M. T. Ciceronis; Franciscus Priscianensis (editor) - Ciceronis Epistolarum Familiarum Libri XVI - 1579-1579

SECRET GUIDE: LETTERS, POWER, AND TORTURES OF A GREAT ROMAN
Elegant and carefully produced edition, this Venetian reproduction of 1579 of Cicero’s Epistulae ad familiares, issued from the workshop of the Bertani brothers, presents itself as a valuable relic of humanist culture in Venice. The volume, with its ornamental woodcut initials and sober parchment binding of contemporary style, combines philological rigor with decorative appeal, bearing witness to the typographic proficiency of the late Serenissima Republic. In these letters, between affection, strategy and disillusionment, Cicero reveals himself in all his humanity, offering the modern reader the intimate politics of a crisis-era era.
MARKET VALUE
Sixteenth-century editions of Epistulae familiares, particularly if preserved in contemporary bindings and in good condition, are sought after by scholars, collectors, and Latin-literature enthusiasts. Similar copies today command a price range between 1,400 and 1,800 euros, depending on the state of preservation, the presence of period marginal notes, and the quality of the binding.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Full parchment binding of the period, with a manuscript title on the spine. Ornamental woodcut initials in the text. Overall good condition: the paper is well preserved, with limited signs of use; binding intact and stable. Pages 12 nn; 400.

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
The 16 books of Cicero’s Familiar Letters.
Venice, Old Workshop of Petri Antoni Bertani, and Fratrum, 1579.

CONTEXT AND MEANING
The Epistulae ad familiares gather more than four hundred letters written by Cicero to family members, friends, and public figures between 62 and 43 BC. They represent an essential document for understanding republican Rome on the eve of its fall: alongside the great figures of Caesar, Pompey, Mark Antony, and Brutus, emerge Cicero’s yearnings, cautions, and the most intimate reflections of a man exiled and a mediator, orator and philosopher. It is in these pages that his voice becomes more personal, distant from forensic rhetoric and theoretical treatises, turning these letters into a literary monument of extraordinary modernity.

BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 BC) was one of the most influential figures of the late Roman Republic: celebrated orator, moral philosopher, politician, and skilled writer. A passionate defender of the res publica, he was a staunch opponent of Caesar’s ambitions and was eventually killed by order of Mark Antony. His work, ranging from speeches to philosophical treatises, legal orations, and epistles, served as an unparalleled model for Renaissance humanist thought and prose.

HISTORY OF PRINTING AND CIRCULATION
The Epistulae familiares were among the first Cicero texts to circulate thanks to the Quattrocento humanism: the editio princeps was printed in Rome in 1470. The Venetian Bertani edition of 1579 sits in a period of vibrant editorial activity, when Venice saw a proliferation of portable, economical, and philologically careful editions. The Officina Bertani, active in the second half of the 16th century, stood out for its attention to typographic detail and its balance between textual rigor and aesthetic care, making Latin classics accessible to a cultivated but not exclusively scholarly audience.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
Adams C 2045
Graesse II, 169
Brunet II, 4
OPAC SBN – ICCU
Renouard, Anales de la imprenta de los Alde (for market comparison in Venice)

NUMBER OF BOOKS
1
THEME
History
TITLE OF THE BOOK
Epistolarum Familiarium
AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR
Cicero
CONDITION
Good condition
YEAR OF PUBLICATION (OLDEST ARTICLE)
1579
HEIGHT
224 mm
EDITION
First edition in this format
WIDTH
183 mm
LANGUAGE
Italian
ORIGINAL LANGUAGE
Yes
PUBLISHER
Venetiis, Ex Officina Petri Antoni Bertani, & Fratrum, 1579
BINDING
Calfskin
NUMBER OF PAGES
824