BEROSUS Antiquitatum Italiae ac totius orbis libri quinque, Commentarijs Ioannis Annij Viterbensis (…) illustrati. 1552Antwerp,(J. Grapheus for) J. Steelsius,8vo, cont. blindstamped calf (rubbed, joints splitting, head and tail def.), spine on 4...
Estimation :
250 / 350
Adjudication :
Invendu
Description
raised bands, remains of vellum ties, [48]-748-[44] pp. (paper age-toned, some quires dampstained). Good copy.
Rare Antwerp ed. of a famous fraud by Giovanni Nanni (Annius, 1432-1502). During 1498 Annius, an official of Pope Alexander VI, claimed to have discovered lost books of the Babylonian Greek author Berosus. These were in fact an elaborate forgery. However, they greatly influenced Renaissance ways of thinking about population and migration, because Annius provided a list of kings from Japhet onwards, filling a historical gap following the Biblical account of the Flood. Annius also introduced characters from classical sources into the biblical framework, publishing his account as "Commentaria super opera diversorum auctorum de antiquitatibus". Some ms. notes and underlinings.Woodcut mark on title. In italics.
Rare Antwerp ed. of a famous fraud by Giovanni Nanni (Annius, 1432-1502). During 1498 Annius, an official of Pope Alexander VI, claimed to have discovered lost books of the Babylonian Greek author Berosus. These were in fact an elaborate forgery. However, they greatly influenced Renaissance ways of thinking about population and migration, because Annius provided a list of kings from Japhet onwards, filling a historical gap following the Biblical account of the Flood. Annius also introduced characters from classical sources into the biblical framework, publishing his account as "Commentaria super opera diversorum auctorum de antiquitatibus". Some ms. notes and underlinings.Woodcut mark on title. In italics.
