Polybii Diodori Siculi Nicolai Damasceni Dionysii Halicar Appiani Alexand Dionis et Ioannis Antiocheni excerpta ex collectaneis Constantini Augusti Porphyrogenetae Henricus Valesius nunc primum Graece Editit [.]

Paris: Mathurini Du Puis, 1634. First Edition. . Hardcover. See Description. 4to. pp. [14], 853, [19], 126. Title in red and black with small crown vignette. Text is in Greek with Latin translation on opposite page. Bound in full red morocco (perhaps later 17th century) with spine gilt in 6 compartments - rubbed, chipped. Hinges and spine caps restored; careful repair to corner tips of front cover. All edges gilt. Pages contain minor scattered foxing and age toning. Inscription written in an old hand on verso of front blank. First printed edition of the "Excerpta Peiresciana" manuscript or "De Virtutuibus et Vitiis," part of a large Byzantine anthology of excerpts which were gathered from earlier Greek historical works and compiled under the direction of the emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus (905-959 c.e.). The collection was arranged in 53 sections, 4 of which are extant - 1.) "De Legationibus" 2.) "De Virtutibus et Vitiis" 3.) "De Sententiis" 4.) "De Insidiis." In 1582 Fulvius Ursini published "De Legationibus." (Additions were later published by Hoeschel, 1603). [See Sandy's p.397]. In 1634 Henri de Valesius (Valois)(1603-1676), a respected Greek scholar and translator, published "De Virtutibus et Vitiis" (here listed) from a Cyprus manuscript in the possession of M. Peiresc (Excerpta Peiresciana). The excerpts include selections from Polybius, Diodorus Siculus, Nicolas Damascene, Dionysius Halicarnassus, Appianus, and John of Antioch. The excerpts from Polybius's "History" are considered to be the most important as they form an integral part of what we know about the fragmentary sections of this work. [Schweiger I, p. 84; Potthast I, p. 348; Brunet IV, 792; Graesse V, p. 395].