678C Vergil, Polydore. (ca. 1470-1555) Polydori Vergilii vrbinatis Anglicae historae libri XXVI. Simon Grynaevs Lectori. Anglia Bistonio semper gens inclyta Marte, Quanta, quibusq, animis nongentos mille per annos Gesserit, imperium firmans adamante reuincto, Intulerit quoties uicinis gentibus arma, Seu procul eiecit populantem finibus hostem, Seu domuit sæuos immania colla tyrannos, Maxima magnanimûm Polydorvs facta uirorum Præclare latia primus canit omnia bucca.

Basel: Apvd Io. Bebelium Anno, 1534

$3,000

Folio, 13 x 8.5 in. First edition. a-z6, A-Z6, Aa-Ii6. This copy is bound in eighteenth century full calfskin, rebacked. This copy has some minor waterstaining at the beginning and intermittent worming throughout the text. The last six leaves of the index were damaged along the lower outer margin, and have been repaired. One paper repair has failed somewhat; at the point where the original leaf is joined to the repairing leaf, the paper has weakened and is torn, affecting only one page number. None of the repairs affects any other text in the index.

“[Polydore Vergil] is remembered today primarily for his Anglica Historia, which scholars have seen as the beginning of modern English historiography, as an important piece of propaganda for the Tudor monarchy, and as an influence on Shakespeare’s history plays.” (CoE) Henry VII commissioned the Anglica Historica in 1505; the work stands as a prime source for an account of the events of his reign. Polydore Vergil was a friend of Latimer, Linacre, and More. His history was first printed at Basel in 1534.

Adams V-446; Shaaber V-9.