Plutarco - [Post Incunable] Graecorum Romanorumque Illustrium Vitae - 1538

Parallel Lives, Heroes, Vanity and Morality: The Vices of Great Men (and Some Virtues)
Refined Venetian edition post incunabula of Plutarch's masterpiece, the Parallel Lives of Greeks and Romans, in Latin translation by Lapo Fiorentino, Guarino Veronese, and Donato Acciaiuoli. A symbol of Humanism and an inexhaustible source for moral and political reflection of the Renaissance, this edition by Ravani represents one of the clearest Plutarchan prints of the 16th century. The copy bears the ownership note of Bartolomeo De Fabris and features initials in red and marginal annotations, lively traces of reading and engagement with the classical text.
Market value
The Venetian edition of 1538, appreciated for its typographic clarity and editorial care by Ravani, is now sought after by Renaissance book collectors. Complete copies in good condition range between 2,800 and 4,000 euros, with higher valuations for examples in coeval parchment or with significant provenance. Interest in Plutarch's humanistic translations consistently sustains demand in the European antiquarian market.

Physical description and condition
Parchment binding with few signs of use, handwritten title on the back. Printer's mark on the title page and at the end, two large woodcuts featuring the symbol of the bicephalic sea serpent within a decorative frame; historiated and rubricated woodcut initials added by a later hand. Some small wormholes, minor water stains at the margins. Contemporary annotations in the margins of some chapters. Pages 40nn; 714; (2).

Full title and author
Lives of illustrious Greeks and Romans.
Venice, Victor of Rabanis & associates, 1538.
Plutarch of Chaeronea.

Context and Significance
Plutarch's Parallel Lives constitute one of the pinnacles of ancient biographical literature: a comparison between illustrious men of the Greek and Roman worlds, aimed at showing how virtue and human weakness manifest in different but mirror-like contexts. The work was considered during the Renaissance a fundamental moral text, a guide for the education of both the citizen and the prince.
This edition, curated by the Ravani, stands out for its philological precision and typographic clarity, reflecting the full maturity of Venetian printing in the 1530s of the Cinquecento. The figurative initials and the typographic mark—symbol of rebirth and knowledge—allude to the humanistic tension between classical knowledge and Christian faith.

Biography of the Author
Plutarch of Cheronea (c. 47 – c. 120 AD), philosopher, biographer, and priest of Delphi, was one of the most prominent figures of the Greco-Roman imperial age. His Parallel Lives represent a moral and political corpus of extraordinary influence, in which each pair of biographies compares a Greek and a Roman united by virtues or vices. His work inspired authors and thinkers from Montaigne to Shakespeare, and later Rousseau and modern moralists.

Printing history and circulation
Vittore dei Ravani's workshop, active in Venice between 1530 and 1540, was known for producing classical texts of great typographical elegance, often accompanied by extensive woodcut marks and historiated initials. This 1538 edition, printed in April, was one of the first to standardize the various Latin translations of Vitae — by Lapo Fiorentino, Guarino Veronese, and Donato Acciaiuoli — into a coherent single corpus. The editorial success was remarkable: the work circulated throughout Europe, becoming a model of style and erudition for generations of humanists and educated readers.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
Adams P1605. — Renouard, Annals of Alde Printing, p. 229. — Brunet IV, 735. — Graesse V, 367. — Mortimer, Italian Sixteenth-Century Books, 410. — EDIT16 CNCE 38036. — Olschki, Plutarch and the Fortune of the Vitae, vol. I, p. 112.