more useful to scholars and at the same time more attractive editorially.
Venice, still in the early eighteenth century, was one of the main Italian centers for importing, translating and reprinting erudite works from Northern Europe. Nieupoort’s publication thus testifies to the Italian circulation of Dutch antiquarian culture and the strong interest of the educated public in Roman civilization.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
Willem Hendrik Nieupoort, Rituum qui olim apud Romanos obtinuerunt succincta explicatio, Venezia, Giuseppe Bettinelli, 1731.
Earlier Utrecht editions of Nieupoort’s Rituum apud Romanos.
Bibliographic repertoires on Roman antiquities and on eighteenth-century classical manual literature.
Studies on numismatics as a source of history in European scholarship of the eighteenth century.
Historical catalogs of the Venetian production by Giuseppe Bettinelli and of eighteenth-century antiquarian printing.